Is Raikkonen a changed man?

| Source: thejudge13.com |

Dark clouds form over Maranello

Whenever there is a state of all being well, one should take the opportunity to enjoy and take in the positive vibe that is all around before, inevitably, the harsh reality of life kicks in and the moment is lost. Perhaps this where the saying comes from, Nothing lasts forever, so live for the moment!

In light of the comments made last week by a certain Brazilian who has moved to Williams for 2014, it would seem the moment where all was well has passed for Fernando Alonso. Whilst he hardly spent any time in Maranello on the sim tirelessly plugging away learning new tracks, he actually did just this but in his home in Oviedo, Spain, instead.

In years gone by where the Spaniard was clearly the undisputed no.1 there was no need to embrace the Ferrari family sentiment as he was unchallenged and for all intents and purposes, untouchable. The man who twice had come within a whisker of claiming the title for the Scuderia, only for a team error to cost him in 2010 and lady luck to intervene in 2012 – (although I know there will be a few who disagree with the 2012 assessment).

Why all this matters I hear you ask? Kimi is hardly known for being the ‘friendly’ sort of team player who will ask ‘How high?’ every time the team says ‘Jump.’ TheJudge13 sources say that the Kimi that has returned is almost unrecognisable from the Kimi that left in 2009. Putting the hard hours into his simulator work both days of the weekend is a far cry from what would be expected normally from the Finn.

Furthermore, he spent Wednesday at the factory meeting up with ‘old friends’ and trying to persuade Luca to let him test the LaFerrari on the Fiorano track, only stopped in this pursuit by the fading light. Kimi had another seat fitting as he was unhappy with his previous ride position, demonstrating the perfectionist the Finn has become.

Not being reported elsewhere, but this is the third time Kimi has been to Marnello since resigning for the red team. Reportedly, he is welcomed back like a long lost son at every visit. If this is the case, then wouldn’t that now make Alonso the prodigal son?

Any avid football fans will remember how Jose Mourinho returned to Chelsea during his stint with Inter Milan. That day he proved that actions do genuinely speak louder than words, seeking the custard cream distributor and munching away. He showed he still know that place like the back of his hand, exactly as Kimi is doing right now in Maranello.

So the man who journalists would have you believe ‘doesn’t do politics’ is putting in the hard hours to, once again, be the favoured one within the Ferrari family. No war of words is required with Alonso, leaving his Samurai quotes null and void. Kimi is not wasting his energy with multiple blows, just a few sharp ones – which is hurting Alonso. Dark clouds are forming over Maranello as the war begins.

The Taming of Kimi Räikkönen

As the gavel wielding one has written a few paragraphs north from here, Kimi 2.0 has become quite a perfectionist. And although he is still capable of pulling memorable moments, like the “leave me alone” comment over team radio, he’s a far cry from the wild boy, who was filmed falling off a boat in a drunken stupor. He was even caught a few times on camera actually talking to journalists last year.

Now, those of a naive disposition will conclude that Kimi has matured over the years, but they are deluding themselves. Men are and always will be oversized children. If you want to test the theory, lock several guys in a room with a model train set or a scalextric kit. The only difference to a group of small boys will be, that men will get hogwashly bladdered in the process as they’ll drink beer instead of soda. Give them BMX bikes in the summer or sleighs and a hill in the winter and you’ll witness an impromptu session of “jackass”.

What you just saw flying out of the window was the maturity theory. The only one, who can make a grown male of the species resemble something like a responsible adult is a woman, usually referred to as “the right one”, which means that not every woman has that effect on a man. Which would mean that Jenni Dahlman, former miss Scandinavia and wife to Kimi Räikkönen for eight years was not the one to achieve that.

The one, who seems to have pulled off the miracle goes by the name Minttu Virtanen and if the Finnish yellow press is to be believed she did not only tame Kimi into Kimi 2.0, she’s also working on a completely new one. Since the pair is one of the main interest of the Finnish rags, they are usually well informed about them and if that latest bit of news proves correct, Kimi will join Sebastian Vettel, Romain Grosjean, Felipe Massa and Pastor Maldonado in the club of those, who in recent years submitted their genetic make-up for long-time storage.

Maybe Bernie should invest in a Kindergarten, rather than the Nürburgring.

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So what do you think? Despite winning the championship in his debut season for the Scuderia, the team felt Kimi wasn’t the true leader they hoped for after Schumacher’s departure – I recall Domenicali saying this after Kimi left F1. Has Kimi realised that in order to be at the true height of success at Ferrari he must put in the extra hours and genuine desire to beat Alonso both on and off the track? I must admit myself, being a fan for over 10 years, that it has been a little out of character for Kimi to be so frequently present at the headquarters.

But I don’t think it’s the influence of a new woman – Kimi loves racing since he was a kid (you’ve only got to watch Prelude to see why) and how he left Ferrari hurt him but he still has huge respect for those guys who work hard inside the team. Sure, he may be like a sick puppy in love right now, but it has nothing to do with his new mentality – leaving F1 did Kimi a world of good and he had no woman by his side during that time except his mother. He came back to Formula 1 as an improved man two years ago already. At Lotus we saw Kimi stand up for himself over the unpaid salary. Now we are seeing Kimi making right what he feels was missing from his previous term at Ferrari. Afterall, even athletes must learn from their mistakes? Tell us your thoughts!