Kimi Räikkönen - Back to his Best?

[Tberg]

Paul did not forget the results from last year. You just did not seem to have understood the point of his.
Kimi was faster than Seb in FP1, FP2, Q1 and Q3 (starting ahead of Seb) and lost the posotion in the race because of the team strategy.
He looked smoother and faster than he did during the last seasons. But was it just a good weekend or has he really found his form again and is able to be equally quick as Seb?

Last year he was 22 seconds behind Seb and lost over half a second in the Qualifying.
During the last years he showed good pace occasionally, but he had a lot of slow days in between.

My points exactly. Kimi was also faster than Seb numerous times last year on Albert Park, like Q1, Q2 and race fastest lap, but he still ends up behind Seb.
Yeah, the gap seems smaller this year, but results are results and based on this first round, nothing really has changed yet. Let's see in a few more races, if Kimi looks like he can match or even beat Seb.

 

[Kakusso]

The problem with Kimi is that he tends to lose performance from the middle of the race onwards. Probably age doesn't help in the "keep pushing" strategy.

 

[Andrew Harper]

If the Kimster likes the car he will be fast all year. He was fast last year until he was raped at Monaco. If Ferrari does not hold him back he will grab a win or two.

I think this is the danger. Explicit team orders are not allowed, however there were definatley times last year whereby you could see the team were holding Kimi up so Seb could get ahead on pitstop strategy, etc. His reaction on the podiums said it all really.

He does look more comfortable over one lap pace in this years car, that showed in testing and it showed in Australia as well. On race pace I'd give Seb the edge. As I say above though, whether the team will allow him to beat/finish ahead of Seb is another matter entirely.

 

[Ingemar Petersson]

Team order Seb 1 -Kimi 2

 

[dud]

The problem with Kimi is that he tends to lose performance from the middle of the race onwards. Probably age doesn't help in the "keep pushing" strategy.

This is more likely to be a resource management problem. Nobody can fully concentrate for 90 minutes anyway. So where do you preserve your energy and where do you spent it? Unless you gain a decisive advantage in the first half a drop in the second half indicates that things did not go as planned (or as they should have been planned).

 

[SiddarthaKumarF1]

It's too early to decide kimi's future, although age is a limiting factor, period

 

[mopro]

Ferrari paid Seb more than Kimi, so no. He have to find a team that will put him in no.1 seat to shine.

 

[PR3D4TOR]

We have to watch the latest season and it seems like Kimi is very satisfied with his 2nd Driver role. He is not the same driver skill wise he has been in his Mclaren (and even Lotus) days.

But who knows how much support Vettel gets from Ferrari and how much (less) Raikkonen gets. Ferrari is a kinda weird team when it comes to 1st and 2nd drivers.

 

[destinationriver]

Its obvious that Ferrari is running a one-man strategy. Vettel is the guy to win, if Kimi wins they use teamorders (a.e. Monaco & Hungary 2017). The 2017 car was completely built to fit Vettel, 2018 seems to fit Kimi better. But also in Melbourne Ferrari took Kimis 2nd place. Instead letting him overcut like Vettel, they pulled him in way too early. Sure, the VSC phase was lucky for Vettel, but if they would've let Kimi out for longer, he also could have profited from it.
Kimi definetly has the pace to be better than Vettel, if Ferrari would give them equal material and chances, what they just don't do and never did. Just like back then with Schumacher. Thats why I hate Ferrari so much,
Red Bull have two equal top drivers which are both allowed to drive free. At Mercedes I don't see Bottas on the level of Hamilton, but at Ferrari they also have two top drivers but don't let them drive freely.

 

[Marko-13000]

Instead letting him overcut like Vettel, they pulled him in way too early. Sure, the VSC phase was lucky for Vettel, but if they would've let Kimi out for longer, he also could have profited from it.

The only reason Vettel ended up in front of Kimi was because of the VSC, Kimi has got the better strategy, which was to pit earlier, because he was in a better position to challenge Hamilton.
Vettel wasn't even in contention and was losing serious ground to both Hamilton and Räikkonen - they just let him out just in case a miracle happens as it did, if it didn't they would have probably used him to slow Hamilton down like Mercedes did with Bottas in Spain last year.
The driver who pits earlier is always having the advantage over the one who pits later (under normal circumstances) because track position is king in modern F1 and you can make up a lot of ground with just one lap on fresher tires.
Of course, Räikkonen would have won if they didn't pit him before the VSC came out, but you can't rely on that with your strategy lol.
Vettel had nothing to lose comfortably sitting in 3rd, so they've gone for an unconventional strategy, which got them the race win - with a lot of luck.

 

[Esox71]

Kimi is a driver, not a computer operator!
In my eyes he's the same "driver" he always was.

 

[Tr3voRR]

Kim got screwd again...

 

[arniesan]

If the car suits Kimi, he is one of the best out there.
I don't agree with the age factor bias and never have; Jenson Button is an example, although in the end he left by his own choice, he was still in the top 4 or 5 drivers on the grid.
Kiimi is not an old man for Heavens sake and he is proving it; pit him against 75% of the drivers on the grid, in any car and he would wipe the floor with them...is that a reason to write him off as being too old lol.
This season, ( with just 3 engines ), will favour the older, more skillful drivers, with more savvy.

 

[dud]

This season, ( with just 3 engines ), will favour the older, more skillful drivers, with more savvy.

This matters. The restrictions on parts replacements don't just lower team cost. They influence which style of driver gets an advantage.

Leaving aside older versus younger, there have always been those drivers that have a smoother style and those that have a more edgy style. Some people, like Vettel, brake very hard, rotate the car in a compressed frame and hit it early out of a curve with as few intermediate phases as possible.

Others, like Prost, have a much smoother style that involves gradual braking and dividing the curve into as many section as optimal and having smaller transitions between them.

In the elder days both could win, the smoother style mainly getting an advantage in tire life.

Today there are a lot more things that if you go easy on them will have a significant impact on overall points earnings during a season. Tires, 3 engine components, gearbox, you name it.

 

[Nick Hill]

Ferrari will do everything in their power to keep Seb finishing ahead of Kimi.

Not a criticism necessarily; just a statement of fact (based on how I see it).