Yes, the real news there was than Allevi was saying all this nice stuff about Kimi. Even though it was the Italian press who did all the damage before, they are starting to take all back. I think the Italian press still owes Kimi a lot of praise. So they better keep this going while the season progresses.
Ferrari hiring Kimi back set a good example to a lot of people. Specially to the Italian press, who is now obliged to not only eat their words, but also to make up for all the damage they did.
While it might be completely untrue Ferrari top dogs might have decided to have some cover in case Alonso jumps the ship at the end of 2014 despite all the talk about contract etc... Even if the car had been a dog on the first test they would've had at least one top driver in team at the end of the year. I don't think Alonso would stay for another year or two with the team having bad car. No one in business world would trust a piece of paper when Alonso has a backing of the big bank to buy his contract out if there was a chance to go to the team with a better car. If I remember correctly Ferrari don't like to hire rookies and if Alosno was gone by the end of 2014 they could be in the situaiton with no top drivers easily available. We should remember that at the time of the rumours there was a different situation in McLaren and nothing would look like troubles in case Alosno wanted to join them. Merc was out of questions and Red Bull was good variant with one question mark over the engines. However, look how peculiar the situation became. Seems that McLaren is no-go area now with Alonso confirming last year that Dennis was the bad guy in his opinion. And it looks that Ferrari car is not bad at all. My opinion - it's going to be a bloodbath at some point, since neither is ready to give away any ground: nor Alonso, nor Kimi. Unless team will play under the table...
Nomad, you're the rider so mysterious Nomad, you're the spirit that men fear in us
one must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star - it's a satanic drug thing you wouldn't understand...
Quote: Denorth wrote in post #107 My opinion - it's going to be a bloodbath at some point, since neither is ready to give away any ground: nor Alonso, nor Kimi. Unless team will play under the table...
Quote: Boudica wrote in post #103And whilst on the topic of Kimi redeeming himself, Kimi's rally prowess could also be in for some redemption.
I dont know if anyone has followed a bit of WRC this season? Kubica has now gotten a bit of experience under his belt, he won the WRC2 title last year. Yet so far he isn't doing any better in WRC then Kimi did in his first season.
Let's wait a couple more rallies. Kubica was very fast in rally Monte Carlo, winning two (?) stages. I think Kimi has never done that, apart from that SSS. But I expect Kubica will be very fast on tarmac, he has way more experience there than Kimi had when he started in WRC. I also think that Kubica works harder on his notes than Kimi had, might be wrong but Wilson said he has never seen a guy working so hard on his preperation. Taking all this into consideration, I will be surprised, if Kubica doesn't do better than Kimi did in his first WRC season.
Kubica has to be at least 10th overall at the end of the season, (well, 8th if you take into consideration Loeb and Peter Solberg don't compete anymore) to tie Kimi. So let's see...
I think that for Kubica, (unlike Kimi) WRC is all there is left for him, so he obviously will give his all to it. So I believe he could end up higher than 8th. Plus, every season is different and it always depends on what everybody else does.
Quote: valuk wrote in post #109 Let's wait a couple more rallies. Kubica was very fast in rally Monte Carlo, winning two (?) stages. I think Kimi has never done that, apart from that SSS.
He won one, but I can remember the rally
I´m afraid when I see Robert driving. I have all the time the feeling, he give too much. I hope this will end well
Quote: WHATEVER wrote in post #110Kubica has to be at least 10th overall at the end of the season, (well, 8th if you take into consideration Loeb and Peter Solberg don't compete anymore) to tie Kimi. So let's see...
I think that for Kubica, (unlike Kimi) WRC is all there is left for him, so he obviously will give his all to it. So I believe he could end up higher than 8th. Plus, every season is different and it always depends on what everybody else does.
Quote: valuk wrote in post #109 Let's wait a couple more rallies. Kubica was very fast in rally Monte Carlo, winning two (?) stages. I think Kimi has never done that, apart from that SSS.
He won one, but I can remember the rally
I´m afraid when I see Robert driving. I have all the time the feeling, he give too much. I hope this will end well
i think it was the last power stage in german rally
Quote: WHATEVER wrote in post #110Kubica has to be at least 10th overall at the end of the season, (well, 8th if you take into consideration Loeb and Peter Solberg don't compete anymore) to tie Kimi. So let's see...
I think that for Kubica, (unlike Kimi) WRC is all there is left for him, so he obviously will give his all to it. So I believe he could end up higher than 8th. Plus, every season is different and it always depends on what everybody else does.
I don't think he'll finish higher than 8th. Even if P. Solberg and Loeb don't compete anymore, there are more than enough fast drivers to take their place (Neuville, Mikkelsen, Ostebrg, Meeke...) so Kubica won't have it any easier. Besides, I'm more interested what his gap to the leaders will be than what his final position in championship will be. I was far happier when Kimi was fast even if he didn't finish than watching him come in in the points but losing more than 2 s/km.
Mika Häkkinen believes that Kimi Räikkönen will get the better of Fernando Alonso during their first campaign as team-mates at Ferrari.
This season, teams and drivers are getting to grips with turbocharged 1.6-litre V6 engines plus a host of aerodynamic and chassis changes.
And Häkkinen expects Räikkönen to experience a much smoother transition, describing his fellow Finn as less aggressive than Alonso.
"I think Kimi's driving style is really perfect for these turbo cars," two-time World Champion Häkkinen explained in an interview with Spanish daily newspaper Marca. "Alonso pushes too hard, so I think Kimi will beat him.
"Everyone knows Ferrari has huge resources to develop during the season. The development will not stop, even if good engineers leave. And Kimi does not have to be worried about the financial side, Ferrari has what it takes."
Räikkönen remains Ferrari's most recent title winner with his 2007 triumph.
Quote: WHATEVER wrote in post #110Kubica has to be at least 10th overall at the end of the season, (well, 8th if you take into consideration Loeb and Peter Solberg don't compete anymore) to tie Kimi. So let's see...
I think that for Kubica, (unlike Kimi) WRC is all there is left for him, so he obviously will give his all to it. So I believe he could end up higher than 8th. Plus, every season is different and it always depends on what everybody else does.
I don't think he'll finish higher than 8th. Even if P. Solberg and Loeb don't compete anymore, there are more than enough fast drivers to take their place (Neuville, Mikkelsen, Ostebrg, Meeke...) so Kubica won't have it any easier. Besides, I'm more interested what his gap to the leaders will be than what his final position in championship will be. I was far happier when Kimi was fast even if he didn't finish than watching him come in in the points but losing more than 2 s/km.
Lets face it no one else was winning much of anything when Loeb was around.
Ostberg and Meeke were also driving when Kimi was there, as well as others such as Sordo. Henning and Wilson were also driving, of course they weren't exactly the fasted but Henning could at times do well. Of course Kimi also didn't do all of the rallies.
Personally I hope Kubica does well, I have always liked him which is why I keep an eye on rallying from time to time. As Olga has said, unlike Kimi, Kubica cant come back to F1 so he has the rest of his career invested in rallying.
But whenever Kimi and rallying is mentioned it is always seen as a massive failure, Kubica is showing that it clearly is not that easy.
Quote: Denorth wrote in post #107one thought about hiring Kimi.
While it might be completely untrue Ferrari top dogs might have decided to have some cover in case Alonso jumps the ship at the end of 2014 despite all the talk about contract etc... Even if the car had been a dog on the first test they would've had at least one top driver in team at the end of the year. I don't think Alonso would stay for another year or two with the team having bad car. No one in business world would trust a piece of paper when Alonso has a backing of the big bank to buy his contract out if there was a chance to go to the team with a better car. If I remember correctly Ferrari don't like to hire rookies and if Alosno was gone by the end of 2014 they could be in the situaiton with no top drivers easily available. We should remember that at the time of the rumours there was a different situation in McLaren and nothing would look like troubles in case Alosno wanted to join them. Merc was out of questions and Red Bull was good variant with one question mark over the engines. However, look how peculiar the situation became. Seems that McLaren is no-go area now with Alonso confirming last year that Dennis was the bad guy in his opinion. And it looks that Ferrari car is not bad at all. My opinion - it's going to be a bloodbath at some point, since neither is ready to give away any ground: nor Alonso, nor Kimi. Unless team will play under the table...
I guess that reasoning does make sense, although Ferrari could still have hired Hulkenberg. But as you said Ferrari prefers experience.
I wouldn't be so sure about Alonso not being able to return to Mclaren. If Kimi could return to Ferrari then Alonso might be able to return to Mclaren. On the otherhand Ron Dennis is somewhat known for keeping a grudge so perhaps it is out of the question now.
Alonso doesn't really have much of choice now, he has to play nice with Ferrari because there aren't many options left, I think the he properly realizes this, so we might never see that bloodbath. On the otherhand it would properly be better for Kimi if there actually was a bloodbath.
quoteFerrari boss Stefano Domenicali says that his team has started the new era of hybrid turbo technology “in the right way” and added that in new signing Kimi Raikonnen he has a driver who knows that for Ferrari, “finishing second is a tragedy.”
In an extensive interview with Gazzetta dello Sport today, the 48 year old team principal says that there he is pleased with the way his team has responded to falling short the last few years – he has a photo on his office wall of the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix debacle which cost Fernando Alonso and Ferrari the world title; a reminder not to get complacent as things can change quickly in F1.
Ferrari’s new engine covered 444 laps of Jerez in the back of the works car, the Sauber and the Marussia, which made a late start and the works car seemed to be able to do the mileage without too many problems.
“In a very different kind of contest from previous years we needed to confirm certain fundamental parameters and we have done that,” said Domenicali. “It is a sign of the robustness of our project which gives us hope. But we must be careful; in terms of performance we haven’t seen anything yet from anyone. We will only know where everyone is after the second Bahrain test.” (22 February – 2 March)
“From a reliability point of view Mercedes has started well, also its customer teams have covered a lot of kilometres.”
As for Red Bull, Domenicali is cautious and refuses “to write off such a powerful adversary” after the team’s extensive reliability problems in the first test in Jerez. “If they have isolated the problem they can make up the lost kilometres,” he said.
On the main talking point around Ferrari this year, the driver pairing that all of Formula 1 is looking forward to seeing in action, Alonso and Raikkonen, the Ferrari boss says that the decision to put them together was “rational, not emotional” and adds that Raikkonen is “extremely motivated and has the experience to manage a difficult championship, such as this year’s will be. He knows how to handle the pressure of driving alongside Alonso and driving for Ferrari, which is always under the spotlight and for whom finishing second is a tragedy.”
(Compared to the last time he was at Ferrari in 2009, Raikkonen “is more mature, more expert, closer to the team. He’s already been to Maranello a lot; he comes he almost every week. He knows what he is capable of. He knows that this is an important challenge for him. He knows what he has to do with a champion like Alonso, with whim he has to work in an integrated way.”
There are a couple of other interesting notes from the interview; responding to Bernie Ecclestone’s comment that the new hybrid formula is “a farce”, Domenicali is cautious on making pronouncements too soon, but interestingly notes that, “we need to be prepared to intervene if the new F1 is losing something in terms of emotional appeal.”
On the controversial new rule to double the points for the final race in Abu Dhabi, Domenicali says that “rules must be respected,” but adds, “If we want to say that this is too artificial, this is true.” http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2014/02/do...d-is-a-tragedy/
Talking about a bloodbath.... i see Fernando fighting like a wild animal but Kimi fighting with surgical precision .... if Kimi stays focused and the team plays fair, the battle may be clean..
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Tue Feb 11, 2014 1:12 pm (Last edited: Tue Feb 11, 2014 1:14 pm)
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Let's wait a couple more rallies. Kubica was very fast in rally Monte Carlo, winning two (?) stages. I think Kimi has never done that, apart from that SSS. But I expect Kubica will be very fast on tarmac, he has way more experience there than Kimi had when he started in WRC. I also think that Kubica works harder on his notes than Kimi had, might be wrong but Wilson said he has never seen a guy working so hard on his preperation. Taking all this into consideration, I will be surprised, if Kubica doesn't do better than Kimi did in his first WRC season.
I hope this will end well 
