Raikkonen king of consistency hunting his first comeback win
11 September, 2012
Kimi Raikkonen still very much in contention for the title despite no win since his comeback
Sep.12 (Reuters) – Ultra-consistent points scorer Kimi Raikkonen has moved stealthily up the Formula One standings to a healthy third place and the Lotus driver could become even more of a contender now that the championship has turned its back on Europe.
Lotus team principal Eric Boullier made no secret of the fact that Monza, the fastest track on the calendar and a power circuit with long straights and few corners, did not play to his car’s strengths on Sunday.
“We knew here would not be easy,” he said after Raikkonen finished fifth at the Italian Grand Prix, the last European race of the year with the focus now on the Far and Middle East before the season ends in the Americas. We look forward now obviously to the next races because it should suit our car much better.”
Scoring regular points has been key in this most unpredictable of championships and Raikkonen and Ferrari’s championship leader Fernando Alonso have been the ‘kings of consistency’. Raikkonen has scored points in his last 10 races and, although the Finn has yet to enjoy a win in his comeback season after two years in the World Rally Championship, he has been on the podium six times in 13 races.
Alonso’s focus has been mostly on Red Bull’s world champion Sebastian Vettel and McLaren’s Monza race winner Hamilton so far this season but the Spaniard may have to take his Ferrari predecessor into account as well now. Both Red Bulls failed to finish at Monza but Raikkonen banked points as usual.
Alonso will need no reminding of how Raikkonen took the 2007 title against the odds, mounting one of the sport’s great comebacks by winning three of the last four races of that season to pip Hamilton and the Spaniard, at the time McLaren team mates, by a single point.
“It’s good to go into third position,” said Raikkonen, just one point behind Hamilton and 38 adrift of Alonso despite the top two having each won three races this year.
“It was a difficult weekend as we were too slow in a straight line. We came into the race looking for sixth or seventh so fifth is the maximum we could have done here this weekend.”
Nobody has won more than three races this year and Raikkonen has plenty of time to clamber to the top of the podium before the year is out. Japan’s Suzuka circuit, which comes after next week’s Singapore Grand Prix, is a particular favourite.
Raikkonen was Lotus’s sole points scorer on Sunday, with regular French team mate Romain Grosjean banned for the race after causing a pile-up at the start in Belgium and replaced by Belgian reserve Jerome D’Ambrosio, whose hopes were hit by a KERS problem.
Subbed by AJN.
Related posts:
- Vettel wins Bahrain GP as Raikkonen makes return to the F1 podium
- Raikkonen: For my comeback I have a good car but Schumacher did not
- Lotus set fourth place target for Raikkonen led team
- Raikkonen will not struggle with F1 comeback
- Raikkonen returns to F1 with Renault in 2012
@kaka007 that was Mega, thnx for giving us the information on Kimi ,I seriously feel that he can win the title, he just needs wins, this may turn out to be similar to the 2007 championship, who knows !!!
@kaka007
well said!!!!
Kimi is showing so far he is King of comebacks and really hoping he takes the fight to Lewis and Alonso…
Lotus need to fine tune their strategies
What a champion he is!
There only consitent thing with Alonso: team orders and FIA assistance.
Surely at the moment the title of this article is misleading…consistent in points, yes!…However Alonso was the most consistent until the DNF AT Spa…Kimi is great driver. However no wins yet…. and also, he is much a threat as is Hamilton and Vettel are currently.
Alonso has been the most consistent in terms of race pace, wins, and points. Period.
I think Rosberg’s father took the title with a single win.
maybe Kimi can make it more epic, winning WDC w/o winning a single race… lol
if he doesnt win the WDC this year, its because of their pathetic race strategy!
it’s good you did not conclude by calling him a legend.
@Butterfly
ha ha…….. it’s gotta be and it’s coming from a die hard kimi fan
Jesus, that has got to be the biggest post ever here on Yalla.
2matthias o’ keeffe
well, how do you categorise a legend,haa??
you r ryt,schumi is a legend..based on his achievements for sure
Then what about these achievements..
Just for the record
KIMI joined McLaren Mercedes in 2002, and became a title contender by finishing runner-up in the 2003 and 2005 championships to Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso, respectively. “Räikkönen’s 2003 and 2005 seasons were plagued by severe unreliability from his McLaren cars”.
In 2005 Räikkönen equalled the record of wins in a single season without winning the World Title (7), shared with four time World Champion Alain Prost, who initially set the record in 1984 and matched it in 1988, and also with Michael Schumacher, in 2006.
In the 2005 and 2008 seasons, he equalled Michael Schumacher’s record of 10 fastest race laps in a season, set in 2004.
He currently holds the third highest record for total fastest laps at 37.
In 2008, Räikkönen scored six consecutive fastest race laps (in Spain, Turkey, Monaco, Canada, France and Britain), equalling Alberto Ascari’s record for the most consecutive fastest laps in a single season and placing him one behind Ascari’s overall record of seven consecutive fastest laps (which were split across two seasons: six in 1952 and one in 1953).
He was the first driver to win on his Ferrari debut since Nigel Mansell at the 1989 Brazilian Grand Prix and the first to win, set the fastest lap and pole position on his Ferrari debut since Juan Manuel Fangio at the 1956 Argentine Grand Prix. His replacement Fernando Alonso also won on his Ferrari debut at the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix, setting the fastest lap on the way; however Alonso only qualified 3rd.
Following Michael Schumacher’s retirement at the end of 2006, Räikkönen was the highest paid driver in Formula One, with a reputed base salary of $51 m per year.
The 2007 Chinese Grand Prix saw Räikkönen give Scuderia Ferrari their 200th Formula One GP win, as well as their 600th podium (along with team-mate Felipe Massa who finished in 3rd).
At the 2008 French Grand Prix Räikkönen gave Ferrari their 200th pole position.
Räikkönen is the second driver to win the World Championship after being third in the drivers standings before the final race. Giuseppe Farina, the first F1 World Champion, was the first to do this in 1950, beating Juan Manuel Fangio by three points and Luigi Fagioli by six points. Sebastian Vettel repeated this feat in 2010, when he won the championship at the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Räikkönen is the third Ferrari driver after Juan Manuel Fangio and Jody Scheckter to win the world title in their first year with the team.
Räikkönen is the third Finnish driver to win the World Championship, after Keke Rosberg and Mika Häkkinen. He is also the most successful Finnish Formula One driver in terms of points, podium finishes and fastest laps.
Räikkönen also holds the record for the most wins in a debut year with Ferrari with 6, beating Alain Prost’s previous record of 5 from 1990.
@Kimi4WDC
Just FYI, they are not legends… Michael Schumacher is a legend…
“Alonso will need no reminding of how Raikkonen took the 2007 title against the odds” – or how he was given his first Championship in 2005
I’m glad both Alonso and Kimi got their Championships, they are legends.
Hoping for a 2007 all over again ………… go ICEMAN