Raikkonen Vs Alonso

[raikkonen_rulez 0]

THEY are motor racing's new icons.

Finland's Kimi Raikkonen and Spain's Fernando Alonso (who first raced in Formula One in 2001) are the current speed demons earning themselves new legions of fans worldwide with their exploits this year.

In their sights is the throne currently occupied by the German Red Baron - seven-time reigning world champion Michael Schumacher, of Ferrari fame.

Both Raikkonen and Alonso are young, fast and fearless.

But who's faster? Who's better?

Let's look at Raikkonen first.

He turns 26 in October, and follows in the same vein as his Finnish predecessors - former two-time world champion Mika Hakkinen (1998 and 1999) and Keke Rosberg (1982).

They were all blindingly quick, especially known for storming race starts.

Until the Spanish Grand Prix two weeks ago, his ability to push or stay near the limit throughout the race was still doubted.

But his unstoppable, relentless win - lapping a second faster than the field in the first quarter of the race to pull out an untouchable lead and maintain it - was the first real sign he is coming close to that level.

Yet, he's still prone to making the crucial mistake in qualifying from pushing too hard, as he did in the first qualifying session to lose out on provisional pole.

Raikkonen's form in the suddenly resurgent McLaren though, has rivals like Renault and Ferrari doubly worried about the extra threat.

Let's now turn to Alonso, who turns 24 in July.

What he clearly doesn't have is the outright speed of Raikkonen.

In fact, his pure speed may still be questionable, compared to the likes of Toyota's Jarno Trulli, widely considered the fastest man in one single flying lap, and even team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella.

So the faster driver for now is Raikkonen.

But better? That calls for more factors to be considered.

And one major factor that can separate world champions from others is consistency.

In terms of making fewer mistakes and racecraft, Alonso has genuinely stepped up his game by two levels this year.

That's not to say Raikkonen lacks strategy and consistency.

In 2003, when he drove an updated version of the previous year's McLaren, he still managed to finish only two points behind Schumacher in the championship.

With only one GP win compared to Schumacher's six GP triumphs, Raikkonen concentrated on finishing as high as second most times.

The difference with Alonso this year, is that he probably has to contend with more than one driver to maintain what he hopes will be a run to his first world championship.

And what stands out to me that shows Alonso is the real deal, is his win over Schumacher at the San Marino Grand Prix a month ago.

Schumacher had a much faster car then, closing in at a rate of up to two seconds on the field.

Jenson Button, in the Bar, hesitated to overtake backmarkers in the old narrow circuit and paid the price as Schumacher pounced.

Yet, for 10 laps till the end, Alonso quickly decided that his best strategy was not to overtake the backmarkers in front of him.

Most drivers will gamble, trying to put them in between, but Alonso smartly stayed away to concentrate on keeping Schumacher behind.

At Spain, he stepped off the pace when he suspected that his left front and rear tyres might not last the distance following Raikkonen's speed, and eventually, other cars suffered extreme wear and tear, with Schumacher suffering two blowouts.

So Raikkonen, the Iceman, may be the faster driver for now.

But Alonso, the Spanish Conquistador, may be the better one.

[Kaciaj 0]

It's a very hard battle...very spectacular.Certainly, who'll win this year title will also win the title of "Schumacher's heir".Kimi drove another dominant race around the streets of Monaco yesterday and once again showed Montoya the way, while Fernando, despite big tyre problems, was able to finish at least 4th and got the upper hand once again over Fisichella....They are both giants in this sport

[raikkonen_rulez 0]

i agree....

it's a tough one to call

[kiko01 0]

It's a very hard battle...very spectacular.Certainly, who'll win this year title will also win the title of "Schumacher's heir".Kimi drove another dominant race around the streets of Monaco yesterday and once again showed Montoya the way, while Fernando, despite big tyre problems, was able to finish at least 4th and got the upper hand once again over Fisichella....They are both giants in this sport

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, both are impressive. McLaren and KR seems to be too strong for Renault right now but the french team is still there and sure they will match Mclaren in some races. FA is showing that he

[Jenson_Rules 0]

i think they are both very equal, and FA really was very impressive in Imola, i'm not sure raikonnen could have kept him behind if it was him defending from a michael attack. I think they are both good and FA did amazingly well considering he had no rear tyres in Monaco, his teamate fell to 12th while fa only fell 2 places. He clearly keeps pushing and does not give up till its over, and that makes me feel he is a better driver than kimi, however kimi is very very good and very cool and quick. Its a tough call but i would say fa so far!

[Kaciaj 0]

I'm very much worrried those discussions are all useless cause in the end the red non stop testing b#####ds will have the edge.If you look at Monaco, wouldn't they have started from middle grid it would have been easily a Ferrari one two....Disgusting, and more disgusting is the fact Bernie hopes they win the champ again!

[Ash 0]

i think they are both very equal, and FA really was very impressive in Imola, i'm not sure raikonnen could have kept him behind if it was him defending from a michael attack. I think they are both good and FA did amazingly well considering he had no rear tyres in Monaco, his teamate fell to 12th while fa only fell 2 places. He clearly keeps pushing and does not give up till its over, and that makes me feel he is a better driver than kimi, however kimi is very very good and very cool and quick. Its a tough call but i would say fa so far!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

He wouldn't have needed to, he would have been long gone had he not had that bad luck!

[Jenson_Rules 0]

how do you know, with michael lapping 2 secs faster than everyone else would he have caught riakonnen, i think so maybe!

Anyway imo FA has proven a little more this year with superb defending etc, so so far its FA then KR however this opinion can change and may change soon, but at the moment my opinion stands that FA is the slightly better of the two!

[Ash 0]

how do you know, with michael lapping 2 secs faster than everyone else would he have caught riakonnen, i think so maybe!

Anyway imo FA has proven a little more this year with superb defending etc, so so far its FA then KR however this opinion can change and may change soon, but at the moment my opinion stands that FA is the slightly better of the two!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Did you watch the quali 1 on saturday? Alonso was celebrating, of what he thought was provisional pole (punching his fists in the air, etc). His jaw literally dropped after Kimi chopped 0.5s off his best. At the start of the race kimi was carrying +/- 20 laps of fuel more than Alonso was carrying and was still able to pull away from Alonso. After the SC, Kimi was able to pull away so easily and Jenson was quick to comment that there was more to that display of speed than just down to the cars. But that was his opinion!

[kiko01 0]

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Did you watch the quali 1 on saturday? Alonso was celebrating, of what he thought was provisional pole (punching his fists in the air, etc). His jaw literally dropped after Kimi chopped 0.5s off his best. At the start of the race kimi was carrying +/- 20 laps of fuel more than Alonso was carrying and was still able to pull away from Alonso. After the SC, Kimi was able to pull away so easily and Jenson was quick to comment that there was more to that display of speed than just down to the cars. But that was his opinion!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Mate, i don

[Jenson_Rules 0]

yeah, but i think the mclaren is somewhat a beast of a car now, its ultra quick and very good indeed! I dont think there was a whole 0.5 sec difference on kimis ability alone... The more rubber down, the faster monaco is, and the fact the mclaren seems much better than the renault imo now, so who knows?

[Ash 0]

Mate, i don

[Ash 0]

yeah, but i think the mclaren is somewhat a beast of a car now, its ultra quick and very good indeed! I dont think there was a whole 0.5 sec difference on kimis ability alone... The more rubber down, the faster monaco is, and the fact the mclaren seems much better than the renault imo now, so who knows?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Mclaren definitely had the better car and imo, the better driver!

[kiko01 0]

Kiko, Mclaren was on a 1 stopper and Renault on a 2. That is why Kimi was slow in quali 2.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You

[raikkonen_rulez 0]

You

[kiko01 0]

Mclaren definitely had the better car and imo, the better driver!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

McLaren has had the best car in the last three races in the same way Renault was the strongest in the first three but things can turn... The best racer? None of us would be able to say it but it

[Ash 0]

Sorry, I didn't know that Renault was on a 1 stopper. Apologies!

[kiko01 0]

Sorry, I didn't know that Renault was on a 1 stopper. Apologies!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No worries mate Anyway KR was superb yesterday and it doesn

[Ash 0]

No worries mate  Anyway KR was superb yesterday and it doesn

[nojvnof1 0]

both Alonso and Kimi are great young drivers, it's too close to call in my opinion.