I reckon Kimi Raïkkonen is a bit pretentious !

[schumi]

McLaren's driver Kimi Raïkkonen say that he is as quick as Michael Schumacher. According to him, the only difference is about experience."I am as quick as Michael, but obviously he has more experience than me" said Kimi to the english newspaper The sun."I have made some good races this season, but I have made some mistakes too, like in a qualifying session in Spain and Canada ". After that, some people said I am not as good to be champion. Everybody make mistakes but there is no reason that I cannot win the championship this year" The age has got nothing to do with that. If you can win some races, you are able to win the championship" said Kimi as a conclusion.

It's true that Kimi is quick but I reckon that it's a bit soon to him to say that he is as quick as Michael .

I ask everybody to have their opinion about it !

[walter]

I think that Kimi is right, He does seem to be just as quick as Michael. But then again, I also think that alonso is just as good. Im sure that Kimi didn't really compare himself to Michael. It seems like he was just emphisizing the fact that his inexperience is a weakness when compared to Schumacher.However, Kimi certainly is better than Coulthard, which is really too bad for Coulthard, as he has a lot more experience in F1, I think he is one of the older F1 drivers on the field.

[powerful_paji]

I think Kimi was right to say he is just as good, and the fact that he even went on to say he lacks in experience enphasises it all!
Schumacher, however great he is it has to be worth mentioning he is the luckiest driver in F1. Just take any random grand prix from the last 3 seasons. for example, at the Nurburgring 2003: even if his rear tyres were 6" more than were they were stuck up, he would have had a retirement, but due to his position and engine still running he kept on going~!



Olivier Panis got caught out in almost the same kind of incident in the same GP but his car was way out of control in too deep in the sand.

Still within this season, when schumis pit stop caused a fire on his fuel hose, it could have gotten worse, or infact the car would have not been fueled enough to retire him from the race. He still, however managed to finish the race in points.
This is Kimi raikonnens 3rd Season as a full driver in F1 yet it is Michael Schumacher's 11th [approximately]. Even if the track designs, locations and cars change, the racing experience is still paramount. I think Kimi is equally as good and is bound to shake some records in the coming years!



Any GP driver would be equally good, given the opportunities and this tremendous blessing of luck!



*pictures from http://www.f1.com

EDIT by Tomba: Shumacher's incident was at the Nurburgring. Nice post btw

[Goose]

Most of the field is as quick as Schumacher, But the car and luck play a large role in there performance.

[ScuderiaFerrari6]

so your gonna say thats it just the car? and in Austria he won. thats the race his car caught on fire. everybody says that Schumacher isn't the best and yes he is the best people goto the best teams

[cava]

Lucky Schumi?????? Come on you've got to be kidding.

Australia : He has to pit for a safetyreasons. Bardgeboard was falling off.
Canada : Both Williams drivers are allowed to finish with broken mirrors without a pitstop. Can someone explain the difference between the to cases? Definely not because there isnt a difference tough both cases were solved on a different way.
Schumi was increasing his advantage in Melbourne with that broken BB.
Silverstone, that wacko on the track wasnt an advantage for Schumi. He lost the race or a second place because of that incident.

[Steven]

ha! well some stewards certainly helped him get 8 points at the Nurburgring... forgot that?

Btw, that bargeboard was so loose it would certainly fall off during the race. Williams' mirrors were still hanging very good onto the car, and the drivers both had still one mirror left to see who was chasing them (not that there was much to see anyways, except maybe Ralf seeing his mirrors filled up with a guy named Montoya

Schumi the best... well I have profound reason to ignore that statement . He is quite good, but the main thing that enabled him to get on top were the right people at Benetton at the right time for Schumacher. To his own achievements we can count keeping the best together when they some followed him to Ferrari. Without that, he might still have been Mr. So-talented-guy-who-never-made-it . You can't ignore some luck has been there.

[cava]

The year 2000 he has won the championship with definetly not the best car.

[Steven]

oh yes he had the best car, maybe not the very fastest, but the McLaren's kept breaking during the whole seasaon.
I still remember very well the Spanish GP, in which Hakkinen firmly led after a difficult start of the season, and then had to give up during his last lap.
I have never felt more sorry for a race driver than then for Mika. Actually I miss him, was kind of a colourful guy driving for McLaren. Funny things at press conferences... hmmm well get Villeneuve in a good car, and then again there's some reason to look at the press conferences

[powerful_paji]

I still think that pitstop incident was good luck! for all you know the fuel might not have entered the tank or even an explosion would have been possible. We really couldnt hear what is going on in the drivers cockpit... For all you know the guy might have been screaming-out-Loud!

Just take a look at last years season! All the bad luck in Ferrari went to Barichello! Once, even they forgot to take him off the jacks!



I STILL THINK IT IS GOOD LUCK!

[ferrarist]

Lucky Schumi?????? Come on you've got to be kidding.

Australia : He has to pit for a safetyreasons. Bardgeboard was falling off.
Canada : Both Williams drivers are allowed to finish with broken mirrors without a pitstop. Can someone explain the difference between the to cases? Definely not because there isnt a difference tough both cases were solved on a different way.
Schumi was increasing his advantage in Melbourne with that broken BB.
Silverstone, that wacko on the track wasnt an advantage for Schumi. He lost the race or a second place because of that incident.

I can brake 2 - 3 keyboards to write about Schuey's luck and unluck....
But maybe Luck loves great drivers.......or maybe they knows how to push the Luck in right way.......and that's is maybe differens between MSC and Kimi........and JPM too

[UberFast]

I think that in order to prove himself as a quick driver, Schumi has to be paired up with a comparable teammate. His unwillingness to do so certainly raises questions about ability relative to other drivers in the field.