Actually not true mate 👎 woods was first and raikkonen was 3rd or joint 4th with Kobe , Oscar dela hoya was second, raikkonen was the highest paid F1 driver when he went to Ferrari 👍, that year
Kimi Raikkonen could’ve been a 4 time world champion if everything went right in 2005/2003 and Ferrari decided to give Kimi what he wanted in 2008. But again all of this is just if’s and coulda’s, shoulda’s woulda’s.
Yet, somehow some people believe Massa "got the better of him" the same year. The culprit for the biggest mathematical anomaly in F1 history (record number of fastest lap but no title) spells a conflict between Luca di Montezemolo and Jean Todt. One wanted the 2008 car to be designed around Kimi's driving style. The other still wanted Schumacher's input (despite not being officially hired by the team in this role) to be the basis of the 2008 car. Lo and behold the car didn't suit Kimi at all who likes a loose rear end. Those who said he lost his speed and hunger to win following his 2007 title have no clue. For although Kimi struggled to get the car to his liking by the time the rear tires had worn down enough in the race to make the car more loose-ended *he banged in 10 fastest laps* - including 6 in consecutive races. So the ability to drive a car faster than anybody else in a race was still clearly there. For 2010 Ferrari wanted Kimi and Alonso. But Santander wanted "a Brazilian" for their new huge Brazilian market. So Kimi instead of Massa had to go... Then they wondered why the Ferrari went from competetive in 2010 to increasingly worse in 2011-2013-2013 and 2014... Pity McLaren offered Kimi less for 2010 than what Ferrari offered for him staying out of F1. He probably would have given Hamilton more than a little to think about. Kimi in the 2012 McLaren... holy sh*t. I mean he finished ahead of him in a Lotus... Ferraris mistake in 2015-2018 was insisting putting all their eggs in one basked (Vettel) and relegating Kimi to the back-up driver. But they thought they had another Schumacher in Vettel...
@@paulallen8109ncredible cope. Prost won 1989 despite having an absolute no crew working on his car from summer and on. He had one of his worst seasons and still was competitive. Raikkonen losing to Massa was an astonishment at the time and it's even more of an astonishment today. Raikkonen should've at least kept it even. Not be gapped by 20 points.
@@paulallen8109 They were very evenly matched. We know that Massa was very average at best which says that Kimi was only a little bit above average. Even washed out Vettel made him look average. Alonso destroyed Kimi when they were together at Ferrari.
No and no. You think Verstappen will be as strong when he has actual challenge from other drivers? He is in terrific form yes, but it's a whole different story when you have actual challenge from 2 or more drivers in the season for the title and especially if one of them is in the same team.@@jeffmattel7867
In one thing was Kimi the best ever. The few laps that he made always before the pit stops with empty tank and used tyres. No one could do the same like he. When the time came it was absolutly sure that he is going to make the fastest laps of the race
There were no official team orders in Brazil 2007. Kimi passed Massa the same way he passed Massa in France 2007 and Malaysia 2008. By jumping him in the pitstop. Martin Brundle confirmed this post race too.
@@Beau_Rivage Nonsense. See China 2008. Kimi slowed down in the middle of a straight to let the slow Massa by. That was team orders. Kimi had a better strategy because he chose it pre-race and is the master of the overcut, just like France 2007 and Malaysia 2008 where he jumped his teammate in the pitstop phase. 0 confirmation or evidence of anything else. Turkey 2007 could have also been a Kimi win at the end, but Kimi was asked to back off to not risk anything.
What "gets" me the most is that he made all this in the track and out of it his was just so nonchalant lol. When we see drivers of this much racecraft theyre mostly passionate about it, but not him. He was just doing what he had to. Pure talent.
People talk about Fernando Alonso deserving more titles than what the records say because of his skill, but Kimi Raikkonen doesn’t get enough recognition for his 2003-2009 performances. Hell even in 2019 we sometimes saw him do amazing feats in that Alfa (running 3rd in Hockenheim for a while, finishing 4th in Brazil, 6th in qualifying for Spa), he was just more so winding down cause he knew it was getting late and sometimes (in the latter years) he’d just rather be at home coaching his son for go karts or dirtbiking with his family and friends
Don't forget Alonso has the whole Spanish population behind him to remind everyone how great he was and is. I dont know if Finland has the same impact in F1 social media to remind everyone how great he was!
I'm from Spain and a Kimi fan. Of course not, Finland is a richest country by a mile but Alonso I think have much more fans. I do not know why, but Alonso has many people saying what good he is. Still, I think that Alonso continue being a bit overrated and Of course Finland despite being a much more rich country has not by far the same impact, Finland is richer but Spain is bigger by a couple of miles at least. That is one of the reasons Alonso is so famous. Thanks for reading.
@@ciaronsmith4995 That actually gave me chills, two magnificent and underrated drivers fighting, Raikkönen not giving an inch and Kubica not going off. Legendary scenes 😄💪🏼🔥...
the start of spa 2008 always amazes me, wheelspin, understeer, a loose rear end at the slightest bit throttle, but such confidence and ability to get past felipe and lewis in the first few laps, the way he goes up raidillon is great
His first year at Ferrari really was a great display of consistency,being able to adapt and mental fortitude. As soon as he got the sweet spot with his setup,he was literally the most consistent thing out there. His drive in Fuji was mega how he was able to recover from dead last to 3rd
Man...Still remember his sauber debut. And then immediately exploded onto the scene with his mclaren debut. With generational talent, you can literally feel the driver doing something extraordinary behind the wheel. Just like michael, I knew this guy was always 110% on it, doing extraordinary stuff behind the wheel. 2007 was simply karma finally letting kimi win after a stretch of rotten luck. The guy absolutely blitzed the 2nd half of '07. Shame the first Ferrari stint was so short. Always kinda felt he hated the watered down V8s.
It was more to do that he was one of the drivers that had used Michelin, and when the tyre war ended he had to use a Bridgestone tyre from 2007-2009, that his teammate and most others, already had experience on. The long wheelbase, understeer characteristics of the Ferrari was also opposite to his driving style.
Do you think he would go wide in T1 at spa on purpose to get a better run up eau Rouge and raddion? It worked so well in the clips in this video, so well that I feel like it couldn't have been an accident
Kimi was in his prime at McLaren. Sure he got his title at Ferrari but in his McLaren years he was one of the fastest guys in F1 history. Only the unreliability kept him from winning more titles. Absolute legend.
only reason everyone neglects his insane raw skill is that he only has one championship, at least 2 missed because his mclaren would randomly give up... i mean people like him for his off-track personality but i dont really think that he wants to be remembered like that. either way he wouldnt really care much
Räikkönen had one of the best racecraft ever in F1. Only in the last Alfa years did he start to cause some unnecessary collisions but before those years... I don't remember who it was but I remember some driver in an interview saying that he can always trust Kimi to give just enough space to have a nice battle. He could be always trusted
I only recently got into F1 and immediately fell in love with Kimi after finding out about his iceman nickname (I was very into top gun lol) so sad I’ll never get to see him race IRL but I’m trying to make up for it by watching all his races^_^ love ur channel
Ciaron explain me this; in 2008 when Ferrari changed the car settings without telling Kimi and making him slower and Massa faster(Santander wanting Kimi out and Fernando in etc..), how did he(Kimi) still managed to get like 10 fastest laps in 08 😳
It's because the balance of the car in the races, near the end of stints on worn rear tyres would suddenly shift from the usual understeer, to oversteer, basically out of nowhere. All of a sudden Kimi would go half a second faster when this happened. That was the true pace of the car (and Kimi). Kimi likes turn in oversteer, and the F2008 just understeered constantly most of the time.
@@ciaronsmith4995 .. Should've been easy back to back title for KR, all the team needed to do was not to f*ck it up.. Nowadays Ferrari can only dream of having a driver like Kimi; guy who can take the team to the top. It feels like Ferrari knew they had something special with Kimi(huge amounts of money they paid him etc) and they still managed to drop that ball.. .. Thank you for explaining Sir. 🫡
@@Beau_Rivage Kimi won more races, despite having more DNFs than both McLarens. Kimi would have won that title by Fuji with equal reliability to McLaren. In 2008 the car was not suited to his driving style - Ferrari apologized at the end of the season for vetoing his requests. Kimi easily took them to the top and has been synonymous with peerless car feedback and race pace at Ferrari.
@@Beau_Rivage Raikkonen did not have the fastest car. He was the fastest driver (and highest paid by far), but McLaren had the fastest car, with the most mechanical grip, which was also illegal and bulletproof. McLaren would win 2007 and 2008 with Kimi in the car, as the design philosophy suited Kimi much more than the understeering boats that were the Ferrari cars. Ferrari emphasized long wheel base and aero grip, McLaren emphasized short wheel base and mechanical grip (what Kimi likes).
Great edit Ciaron. I can't remember if it was you or someone else who uploaded the video of Kimi's starts at Belguim, showing he took that wide line on the run off of turn 1 on several years haha. Wouldn't be allowed today probably but did the job for him on multiple occasions
Raikkonen deserved 2003, 2005, and 2008. Ferrari and McLaren screwed over the fastest driver in f1 history. When Ferrari took kimis suspension in 2008, they gave his old one back too late, and completely sold 2008 for him.
Because his best years were arguably at McLaren. 2007 brought him a title though. Kimi also praises his McLaren years, especially now. The best team atmosphere with his engineers was at McLaren. Coming off 2006, he was probably annoyed with Ron, but looking back he had has admitted it was a great period.
I can't help but noticing how these cars, despite having TC in 2008, were almost Drifting and more than once drivers are about to lose control and regain it. You don't see that very often now 😆👌🏼💯...
I really wonder what would have happened if things had shaken up so that Kimi had an RB seat during the Vettel days. He definitely doesn't retire a 1x World Champ IMO
He would be thrashed by Vettel. Post 2009 Kimi wasn't the same driver and he couldn't come to grips with the Blown Diffusers. Grosjean was faster than Kimi in 2012 and it was neck and neck in 2013. Vettel was a monster in the diffuser era. Even Newey believed no one mastered it better than Vettel.
@@OnlineHipHopTV Those are not my alt accounts. Stop spreading misinformation. I had one alt account in the past: Nuvolari 666. That's it. Enough please. People can have different opinions about drivers and that's fine.
2010: Kubica 2011: Vettel But Alonso the most consistent over both years. Take your pick from that. I'd probably go wth Alonso, but it's close between him and Jenson/Seb/Lewis
I’d say Alonso because I think he extracted more out of his machinery than anyone else did. Definitely not Hamilton, he was all over the shop in 2011 despite 3 good wins; Button spanked him fair and square.
@@mclarenguy22 I don't know really. Alonso in 2010 had a very fast car but made some mistakes plus had a win handed to him. In 2011 Alonso himself admitted he underperfomed in an interview. I think Massa was just horrendous both years as well. I don't think he was the best in 2010/2011 but probably closest to the best both years. In 2012 he had his strongest season most likely though.
Ferrari politicking probably screwed this man out of as many WDCs as Mclaren mechanical failures. Thank god he got at least one or he would have gone down in history as a potential GOAT to never win a WDC.
Modern F1 is good... But not even close to the legendary sport it once was because legends like Kimi, Schumacher, and all the others who were once in a lifetime athletes.
@@ciaronsmith4995 tiger doesn't earn a salary he's a golfer, prize moneys on individual events he made 110 million in 07. I llke kimi a lot but he was brought in to be as good as schumacher and he wasn't even close. At the time it was a huge surprise i was convinced he was the best driver in f1 but he was only slightly better than massa who schumacher had hammered on the verge of retirement
@@MacHoodio That's nonsense frankly, regarding Kimi vs Michael. Kimi was far better than Michael by 2006. The difference was that Kimi had to adapt to: 1) New Tyres (which Massa/Schumacher were accustomed to) - Kimi switched from Michelins (Pierre Dupasquiller of Michelin called Kimi the best driver they worked with due to his understanding of those tyres). 2) New Car (with a completely different design philosophy to the McLaren, that Felipe was used to). Remember, Massa improved massively by his own account during 2006. He outqualified Michael the last 4 out of the 6 races of 2006. Heidfeld and Fisichella also decimated Massa in 2002 and 2004. Badoer was reportedly faster in testing in 2003. What does that mean? Nothing. Because Massa by Brazil 2006 was a transformed driver compared to Australia 2006 as everyone who knew (Smedley, Felipe, Brawn, etc), stated. Michael failed to win a title in a faster car, against less competition in 2006. He also made countless driving errors that season. Kimi won it a year later in a slower car, with more competition, and a car that didn't suit his driving style (both in 2007 or 2008 - it was widely reported Raikkonen found the car close to undriveable at times and had car development requests inadequately addressed by the team). Despite having 2 mechanical DNFs in 2007 he still won the title. Absolutely stunning. Kimi was the best driver in F1. The best paid for a very good reason too. Your initial instincts back then, though seemingly unrefined, were correct. The circumstances in 2007/2008 meant that Kimi/Alonso both looked worse against their (at the time), inferior teammates due to the regulations massively changing and disadvantaging the Michelin drivers in particular (not to mention drivers that switched teams on top of that). Kimi also suffered from internal politics with car development in 2008 which further hurt his season. Think of it this way. Had Felipe (or Michael for that matter) gone into Kimi's McLaren den on Michelins they had no experience on (as Kimi had done in 2007), they both would have been obliterated by Raikkonen. Beyond words. That's how F1 works. It's not as simple as you make it out to be. F1 is quite nuanced mate. The devil is in the detail. Even with driver comparisons. It's never easy. The only thing you said that was correct in my view, was the earnings portion. Raikkonen was the highest paid F1 driver (only), and likely the highest paid of the athletes that had a fixed salary too. But Tiger Woods was the highest paid athlete in the world.
@@Beau_Rivage Re-read the comment. Yes under those circumstances Michael would have been crushed beyond words. Michelin (tyre company) called Kimi the best driver they ever worked with. Michael couldn't even adapt to the Pirellis during his comeback, as he had custom-made Bridgestones during the tyre war. Kimi was better than MSC by late 2003. Alonso better by 2006.
@@Beau_Rivage No they didn't. And if Michael had joined Mclaren, using Michelins, against Kimi in 2005, Michael would have been humiliated, despite his greatness. Bet that. Again, you aren't sophsticated. Everyone close to MSC and MSC himself said the issue was the understeer in the Pirellis he couldn't adapt to. He got faster from 2010-2012 precisely because he was adapting every year, despite getting older, but he wasn't used to having anything less than #1 status and was struggling to rotate the car on entry. Cheers. I know more about your idol than you do.
Raikkonen was nothing when Alonso and Vettel was with him at Ferrari. Maybe his brillance was only when the adversaries was not so good as Alonso and Vettel.
Raikkonen was close to 40 and in a car that he hated in 2014/2015 and 2017 in a totally different era. The 2014 Ferrari suited Alonso much more and Kimi hated it's handling. If you knew how to analyze onboards you would already know this. Kimi was faster than Alonso at their peaks.
Good excuse. 😂😂😂But as matter of fact, a good pilot is able to drive any kind of car, so the idea you've written that one car is more suitable for a kind of drive is not a convince argument. Sorry, but if Kime was good enough to defeat Alonso and Vettel, He'd have done.
It's not true. Alonso was lost in early 2021. And it's not excuses - it's clear fact to people who understand driving. The Kimi of McLaren/Michelin was an alien, while Alonso was losing to Trulli.@@Venerdi_-pp6qc
I'm not Alonso's lawyer, however, nowadays at the season 2023, Alonso also is close to 40 and prove to be as good driver as before. So the age isn't excuse. Besides, we are here comparing the years when both drove the same car while they were at Ferrari and not the time when kime was at McLaren. And when both were at Ferrari, Alonso easily defeat kime. As the same Vettel did.
No way he was the best driver in Ferrari post Schumacher. Alonso almost won 2 championships with way inferior cars while Kimi had the best car in 2007 and was lucky Alonso and Hamilton were fighting with each other and Alonso having massive issues with Ron Dennis. Kimi apart from 2007 finished behind his teammate in 2008, was behind Massa until his accident in Hungary, got beaten by Alonso and Vettel in every single year during his 2nd stint at Ferrari. Great driver no doubt but Fernando was easily the best Ferrari driver
The Kimi of 2007-2009 was the best post Schumacher driver. Kimi finished ahead of his teammate in 2007 and 2009. The MP4/22 was a superior car (and illegal) to the F2007. The MP4/23 was slower than the F2008. McLaren had more mechanical grip and a better front end both years - a characteristic Kimi prefers to aero grip and understeer.
The best post schumacher driver in ferrari was Alonso, who fought two championships in third best car. Kimi had a rocketship in 2008. Had he adapted a little bit to that car, he wins easily considering that Massa almost wins that year. But he was too lazy to do that.
@@alejandro9531 well by that logic Alonso was too lazy himself to adapt in 21 with alpine when he demanded his team to change his steering rack mid season since he was going absolutely nowhere. The man was getting outqualified in back to back sessions by over half a second to ocon lol
Sorry the only thing I remember from Singapore 08 was Alonso cheating and the only thing I remember from Monaco 08 was Alonso running into anything that moved that day (Heidfeld, barriers etc). Belgium? FIA handed Massa, Ferrari's #2 driver who was +0.700/lap slower than his teammate in that race, an undeserved win.
@@ciaronsmith4995 Why discuss Alonso in a Raikkonen video lol so obsessed. What did Alonso ever do to you and funny you always wrongly assume I'm an Alonso fan
@@Beau_Rivage Not really. It's just that in both of those races Alonso featured quite prominently. He ran into anything that moved in Monaco. I don't think much of Alonso. I'm more interested in Hakkinen vs Schumacher, Raikkonen, Prost vs Senna, frankly.
@@mattroyce Not really was it? Kimi led at the start and at the end and was the favorite coming into the season by a heavy margin. It was always "when is Kimi going to show his true speed'. And then he did and it was over innit?
@@Beau_Rivage Your comments are irrelevant actually. I don't need to defend the best driver in the world that year do I? Alonso made far more mistakes, while Raikkonen was driving a slower car, that was undriveable for him. Even though he made that mistake he fought back at scored a point at Monaco 2007. A perfect testament to Kimi's sheer determination. Meanwhile Alonso needed team orders that weekend to stay ahead of the worst version of Lewis Hamilton and then blackmailed his team at Hungary after quali. Cheers. I repeat. There is only one Kimi Raikkonen.
U won't find it when he talks about any UK based driver or Max.😁😁 I don't like Crofty shouting, but he atleast acknowledges most drivers irrespective of their country of origin. Brundles commentary sometimes disgusts me. Crofty speaking about a driver 'on screen', making a move and Brundle would talk about Hamilton. When Kimi overtakes, Brundle says : "fuel has come down, car is lighter, he has faster car, tyres are new", when Hamilton does it on the fastest Mercedes on the grid (2014-2020), Hamilton is absolutely on it, what a drive. Drives me nuts and wanna strangle Brundle. 🤣🤣 Disclaimer: Hamilton fans, I'm not speaking against Lewis, only Brundle.
Brundle definitely likes Kimi and has mentioned on sky coverage that if you give him a few drinks he basically becomes a complete chatterbox and is great fun to have around. Funny what a bit of alcohol does to you
Alonso got fired from Ferrari in 2014 and got lucky Kimi Raikkonen hated the handling of the 2014 Ferrari in his first year back at the team, in the first year of the hybrid regs, while the car suited Alonso much more. In my view peak Kimi is leagues faster than Alonso as anyone over the age of 16 knows. Thanks lad.
@@ciaronsmith4995 yeah "peak" kimi like on the rare occasions he decides to show up. The 2014 ferrari was a disaster in general but Alonso dragged it to great results unlike Kimi . In all honesty we shouldn't even compare these two considering even vettel absolutely owned the guy. Good driver , was very fast in his mclaren stint but that's about it
@@sunritroykarmakar4406 The 2014 was slow, but it suited Alonso's driving style. I suggest you learn about F1 before you comment, you clearly have no understanding of driving styles nor did you watch F1 live in the early 2000's, when Kimi was the undisputed fastest driver in the sport in the tyre war era due to his superiority on the Michelin tyre. Cheers kiddo.
