Is Kimi Raikkonen as good as he is made out to be?

Question

he could not overtake Alonso in his Ferrari, but Nick Heidfeld managed to, in his BMW.
I wonder if Michael Schumacher would have had the same problems overtaking alonso, when he was Kimi age?

Answer 1

First of all Michael would not have had problems overtaking Alonso when he was younger because he didn't have problems doing it last year in China when he was old. Kimi is a good driver who is probably more than a little upset to see the crappy unreliable car he had last year now turn into a very reliable and quick one, while his Ferrari is not as quick as it should be.He is the fastest driver in F1 right now, just look at his stats. 20 fastest laps, that is very impressive. Alonso only has 8.

Answer 2

It wasn't entirely Kimi's fault that he couldn't pass Alonso last weekend. Here's the problem. With current F1 front wing being raised, that reduces the aero efficiency significantly. As a result, when a car is running behind another car, the car at the back cannot generate enough front end grip to follow closely the car at the front. That's what's happening to Ferrari car.

Nick overtook Alonso because Alonso made a mistake in turn 13, allowing Nick to get close enough to pass Alonso on the straight. We only see the overtaking move at turn 1, so we couldn't see Alonso mistake on the TV. Nick mention this in his post race comments.

Last year, Michael had the same problem with alonso too. In a faster Ferrari, he couldn't follow Alonso close enough through the fast turns simply because his car couldn't generate enough grip running behind another car. Schumi is a great driver, but when a car is just not working, there's nothing any driver could do about it.

Today's F1 is more about technical than driver factor, sadly.

Answer 3

Kimi is good ! Period. Having said that it is clear during the last race he did not have the proper setup as he wanted. On same machinery he would probably be the fastest.
Please also note that Alonso wasn't any slouch with the car and he lapped consistently in the first part of the race before his first pit stop. Nick overtook him when Alonso was hurting and his tyres didn't keep up. Note that there is alearning curve for other teams because of the tyre change, while ferrari know all about Bridgestone.
Kimi needs to be a bit more manipulative like Schuey as we all know Ferrari is the hotbed for back stabbing and the likes.
Kimi just sits in his car and drives the wheels of it, whereas Alonso is more tactical driver.
Lets however not be too hasty to judge. I think Kimi made a bad choice in joining ferrari as their performance is going to slack off by mid season.
Lets see ........

Answer 4

At the moment, Kimi is probably the most talented driver on the F1 grid as far as what he can do behind the wheel of a car. So on that point, he is as good as he is made out to be, and maybe a little better. His car control is the best.

But that said, if you consider the full scope of what is required of a driver in F1, he falls short in some other areas. As such, he is still one of the top drivers. Though because of these shortcomings it is easy to look and ask if he is that good.

The key area that is lacking is focus. There is no doubt when he is behind the wheel, he is completely focused. However, focus in his physical conditioning and focus in testing and working to get the car to the point where it will give him the best chance to win are areas that need improvement.

Had Kimi worked more on the car setup in the lead up to this last race, he may have had that little bit extra he needed to come from 3rd on grid to win. His sheer talent behind the wheel has carried him a long way, and he will be a factor in most races. But it does seem like a little extra beyond race day would pay him big dividends.

Answer 5

No! If the 7x World Champ was driving this year's Ferrari, even at his current age, he would have 3 Wins (Melbourne, Sepang, Sakhir). Kimi has the one win.

Also, Kimi's salary costs around $45 million a year! He is not that much cheaper than Schu. Alonso supposedly makes $16 million a year. Why is Kimi's price three-times that of a Double World Champ? I think, at his price, Kimi is overrated and nowhere near as good as people think.

Answer 6

to be honest and this is coming from a massive ferrari fan (im part Italian) Kimi is just a boy racer
quick and has guts and I respect him for that but technically he is useless
put Jenson in the Ferrari and he would replicate Schumi more than Kimi, If they were ever in the same car in the same team it would prove ultimately that Jenson is a better driver pound for pound than Kimi
Felipe will win the title not Kimi, Kimi is quick but has too much hype about him

Answer 7

Although Bahrain was kind of a letdown for Kimi. He still will come to terms with the F2007 and vindicate himself. So far, at least he is consistent as far as podiums are concerned.

Answer 8

Kimi has balls. he has moved to a new team remember and already won one race. how many times was Michael Schumacher unable to get past Fernando? at the moment Heidfeld has something to prove and is racing for his future with BMW.

Answer 9

Kimi will never be better than Alonso!!!
you can drive the fastest car (like BMW or Ferrari)
but you can't buy talent!!!
:):):):):):):):):):):):):):)

Answer 10

i just don't know what those ppl r talking about....
...kimi is not a good racer.....he's just somebody who is in Ferrari...ppl r just hoping that someday someone will be like schumi was....but neah....
.....that's why they think kimi is a talented driver....
as Nani said u can't buy talent!

....alonso is better and he will be...