43 replies to this topic

[Fed up]

Quote

Ferrari believe that Kimi Raikkonen should have done a better job at the safety car restart in Bahrain on Sunday, after losing touch with the three cars ahead of him.

The safety car had been called out following Jenson Button's opening lap incident, and at the restart leaders Felipe Massa, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso all executed perfect getaways to cross the line closely grouped together.

Raikkonen, however, failed to capitalise on the situation and was 2.4 seconds adrift of Alonso when they crossed the start-finish line.

With Ferrari confirming that he had no problem with his car, technical director Mario Almondo has admitted that the Finn needs to improve his approach to the restarts.

"If you are not first or second you can always do a better job," said Almondo about Raikkonen's restart. "I have to say that he has to think of a better way of managing this specific start and this part of the job.

"We will re-analyse things and we will do the same this weekend. It's part of the enrichment of every driver and every technician who is part of the team."

Despite Ferrari's feelings about that specific incident, the team praised Raikkonen's calm approach to racing - and believe his position as joint championship leader reflects how well he is doing.

Stefano Domenicali, sporting director, said: "Kimi's best characteristic is that he's always cool, he's always looking behind the fence.

"He's not emotionally involved, at least, apparently, because he's a thinker and so you can see that.

"If you look at the numbers, Kimi's leading the championship with the others of course. But he's there, so that's his strength."

Ferrari have also praised the way that Massa put behind him the pressures caused by his mistakes in Malaysia last weekend to claim his first victory of the season.

"Felipe's strength was to react straight away from one week ago in Malaysia," explained Domenicali. "Everyone said that Felipe was no longer a driver.

"As always you need to look on average, and I think that he reacted very, very well and that shows his character.

"I think that he's grown a lot, because he wanted to show first to himself and also to all of us who he is.

"For sure, his strength is that he had a great reaction in terms of behaviour and approach to this race."

Autosport

Edited by Fed up, 15 April 2007 - 08:30 PM.

[whiskee]

I wonder what happened there. 100% a one time mistake from him.

[Schumikonen]

Fed up, on Apr 15 2007, 04:29 PM, said:

Autosport

Yes Kimi is doing great and that was a mistake of him at the restart probably he was falling asleep again.

[Niall McBride]

he looked as if he was slowing down the others behind him and forgot to focus on the cars ahead lol oh well he done well to make up for it but he might've gotten 2nd if that didn't happen

Edited by Niall McBride, 15 April 2007 - 09:41 PM.

[Max Mosley]

Yeah he seemed to under-perform there but it doesn't explain why he finished in 3rd overall.

[Karta]

Murray Walker, on Apr 16 2007, 12:56 AM, said:

Yeah he seemed to under-perform there but it doesn't explain why he finished in 3rd overall.

He finished third overall due to Mclaren pit strategy.

[jemstride]

it was a one-off mistake really, it hasnt been an issue before with Kimi

[Wez]

Schumikonen, on Apr 15 2007, 11:01 PM, said:

Yes Kimi is doing great and that was a mistake of him at the restart probably he was falling asleep again.

From one camera angle it looked as though he was taking a swig of Brandy under his helmet... and he merely got caught offguard!

[BradSpeedMan]

Wez, on Apr 17 2007, 03:15 PM, said:

From one camera angle it looked as though he was taking a swig of Brandy under his helmet... and he merely got caught offguard!

ok, could not help but this time....

[pabloh20]

Wez, on Apr 17 2007, 02:15 PM, said:

From one camera angle it looked as though he was taking a swig of Brandy under his helmet... and he merely got caught offguard!

That's impressive!  The wrist strength it must take to do that with the g-forces involved and I bet he didn't spill a drop!  I don't want to know what he does in his spare time to develop that sort of power in his wrist...........  

[Quiet One]

pabloh20, on Apr 17 2007, 01:36 PM, said:

That's impressive!  The wrist strength it must take to do that with the g-forces involved and I bet he didn't spill a drop!  I don't want to know what he does in his spare time to develop that sort of power in his wrist...........  

Iworkedveryhardduringoffseasontestingstoachievethisskillwestillhaveroomforimprov
ementsbutwewillseesorryImustgoIhavetotakeas##t.

[pabloh20]

Quiet One, on Apr 17 2007, 02:51 PM, said:

Iworkedveryhardduringoffseasontestingstoachievethisskillwestillhaveroomforimprov
ementsbutwewillseesorryImustgoIhavetotakeas##t.

Maybe there is some secret in the 'taking a sh!t'  

[Moose11]

He was caught sleeping on that one.

[dark rider 13]

i must admit on a serious note i have been a little dissappionted at the kimi fararia combo

[Autumnpuma]

I say to this topic: Bah.

If Kimi makes a habit of this, then we should hang him, but until then just chalk it up to a bad day. Every driver has them.

[dribbler]

Murray Walker, on Apr 15 2007, 10:56 PM, said:

Yeah he seemed to under-perform there but it doesn't explain why he finished in 3rd overall.

Absolutely.

Karta, on Apr 17 2007, 01:40 PM, said:

He finished third overall due to Mclaren pit strategy.

Maybe, but the Ferrari was quicker overall. The point i believe our Muzz is making is that he should have been knocking on the door a lot stronger.

Autumnpuma, on Apr 17 2007, 07:07 PM, said:

I say to this topic: Bah.

If Kimi makes a habit of this, then we should hang him, but until then just chalk it up to a bad day. Every driver has them.

True enough. I remeber Michael stuffing it into the barriers in Monaco in '96; Ross Brawn said "Michael has one bad day a year....this was it".

[goferrarigo]

Autumnpuma, on Apr 17 2007, 01:07 PM, said:

I say to this topic: Bah.

If Kimi makes a habit of this, then we should hang him, but until then just chalk it up to a bad day. Every driver has them.

but when Massa has a bad day/makes a mistake, he is worthless and should be fired???

[Autumnpuma]

goferrarigo, on Apr 17 2007, 04:31 PM, said:

but when Massa has a bad day/makes a mistake, he is worthless and should be fired???

Massa has made so many mistakes (like spinning and mowing the trackside lawn with his car) that a pattern develops.....

When a good drive from Massa is the rule instead of the exception, I'll afford him the same 'bad day' allowances.

[goferrarigo]

Autumnpuma, on Apr 17 2007, 06:38 PM, said:

Massa has made so many mistakes (like spinning and mowing the trackside lawn with his car) that a pattern develops.....

When a good drive from Massa is the rule instead of the exception, I'll afford him the same 'bad day' allowances.

Since Ferrari i haven't seen many mistakes from him....

[Autumnpuma]

Key word being 'many'. There were a few spins last season and a few missed corners (probably because he was still learning to adjust the brake bias on the fly) and he was horrid in the rain. This season there were two so far. Despite my accusations of Kimi overdriving his fragile McLaren, his overall racecraft is far better than Massa...which makes me give him more latitude than Massa.

If Massa really shows improvement, I'll be the first to admit it. Right now, it's too early.

[goferrarigo]

Autumnpuma, on Apr 17 2007, 06:50 PM, said:

Key word being 'many'. There were a few spins last season and a few missed corners (probably because he was still learning to adjust the brake bias on the fly) and he was horrid in the rain. This season there were two so far. Despite my accusations of Kimi overdriving his fragile McLaren, his overall racecraft is far better than Massa...which makes me give him more latitude than Massa.

If Massa really shows improvement, I'll be the first to admit it. Right now, it's too early.

again you could say his rain race was his "bad" day of that year.... I mean it may not be but you never know...

[JayStorm]

Shouldn't see it too often. I've seen it happen to most drivers and he did catch him up quickly after that.

Even if he was prepared to go for it, I think Alonso would have done quite well at defending from him too.

[Sato]

I don't get what the problem is... Someone always gets caught out at restarts. Also the cars infront of him were slowing down then quickly speeding up to warm the tyres.... It was his turn just as Massa took off and thats why it happened IMO.

[BradSpeedMan]

Sato, on Apr 18 2007, 10:56 AM, said:

I don't get what the problem is... Someone always gets caught out at restarts. Also the cars infront of him were slowing down then quickly speeding up to warm the tyres.... It was his turn just as Massa took off and thats why it happened IMO.

I don't understand....Kimi is usually sharp with restarts, that was very unusual.....

[Quiet One]

BradSpeedMan, on Apr 18 2007, 09:13 AM, said:

I don't understand....Kimi is usually sharp with restarts, that was very unusual.....

I think that Kimi was surprised by Alonso in that one and misjudged the cars ahead of him. Usually, Alonso slows almost down to a halt right before the restart as to group all the cars behind him together and mess their restarts while he suddenly leaps forward like a hare. Kimi was probably expecting that. Instead, FA glued himself to the back of LH's car. Kimi was expecting Alonso to slow down to make some space for accelerating down the straight or get constricted behind LH and Massa. Instead, Massa, Hamilton and Alonso grouped together leaped forward very fast, effectively ruining Kimi's strategy. That is what I think, at least. When I saw the gap between Kimi and Alonso right before the restart I thought that Alonso would be held up by Massa and Hammy and that Kimi would get to the end of the straight with more speed which of course didn't happen.

[BradSpeedMan]

Quiet One, on Apr 18 2007, 02:36 PM, said:

I think that Kimi was surprised by Alonso in that one and misjudged the cars ahead of him. Usually, Alonso slows almost down to a halt right before the restart as to group all the cars behind him together and mess their restarts while he suddenly leaps forward like a hare. Kimi was probably expecting that. Instead, FA glued himself to the back of LH's car. Kimi was expecting Alonso to slow down to make some space for accelerating down the straight or get constricted behind LH and Massa. Instead, Massa, Hamilton and Alonso grouped together leaped forward very fast, effectively ruining Kimi's strategy. That is what I think, at least. When I saw the gap between Kimi and Alonso right before the restart I thought that Alonso would be held up by Massa and Hammy and that Kimi would get to the end of the straight with more speed which of course didn't happen.

a Totally acceptable sensible explanation, good one the Quiet One. Although he overtook Alonso with the pistops, that gives +1 advantage to Alonso over Kimi this year, Kimi got caught out, badly.....

Edited by BradSpeedMan, 18 April 2007 - 01:02 PM.

[pabloh20]

BradSpeedMan, on Apr 18 2007, 01:58 PM, said:

a Totally acceptable sensible explanation, good one the Quiet One. Although he overtook Alonso with the pistops, that gives +advantage to Alonso over Kimi this year, Kimi got caught out, badly.....

Well, he did get caught out slightly, however, he didn't lose a place and it's only theory that he could have gained a place - the first 3 didn't swap places, after all.

[Max Mosley]

dribbler, on Apr 17 2007, 07:12 PM, said:

Maybe, but the Ferrari was quicker overall. The point i believe our Muzz is making is that he should have been knocking on the door a lot stronger.

Exactly right, as always Steve.

dribbler, on Apr 17 2007, 07:12 PM, said:

True enough. I remeber Michael stuffing it into the barriers in Monaco in '96; Ross Brawn said "Michael has one bad day a year....this was it".

  So true!

Autumnpuma, on Apr 18 2007, 12:38 AM, said:

Massa has made so many mistakes (like spinning and mowing the trackside lawn with his car) that a pattern develops.....

When a good drive from Massa is the rule instead of the exception, I'll afford him the same 'bad day' allowances.

Yep.

[dribbler]

Quiet One, on Apr 18 2007, 01:36 PM, said:

I think that Kimi was surprised by Alonso in that one and misjudged the cars ahead of him. Usually, Alonso slows almost down to a halt right before the restart as to group all the cars behind him together and mess their restarts while he suddenly leaps forward like a hare. Kimi was probably expecting that. Instead, FA glued himself to the back of LH's car. Kimi was expecting Alonso to slow down to make some space for accelerating down the straight or get constricted behind LH and Massa. Instead, Massa, Hamilton and Alonso grouped together leaped forward very fast, effectively ruining Kimi's strategy. That is what I think, at least. When I saw the gap between Kimi and Alonso right before the restart I thought that Alonso would be held up by Massa and Hammy and that Kimi would get to the end of the straight with more speed which of course didn't happen.

Yeah Andres as our Mr Brad said, nice explanation, i agree.

[mikathegreat2]

I wonder why Kimi is bad at restarting in a race! Juat like a few years ago when he started about 1 fifth of his races from the pits!