Deciphering the reasons behind Kimi Raikkonen’s return to form
A look at several reasons which assisted Raikkonen in gaining his lost form.
The 2007 F1 World Champion, Kimi Raikkonen, is truly among the most revered and enigmatic F1 drivers of all time. For more than a decade, he remained a dominant force in the sport, but\y upon rejoining Ferrari in 2014, all that form just disappeared out of the blue.
This abrupt dip in form was in turn giving strength to rumours regarding his impending retirement. But it came as a sigh of relief, especially for his fans, upon seeing the Flying Finn finally making strides towards regaining his old form.
His 2016 season has indeed made this fact clear that the Finn still has the raw speed and talent which has earned him plethora of followers through the years.
During 2014 and 2015, it was painful to see a driver, who had been on top of the world just a few months before in the Lotus, now languishing in midfield. Several reasons were attributed for this decline in form. The major among them was that the car was not suited to his driving style, which relied heavily on a responsive front end.
While other reasons such as declining motivation, his dislike of the new hybrid era and several others, were tipped by the media to be among several reasons for his lack of performance during those years.
Through this time, all we could do was wait and hope that something will indeed materialise in the near future and the Finn will be back to the form of before. There were rising fears that he was past his prime and his retirement was coming closer by the day. But, thankfully, all those fears finally disappeared this year, as the Finn seems to have rediscovered his form.
What are the reasons which behind Raikkonen’s recent resurgence in form: Design of the car shifted towards driving style of Raikkonen Out of all the possible reasons behind his resurgence, the most pivotal one can be attributed to the car. This year, unlike before, the Ferrari team concentrated their efforts in designing a car suited to the Finn. The fact that both Vettel and Raikkonen require strong front ends only further strengthened this decision.
Moreover, with Technical Director James Allison taking full control of the design of the car this year, it proved to be more favourable towards Raikkonen. Allison had earlier been behind the design of the Lotus cars, with which Raikkonen had performed strongly.
Ferrari Team Principal Maurizio Arrivabene, too, stated in an interview this year that keeping in view of Raikkonen’s struggles, the team were directed to keep the design of the car suited to his driving style as much as possible.
All these efforts towards redesigning the car definitely seem to have worked and it is the major reason why he has proven to be competitive this year as compared to the previous couple of seasons.
Favourable team atmosphere The atmosphere within the team is largely supportive and peaceful, which is supposedly also helping the Finn in concentrating just on the driving. Be it the Team Principal, his teammate or the Technical Director, Raikkonen has close relations with all of them.
This kind of cohesion is necessary, given the immense physical strains involved in competing at the highest level of motorsport. Furthermore, turbulent relations outside the car will only contribute towards declining performances on track.
Out of all the drivers on the grid, if there is anyone with whom Raikkonen is closest to, it is perhaps Vettel. Thus, when the news came that from 2015 he will be partnered with him, it did come as a relief for many of his fans.
It is true that Vettel is supposedly the number one driver in the team, given the fact that these are his peak years, and further solidified by his status as four-time world champion. While Raikkonen, on the other hand, is approaching the end of his career and his world championship victory was almost a decade ago.
Teammates are usually the bitterest rivals of each other and this can create a particularly tense atmosphere, which at times can become too difficult for teams and drivers to handle; ask the guys at Mercedes!
In this respect, having a teammate that you have a cordial relationship has certainly helped the Finn in concentrating mostly on the driving rather focusing on politics or other negative aspects.
A stable personal life Other than the cooperative atmosphere in terms of his official relations, Kimi seems to be at a content place in his personal life, too. Having recently become a father after the birth of his son Robin, it appears that it has made him a calmer and composed version of himself.
Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve had similar words to say about him, "I have become a Kimi fan. I'm very surprised by how much Kimi has improved, and how well he is currently driving.”
“Kimi seems to be happy, he speaks a lot with the press, he is highly motivated and clearly he is enjoying his driving. I think his happiness has come from his family life with his wife and son. It's like everything in Kimi's life is in balance."
His return has not been down to a single factor, but a lot of small things have collectively contributed towards the performance gains he has made this year.
His resurgence has been no less than a treat for his diehard fans, who were earlier losing hope due to his inconsistent form over the last couple of years. With the way this season has been progressing, hopes are high that we will get to see further performance gains from him.
But, perhaps the biggest wish of his every fan is to see the Flying Finn stand atop the podium at least once again to bring back golden memories of the past and, to capture that win would be a perfect farewell to the Finn’s glorious career.
Will that victory (victories) come? Only time will tell.
Good Heikki Kulta made an interview with Kimi and Mark. And a good soul translated it to English Thanks for posting the link Miezi! https://justpaste.it/yw6p
Räikkönen and Arnall have been working together for 15 years - and together they go to new challenges in the next season.
Turun Sanomat got a rare interview with the driver and his trainer in the scorching hot Sepang paddock.
What does it mean to Räikkönen to work with the same trainer for so long?
- We have worked together always. Of course, in the first season at Sauber I had Josef Leberer. With Mark we know exactly what we need to do and how it will be. Neither of us needs to ask for or wonder about anything, smiles Raikkonen.
- Of course it’s a great help when Mark has always everything ready and things go like it should be. Obviously if things hadn’t gone as wanted, we would no longer work together.
- Mark is a great guy, I can’t imagine anyone else, Raikkonen praises.
The British trainer praises the incredible journey alongside the Finnish star.
- I really enjoyed it. It was quite a journey for me to see the athlete growing from a boy to a husband and father. As a father, Kimi is very inspiring, and it is just great to watch how he is doing with Robin. Kimi is just a fantastic father.
- It has been an absolutely brilliant experience to see Kimi’s change and progress over the years, and to have been close to witness it.
- When I look back over these 15 years, the mind will rise immediately to the first win in Malaysia, the first pole at the Nürburgring, the first win in Monaco and the world championship, but in addition to those peak moments, there a the lows, such as the car breaking down in the final lap at the Nürburgring, when he was about to win the race, and then waking up to Ron Dennis' call, when he had seen a picture of Kimi fallen asleep with a rubber duck.
- It has been very challenging in a nice way to be this close. I would’t trade a day off. For me, this was just a fantastic experience.
- When looking for just the peak moment, it was of course the world championship, which I think Kimi more than deserved.
- In particular, I would highlight the core of our group: David and Steve Robertson, Kimi and I have worked really closely together. It aimed at the same objective of a good team of people who helped Kimi to take the biggest goal.
- Kimi is still one of the most naturally talented drivers on the grid, and from the driving point of view he has not lost anything, Arnall stresses.
The driver and the coach have also been rare unanimous.
- There is no need to argue when you can discuss matters.
Briton voted greatest one-time F1 champion by BBC Sport readers
Your top five (Based on most number-one picks)
1. Nigel Mansell 32% 2. James Hunt 17% 3. Jenson Button 14% 4. Kimi Raikkonen 12% 5. Jochen Rindt 5%
The others:
6 Damon Hill, 7 John Surtees, 8 Jacques Villeneuve, 9 Mario Andretti, 10 Nico Rosberg, 11 Mike Hawthorn, 12 Alan Jones, 13 Giuseppe Farina, 14 Jody Scheckter, 15 Keke Rosberg, 16 Phil Hill, 17 Denny Hulme
If there is one driver who comes across as being very much his ‘own man’, it’s Ferrari’s 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen. But is Finland’s famous ‘Iceman’ really as single-minded as his laidback public persona suggests? It’s time to find out…
If you could pick just one meal to eat for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Kimi Raikkonen: Salmon? Very Scandinavian…
If you could pick just one pizza topping what would it be?
KR: Tuna - to stick with the fish! If you could pick just one holiday destination…
KR: Home. Who needs a holiday destination?
If you could pick just one track to race on…
KR: Spa, I guess.
If you could pick just one road car to drive…
KR: A Ferrari, of course. Any kind of Ferrari.
If you could pick just one race car to drive…
KR: Ferrari - the one I became world champion in (F2007).
If you could pick just one colour to wear…
KR: Black. f you could pick just one sport to play…
KR: Motocross.
If you could pick just one song to listen to…
KR: Depends on the mood, so any! (Laughs) Or actually, the radio. So you see I’m not very sophisticated when it comes to music, but rather random.
If you could pick just one thing to drink…
KR: Water.
If you could pick just one book to read…
KR: I don’t read. No books for me.
If you could pick just one city to live in…
KR: My summer place. It has a name, but I’d rather not tell you more than that it is in Finland.
If you could pick just one movie to watch…
KR: Nothing in particular.
If you could pick just one person to live with…
KR: My family - I’m unable to choose just one.
If you could pick just one team mate…
KR: This one that I have now.
If you could pick just one fruit to eat…
KR: Banana.If you could pick just one vegetable to eat…
KR: Carrots.
If you could pick just one mode of transport to use…
KR: Car - what else!
If you could pick just one F1 corner to drive…
KR: Eau Rouge.
If you could pick just one age to be…
KR: Any. I am super satisfied with my life so far.
If you could pick just one F1 era to race in…
KR: 1970s.
If you could pick just one band/singer to listen to…
KR: When I was young it was Guns N’ Roses - but that’s a bit of a long time ago.
If you could pick just one piece of exercise equipment to train with…
KR: If I could I would do Motocross for exercise - all the time.
If you could pick just one thing to collect…
KR: I don’t collect anything. It’s boring. If you could wear just one type of footwear to wear…
KR: Shoes! (Laughs)
If you could pick just one type of chocolate or candy to snack on…
KR: Finnish candy.
If you could pick just one memory from your racing career to keep…
KR: When I won the championship.
If you could pick just one other race series to watch…
KR: I watch a lot of motorsport, but my favourite is Motocross. Does that come as a surprise?
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Fri Sep 16, 2016 2:07 pm
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Thanks for posting the link Miezi! 
)
Merry Christmas to all of you!
