Kimi Raikkonen – His Best Season?

Which season was Kimi truly at his best, so far? This year was ultimatly his greatest – but let’s go through his most acclaimed:

Although 2003 was an awesome season in the racing and the various winners, Kimi was always there from beginning to end and his performance was brilliant compared to the rest. I say brilliant, because despite all the mistakes he inevitably made like most in his position would, he lost out by just 3 points to Schumacher, who was in a far more superior car! Kimi could have won it easily had his engine not blown up at the Nurburgring, or even if the chaos earlier at Brazil didn’t cost him the win by unhappy chance. For example, with Hamilton this year, he could have easily won the title and he deserved it too, but his performances in the final races when it really counted were not impressive and it changed everything. Whereas Kimi in 2003 was on the ball till the very last race at Suzuka, and like most of the time his McLaren was inferior to the Ferrari and second best to Barrichello was the ultimate he could give. Kimi also did a great job beating teammate David Coulthard quite thoroughly that season – the championship standings were 2nd for the Finn and 7th for the Briton. 

2005 was the best season of Kimi’s whole career so far in pure racing terms, in my opinion. I was in dreamland, being a Kimi fan. I was left in awe, he rose over my expectations and despite that, I was left feeling unsatisfied and probably Kimi too, as so much more was possible. 10 fastest laps, 6 pole positions (would have easily been 8 if he didn’t have those engine penalties!) and 7 victories. It sounds fantastic because it is.

Consistancy, like Kimi’s in 2003, won the title for Alonso, but I don’t feel he drove as great as Kimi did. However, that’s because he never had to go that extra mile and that’s not his fault – his Renault gave him peace of mind and he mastered it well, until the the last few races where he fell under McLaren’s shadow and succumbed to sign a contract with them for 2007. Some still say Alonso was flawless that season, but he wasn’t. Hungary for example, he was so blown away by Kimi’s heavy fuelled qualifying lap that he lost it in the final corner and had messed up on the start of the race and scored no points. Canada was the same – he saw Kimi was pushing it for victory and Alonso had to respond – but he hit the wall as a result.

Nurburgring is seen as Kimi’s ultimate failure and is often the reason given for contributing to McLaren’s failure to be champions that year too. However, many drivers including Alonso were running wide and cutting corners during the same race because of the tyres graining dramatically. Kimi unfortunatly flat spotted his tyre when passing a reluctant Villeneuve as a backmarker. Then the rest took it’s course. I must say though, Kimi handled the vibrations and pressure pretty well, without losing the will to win. 2005 was Kimi on the limit, and I’m glad most F1 fans out there see that as his best season – because that’s what racing is all about.

2007 may not be as thorough as 2005 in success, although I’m inclined to say it’s actually his best – based on end result. His debut season with Ferrari – a new team, car, tyres, strangers to him. But like he always said, it’s the same for everybody in a way so no excuses. He faced plenty of criticisms before this time though being called car breaker this, inconsistant that, which is complete rubbish. His McLarens broke/failed because he was on the limit – all F1 drivers should be on their limit, otherwise they don’t think they’re good enough to be the best. I’m suprised McLaren didn’t realise they’ve been letting him down earlier, they could have re-signed him and working with his aggressive-pedal-to-the-metal style, they could build a car stronger than anything. It might explain why they were so strong in reliability this year, but I’m kidding of course! Afterall, Kimi needs a tank to win championships…

The start of the season for Kimi was a pleasant surprise, I think. Although competition with Massa, probably the toughest Kimi has had, seemed to be a problem, it wasn’t the reason why he slumped. At the end of the day, Kimi was racing with himself, let alone racing the others. Most of you know now, from what Ferrari have said about him and etc, that he was in deep study mode. The ‘robot’ was hard at work, he may not be the best mechanically minded driver, but he knew what was the problem and he prevailed. Indianapolis was the glimpse of the Kimi we’ve longed to see since the 2005 days, he was finding a proper connection with the Ferrari. Even I felt rather sad at the beginning, because I was reminded of 2004 – the struggle against the car – but I knew it was going to take time and he’ll be back to beating his teammates and winning races soon, like he did in 2004 too! It was a long wait, and it probably felt like a lifetime for Kimi and he’s the driver who just likes to get on with it and win but winning needed the extra hard work this time.

Then France came, he qualified 3rd, pipped Lewis on the start of the race and paced himself, rather Schumacheresque, and took the win in the vital stages. Maybe Kimi learnt form his McLaren years to be slightely more patient – however, he didn’t lose the speed or the mentality which makes him great. Ironically, maybe now’s the time to call him a robot, as he is much more reserved in his racing and makes it work like clock work! France, Silverstone, China, Brazil – flawless and precise. He truly has combined his talent with something extraordinary – the car – during the season to produce the perfect combination against all the odds. His qualifying performances seem to be overlooked though, most of the time he was compromised by fuel strategy yet those starts of his have been awesome.

But, his fans were losing hope for this years title, despite him saying ‘we’re going to give it our all, it just depends on what the others do’ – and he was so right.

There was a silent confidence in his eyes since mid-season, yet he knew achieving the title would be a dream, literally. He had reliability problems, as did Massa (some people forget that, maybe there are two car-breakers on the grid now? lol), but that’s part of the game, he said. His main problem was working with the car, the braking, the TC, the tyres, the handling. He overcame that all, and beat Massa at it despite his teammates having a clear headstart in those areas from 2006. He did it, against all the odds – this was a glimpse of the heroes F1 fans adored decades ago and the so called pinnacle of motorsport now has a champion at the pinnacle of fulfilment. He had won two races more than his rivals afterall – finally, winning races has actually counted for something in the end.

This was the story of Kimi Raikkonen. What we hadn’t really seen in his early years in F1 and due to his obstacles in poor reliability (something he could never have changed, why can’t people realise that), was being highlighted right now, right here. I can’t help but feel this should be his greatest season, ever. And sadly, because of the spying row and the court cases and the fights at McLaren and their two drivers, most people hardly noticed it. And thank God that justice was made on track – Lewis and Fernando failed whereas Kimi rose up and continued to rise. Fernando and McLaren gave up on eachother because it got so petty, and that reflected in his driving and their strategy. Lewis and McLaren, similar to Kimi and McLaren at Nurburgring 2005, remained desperate together to clinch the title and failed at China.

Kimi kept doing his job and refused to be drawn away from it with the off track rubbish, but he was enjoying it now and McLaren were threatened with Kimi, the same Kimi who they knew as an awesome racer and a dangerous rival. Kimi’s job, plain and simple, was finally being recognised and he may have won it because Lewis lost it, but the facts of Kimi are the same. He won the most races, like 2005 (equal to Alonso, but obviously could have won far more if reliability was on his side) and his second half of the season was more consistant that his rivals. Just because the McLaren drivers had a better start to the season, Kimi had a better end to the season. It balanced out and Kimi did enough and with the help of Massa, of whom Kimi is extremely grateful, perhaps he worked too much for his own liking, but he was crowned champion in the very end. Fantastic. The best season of them all.  

Bravo Kimi, bravo. The champagne tasted sweeter than ever. I can’t wait to see you next year. When you get back, keep flying!