A.Wayne

McLaren boss Ron Dennis says he takes no pleasure in seeing former driver Kimi Raikkonen struggling at Ferrari.

Going into this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix, Raikkonen is 15 points behind drivers' championship co-leaders Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.

"Kimi is a friend, and I've seen him struggle with problems," said Dennis, Raikkonen's boss for five years.

"I see him as a friend, not a competitor, and seeing a friend in pain gives me no pleasure at all."

Things looked bright for Raikkonen when he won the Australian Grand Prix in March on his Ferrari debut.

But McLaren's dream team of reigning world champion Alonso and rookie sensation Hamilton relegated him to third place in Malaysia, a position he repeated in Bahrain, this time beaten by Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa and the Englishman.


Raikkonen was forced to retire from the Spanish Grand Prix, where Massa again won, and a crash during qualifying at Monaco gave him an uphill battle as the McLaren duo romped home in the principality.

Massa is 10 points ahead of him in the drivers standings, raising questions about whether Ferrari will soon have to give preference to the Brazilian's title assault.

A.Wayne

Forget how Kimi feels, where is the Finn! Man, where did everyone go?

gab997

IMO, Kimi needs to put his ego aside and needs to work more with the team and of course not break his car... The development of the car from race to race is crucial of which it takes drivers working with the engineers even if it is monotone (Kimi speak). Kimi will not win WC on talent alone. Look at what FA has done with Mclaren, continuiously developing the "package" and not breaking the car... Also, dont forget about last season where things did not start to heat up until July and it came down to the last race. Going to enjoy watching the season unfold. Next year, no tc.........

multi21

Ron Dennis is renting space in Kimi's head, or at least trying to...

A.Wayne

Alonso is a much more experienced driver than Kimi and has the confidence of a 2 times WC. i said this much at the beginning of THE season, Alonso is the most complete driver at this time in F1 , period... Kimi does not have this experience, HE'S with a new team , has faltered a bit , but he has to ride this out and put his head down , He was always a seat of the pants guy and of the 4 I thought he was the slowest going in , i still think so , but he is better than what he is currently showing ... .... STILL GREAT RACING .....

Flying Finn

Here!
(been little busy)

My take on Kimi?

I think he is more like everyone wanted him to be last two season. = if he can't win, he settles for the points that are safely available and saves the car.

I want to see the "FINN" Kimi who goes all out, for the win, and only for the win! It's not only him who behaves like that but don't mind if Alonso, Hamilton & Massa does it, as long as "my boy" behavis like the guy who this track is named after!

BTW, awesome driving from Alonso yesterday, he was sliding like Rosberg or G. Villeneuve back in the day!

mdrums

I am really liking Hamilton myself. I want to see him do really good. Kimi needs to go after it more in my opinon.

AC coupe

here are some clips of Fernando doing the Gilles...

Clip 1

Clip 2





Axis Of Oversteer

gab997

Yes, he had it going on yesterday, into the 1:16's was impressive. Will see how qualies go today.

A.Wayne

Wednesday 20th June 2007



Kimi Raikkonen could be on his way out of Ferrari as soon as the end of this season, according to reports.


Germany's Auto-Bild-Motorsport said the beleaguered Maranello team are already on the lookout for the Finn's successor, after his poor start to the season and failure to live up to his billing as the highest earning F1 racer following his switch from McLaren for 2007.


Not only is the 27-year-old struggling to keep up with Felipe Massa in the other F2007, but there are also concerns about his supposed rookie errors and lack of focus.


Part of the Auto-Bild-Motorsport rumour is that newly retired Michael Schumacher will make his return to F1 in place of Raikkonen, but McLaren's unsettled Fernando Alonso or Williams' highly-rated Nico Rosberg are also rumoured to be in the running to replace the Finn.

Larry Herman

So the silly season is starting already? There are really only 3 good rides, with 2 more having any real potential. Here's my guess at what may happen:

McClaren - Hamilton is secure but unless Alonso wins another championship, he will want to leave after the season. A logical short term replacement would be Mark Webber, as he would probably be willing to play second fiddle to Hamilton, and is fast enough to make a worthy teammate. That would give McClaren time to develop the next phenom.

Ferrari - If Raikkonen does not turn it up, he is probably gone. A logical swap might be him for Rosberg, as Williams would need two drivers if Rosberg leaves. Also, I do not see Massa happy if Alonso is brought to the team. At least Kimi hasn't caused a ruckus.

Sauber BMW - They're set with their drivers. If Kubica falters, Vettel is waiting.

Williams - Will need a top rated driver if Rosberg leaves. Maybe Alonso if he leaves McClaren? Where else can he go?

Renault - Will they be back next year?

Red Bull Renault - I am surprised by how well Webber can make the car go. With a little more improvement, they could be battling Sauber BMW for the best of the rest. Of course they will need a driver to complement/replace Mark Webber.

As for the rest, right now does it really matter?

Geo

Interesting. Of course we don't know what conversations are going on behind closed doors, but I think a lot of the F1 press makes up a lot of stuff or at least embellishes a lot. We've seen that before.

While I've been critical of Kimi, my take would be this: Of course the team is on the lookout. Team principles have always got to keep their options open. They (and specifically Todt in this case) would not be doing their jobs if they were not assessing the driver market/situation even with drivers under contract. I'd be surprised if they boot Kimi.

mitch236

I think Alsonso will go with F is he leaves Mac. That would give him his best shot at beating Hamilton and F would be crazy not to take him. He has the fire, work ethic and skills.

I really wonder what happened to Kimi though. He looked so much more intense last season. Something with this new relationship must not be working for him. He is a much better driver than what he is showing this year.

Geo

I agree, but honestly, that team is used to working with intense technical feedback from the drover. They are almost certainly not getting it from Kimi but getting it from Massa. So, where are they focusing their attention? Massa of course.

multi21

I don't think MS would come back, but we can dream can't we?

A. Wayne would need a stiff drink if that happened