I was a kid but i remember knowing Kimi was going to be a champion when he basically skipped junior formulas, and went from driving karting in 98-99 (to having 20 or so races in between In some formula renaults etc In 2000) to Formula 1 for 2001 season. .. We Finns have many champions in motor racing(to cheer), latest being Kalle Rovanperä, who became the youngest WRC world champ ever by far(22yrs1day) this season. But even his talent(as a racing driver) is nothing compared to (what i think of) Kimi's. Kimi's McLaren-Mercedes seasons made him the best racer this country has ever produced. He didn't even need to be a world champion.. He has been unique talent to me since 2005. .. Check that actually since 2004 when he beat Schumacher/Ferrari f2004(and the rest of that grid) at Spa. That one victory(taking account the differences between the cars Kimi and Schumi, Montoya etc were driving at the moment) proved me that the Iceman was better than Mika.
Jacques Villeneuve had a comment those days I remember. He said Alonso could have been WDC with that Lotus in 2012. He had blamed Kimi for not squeezing everything possible from that car. Your opinion?
@@TheKoT.41 That's funny 😂 .. Alan Permane told in beyond the grid podcast that Alonso had said to him that he would have won the title with Lotus In 2013. 😄 Permane said that Vettel won(and would have won no matter what) the 2013 title.. Lotus ran out of money in 2013, they couldn't even pay Kimi's salary/bonuses(that's why Kimi skipped final races of 2013), so bold claim from Alonso.. .. Jacques Villeneuve on the other hand is on a whole another level of retardness. He wouldn't have given Kimi the superlicense to race in 2001(.. Ironically, Kimi beat Jacques in several races in 2001, and after 2001 season Kimi was already way better driver than Jacques..) .. Jacques also has other, to say at least questionable opinions that shows the world he's living in..
My second favourite stint of Kimi after his McLaren one. Even though he won the championship with Ferrari, the skills and moves he showed in that Lotus reminded me so much of his McLaren days.
I agree. Anthony Davidson said something similar too. The "aura" Kimi lost in 2008 returned. As Luca Di Montezemolo said at the end of 2013, Kimi had "returned to greatness".
In my opinion his Lotus stint was a big "what could have been", Kimi missed race wins in Bahrain,Spain,Hungary,Valencia 2012 Germany and Hungary 2013. Those were the last years when Kimi was still in his prime, then i dont know maybe because of ageing or the hard confrontation against fellow world champions or simply cars not good for his driving, the Ferrari Kimi from 2014-2018 was just a shade of his McLaren, Ferrari and Lotus days
@@matz1974 No he didn't. None of those races were winnable except Bahrain 2012, and Germany 2013 (but his radio failed, so not his fault) and he won Abu Dhabi and Australia, which no other driver would have done. You're exaggerating. His Lotus stint was simply unreal. He outperformed his car. I have explained this about 1000x - after Silverstone 2013 the tyres changed, and then in 2014-2018 the hybrid rules were introduced. This really hurt Kimi's driving style as the hybrid Ferraris understeered like crazy initially.
@@ciaronsmith4995 Hungary 2012 for sure, even Hamilton said that if Kimi didnt start 5th he would have won the race, he was the fastest car that day, Valencia was winnable too, again because of starting position he spent too much time behind Hamilton and Maldonado but was quicker than Alonso, btw im glad Alonso won
@@matz1974 Not really. Valencia was not winnable, it was a lottery race in many ways and Kimi did well to stay in second while his teammate retired (and was passed by Alonso too). Grosjean himself was nowhere near the pace of Kimi or Lewis in Hungary either. McLaren had a faster car - when Lewis had to extend the lead, he had the tyres left to do it. Kimi's strategy would have played out the same whether he was starting higher up or 5th. Again, nobody could have done better overall, in that car.
I remember that first interview in some basement of a house somewhere! Was like F1 suddenly came alive again! Oh and this: ruclips.net/video/Sxwh0MHw5nE/видео.html&ab_channel=CiaronSmith
Kimi’s race craft is a huge inspiration to me. As a kart racer, I can tell you there’s a LOT of guys who consistently win races through dirty driving (wanging it up the inside out of nowhere, tapping back ends just enough to push people off line for the next corner etc) but few who truly have the talent and skill set to win clean. I absolutely love racing with guys who much like Raikkonen can race inch perfect without contact.
@tonkinesenchill4240 soooo true! I do karting a lot and have to sometimes change my style to "elbows out", when most of the guys just go complete dirty, which I personally hate... What country do you mostly race at? Me - Estonia, Belgium, Netherlands, sometimes Dubai
@@SergeyKorsikov All around the UK for me but I’ve also done some racing in Spain. Indoor go karting here in the uk can be very dirty, outdoor karting is better but still has a lot of politics and bad sportsmanship involved. Ironically some of the best karting racers I have ever witnessed never went on to pursue a career in racing (largely because of costs). There was one guy in particular called Oliver Bayani I raced against for a few years, he was phenomenal. He wasn’t the best in terms of outright speed but had amazing race craft and always found a way to win races from any grid position and always did it clean, I never once saw him punt anyone off the track or do anything silly and it’s just a joy to watch people who have that skill level.
his control was seriously incredible. he knew that car like it had been a part of him his whole life. he knew exactly how to slot it in to get through corners double wide
Kimi's racecraft can easily one of the (if not the) best of the last 50 years of the sport. Even beyond Prost, Senna, Hakkinen, Lauda, etc. This guy had almost no experience before he jumped in an F1 car. And his moves where phenomenal from the start. Personally I easily rate him as the best raw talent of formula 1.
Wish the Lotus saga had a different ending.. and I am gonna say; no move to Ferrari for Kimi. He seemed so relaxed, himself, took that 4th best car into title-decider 2012 and drove that car way past it's abilities.. only if the team had it's finances in balance..
@@gregmayled No it wasn't. They didn't even develop their cars past mid season and the team stopped paying Kimi in 2012 - most top drivers like Kimi would have quit that team immediately and demanded payment. Kimi made it look good clearly, being a world class driver that he is and the absolute master of tyre management he's been since ~2003. An often overlooked point is that he was reunited with his old McLaren race engineer, Mark Slade - that really made things click too. The likes of Grosjean, D'Ambrosio and Kovalainen were awful in that car from 2012-2013. Grosjean never finished higher than SEVENTH in the standings. Shocking when you think Kimi finished in the top 3 in 2012 and easily would have been top 3 in 2013 without skipping the final 2 races of 2013 for back surgery. Cheers.
@@ciaronsmith4995 people who worked on the car knew what it was capable of. James Allison said about this on a beyond the grid episode, it was a very underrated car.
The most amazing thing about that, is that i can barely remember any mistakes from him during that era! Always on the absolute edge in constant wheel to wheel battles (as the field was insanely close during that period), yet he never binned it into the wall and never had any major contacts (the exception being the 2012 Japanese GP, but it was Alonso's fault).
He was about average in Melbourne 2012. Bur after that, he got it going. His racecraft was at his very best in Bahrain 2012, Monaco 2013 (till Perez crash), Korea 2012, Spa 2012, Abu Dhabi 2012, Singapore 2012 and many more. Sadly after tyre compund change in 2013 mid and wheelbase update, he could not get on top of tyre management. Perez is called tyre whisperer these days. What a yoke compared to Iceman 🔥
Kimi and michaels wheel to wheel battle at turns 1&2 interlagos was the stuff of legends. An iconic moment in motorsport. Two of the finest f1 drivers ever havinf a good old battle. Love it Verstappen and Hamilton tried to replicate that this season and the pair of them royally cocked it up. Cringeworthy
Kimi's awareness of the space was just the best. No competition. He could judge the space with Maldonado, what else could explain this. The fairness that Kimi had while racing, no one even comes close. One of my top two favourite drivers as I always get confused in who is on the top in my list!!👍👌
Completely agree! In my lifetime no Racer in any category of Motorsport, Including F1 was as fast, fair & precise as Kimi - no-one even comes close and I've been around motorsport more than 40-50 years.You find emotion; anger:frustration;vengeance; slackness, poor control, kicks in to everyone even the "greats"...never with Kimi. Unless the equipment fails him he is :mm perfect, respectful of the speed and consequences, but brutally fast & fair.
Truly. Raikkonen is the kind of driver to leave exactly enough space for a car to fit in, according to the rules, and leaves it up to the attacking driver if they are want to risk the overtake.
might be biased because a) I grew up in V8 era and b) I just really love it when non-top team driver does incredibly well and get on the podium or win, but to me this stint of Kimi was as good as his stint at Mclaren. To me, it was proof that he can drive slower cars incredibly fast as well. Also story of a driver almost bankrupting his team just by being too good at his job is hilarious
Agreed. I mean he already proved that in the 2004 and 2009 cars he won in. Not to mention he took a 1-year old McLaren to the last round of the title fight. This was just further confirmation of it, in my view.
Oh man, Bahrain 2012 still haunts me, Kimi should have won that one. How different was the wheel to wheel back then, just enough respect between drivers, nowdays 90% of those would have ended up in collisions and whining on radios. And that white helmet, really throws you way back to the good days.
Wheel to wheel back then was shockingly bad when it came to drivers like Perez, Grosjean etc. It was really just Kimi who set an unbelievably high bar. Kimi said in 2013 it was impossible to trust 80% of the grid. He said he could trust Alonso, Michael, Jenson, Lewis and Seb or something like that. Canada 2013 pre-race interview I think.
@@ciaronsmith4995 a disgrace that kimi never won the brazil gp in 09. Webber moved late on him and knocked off his front wing yet he got away with it and won the race. Shocking
@@matz1974 That may be true too. Kimi didn't like racing Seb period in my view - I think he knew a crash with Seb would cause more trouble than it's worth. It's not that implausible.
@@ciaronsmith4995 Yeah possibly but when he was close on the straight he could have gone to the inside but backed out, the Kimi of Suzuka 2005 would have made that pass, what would have been a race winning move
15:00 Watching this battle with the joy of hindsight is a wonderful thing. Knowing that Kimi used these exact same defensive lines with worn tyres against Hamilton on new rubber on Lap 21 of the 2018 US GP. This part of his tremendous defence resulted in Lewis eating up his tyres trying to pass him, thus allowing Kimi to win on a sub-optimal one-stop. Raikkonen's brilliant defending on aged rubber mitigated Lewis' tyre advantage during his second stint on his preferable two-stop strategy, resulting in Hamilton having too much ground to make up after his second stop, and Kimi therefore taking the chequered flag. This race was one of Kimi's all time greats in my opinion. Especially considering that, contrary to what the pundits said at the time, Ferrari did not get "the strategy bang on this afternoon" as I recall Crofty saying. The one stop was clearly achievable, as Kimi unquestionably proved, but it was NOT optimal. Lewis' cheap two-stop under VSC was better. The one-stop was an achievable shot in the dark from Ferrari's perspective, because whilst it was doable on paper, it relied on both a defensive and tyre conserving masterclass from Kimi to pull it off. Also worth noting that the Verstappen blockade in the final few laps certainly didn't hurt his chances, but again this is something Ferrari could not possibly have accounted for when they committed to the risky one stop. Overall Kimi achieved an against the odds race win with an inferior strategy, with no teammate to support him, against a prime Lewis Hamilton in a superior Mercedes car. It's a drive that STILL doesn't get the full credit it deserves, and I would love to see a video in the future taking a closer look at it. I'd like to thank you Ciaron for providing us with this great Kimi content. Hopefully F1 & DTS newbies will stumble across this channel and discover that, actually, he wasn't just a 'haha funny team radio bwoah man.' But rather one of the most prodigious natural talents F1 has ever seen. There is a very good reason why the legend Sebastian Vettel named Kimi as "the most naturally talented driver" he's ever raced with just before he retired last week.
Ciaron , THANK YOU, for this wonderful film. 19 minutes of great overpassing, in which Kimi is never forcing one adversary. Is there any pilot today that you could follow his moves in 2 seasons , back to back, have so many action and yet all of them so clean?
Yes and when you consider how many critics ate their hats after what they said before he came back!!. I'm on record as saying "he would be on the podium at least several times each year and have at least a few wins in that 2year period "...I gave it to everyone - all the so called "paddock experts" and media!
I was always a Michael Schumacher fan during the 00's. But then he retired and then raikonnen went to Ferrari. I was a fan immediatly, but I was never aware of the amazing skill that Kimi displayed during the 03 and 05 season. Thanks to you I now know that Kimi was special (say he was alien like). Keep making these videos and posts and keep Kimi's legacy alive!
These look like the perfect cars for him. Were underestimated by other teams but Kimi stole the show with them! Looks like he was enjoying himself a lot as well. Think the racecraft shows that.
Everytime somebody points to Schumacher or Hamilton because of the amount of championships they won, i immediately point to Kimi because of the amount of skill and pure speed he presented on track like no other. The amount of championships won may make you an amazing driver (i will never take that away from the likes of Hamilton, Vettel or Alonso) but the amount of respect, skill, speed, courage and determination (for example 7:42 proves it. If it were Max, he would have crashed) showed on track is what makes you a legendary driver. A GOAT driver, if you will. And a quick reminder (despite it being a "meme"), this was just a hobby for Kimi. For exmaple, that part with Vettel at 16:19..............i dont really get what Vettel was on. Kimi clearly gave him enough room. I guess Vettel was just salty that Kimi overtook him. Btw, i know Bottas is nowhere near the level of Kimi or even Mika but on what tier level would he be or could have been (overall)?
Absolute Master at the wheel of a race car...There will never be another Kimi Raikkonen. All these double/multiple /7 times/wdc, show me one of them that can find a way past so creatively, so cleanly mm from the other car. Thanks again for these clips Ciaron, its important people see this because we may never see such supreme skill ever again.
@@sunritroykarmakar4406BTW we just saw F1 post Alonso top 20 & if you see his no 6? i think it is he goes so wide he almost loses it in the grass!!.. Whilst good - ALL of Alonso’s overtakes have a-lot of panic and stress in his actions- you will rarely find such a thing with Kimi.
Yeah ciaron this is the best vid youve uploaded on your channel for a while. Brilliant stuff. I will be coming back every other week to watch this gem It pains me that we dont have any drivers on current grid with this level of racecraft. Very sad. Instead you got verstappen barging into everyone yet being hailed as some sort of GOD just cos he knows how to dominate with the fastest car. You got fools like ocon and stroll aggressively moving late on straights. The driving standards of modern f1 drivers is shocking. Youve got a 7 time world champion whos abysmal to be quite frank in that department too. Every race that guy is getting caught up in some incident. Kimi is really special. To be insanely fast is one thing but to have that finesse and the wheel to wheel racing he posseses asw makes the greatest ever for me.
@@LandoNoWins99 Thanks. Yeah this Lotus one came out nicely. I think it shows Kimi really did have the best racecraft overall among the drivers he raced with. Just relentlessly clean, precise and successful in his passes. It's not about making 1 crazy overtake - it's about showing skill consistently. Which Kimi did so well.
Thank you. Turn up the volume and enjoy the McLaren version of this video here: ruclips.net/video/OHamz9eR650/видео.html&lc=UgxNxQc49KCDFOIngd14AaABAg.9k4LO2TMyTa9kCJyzm1i48&ab_channel=CiaronSmith
In this two years i always loved the thing, if Kimi passt someone then in the next lap set always the fastest lap if he had clean track. That was the fact, in that Kimi doesnt change after two years off F1. But what happened at Ferrari? Santander and Politic
His race craft was epic during those years. Shame he probably didn't have that peak speed he had at McLaren which is maybe why in 2012 he had to do a lot of work on Sunday but he was away for 2 years. In 2013 he improved this a lot.
Yep... McLaren and Kimi were a good fit... unfortunately he had this many engines blowing up! Otherwise he could have won two more championships.. Kimi was always my favorite driver by far...
It wasn't mainly due to "rust", but to the power steering of the Lotus, Kimi didn't liked it really much in the first half of 2012 and that penalized him in qualifying, but once adjustments were made, he easily dominated Grosjean even in that exercise! Also, the Lotus had trouble warming the tire up, which wasn't ideal to maximize one lap pace!
What made Lotus great was also its weakness. It was a great all round car, really well balanced, but this made it struggle to get heat into its tyres over 1 lap compared to its rivals. Also for the keen observers on the cool /wet tracks the tyres would go off really quick. On hot ones - Bahrain, Singapore, Abu Dhabi it went really well which was further evidence of its weakness to generate heat over 1 lap.This is why it was great over a GP distance - it looked after its tyres really well and was able to maintain consistent pace far better than most cars. (sauber was excellent on its tyres but lacked pace). Everyone raved about Grosjeans 1 lap pace(I don't know why) - yet even he could not get close to pole and was still beaten by Kimi. Yes Kimi may have been down a tenth or so on his past ,but reality was, cars like Red Bull had the most advanced Aero & blown diffusser and clever engine mapping creating a virtual traction control, Mercedes/Mclaren &Ferrari had engines that produced 50bhp more in 2012! (& only till mid 2013 engine equalisation regs made it 20bhp to Renault). All of this made them on average 4-5tenths faster over 1 lap but they all went backwards on Sundays. I will never accept that Kimi lost 4-5 tenths on return - even he said "it doesn't feel like I lost anything,- I'm sure maybe you lose a little even if you don't think it" which confirms my thoughts on the subject. Critics and other have to remember that Experience teaches you how to adapt to even the smallest of losses & 18 years prior experience of circuits also helps with this,but definitely beyond a shadow of a doubt car characteristics/set up are the primary reasons.
He was not far off his McLaren days at all - Kimi was a top 2 driver on the grid these years. The "speed loss" is exaggerated. Lotus not having any money was the main issue that prevented him from winning the title at Lotus and a corrupt tyre change mid season in 2013.
Thanks a alot mate.... You are doing god's work as far as kimi fans like me are concerned. Please upload these to any Google drive or any other platform ad backup as ytbe tends to remove such videos over time... I have another possible Kimi video for you.... Kimi-around the outside - raikkonen.... I haven't seen any driver perform so many around the outside moves as Kimi did. His ability to carry a lot of speed through the corners is not even recognised by many new age fans. Some of the moves he has done around the outside are just absolute insanity... Some of the kimi around the outside moves I've noted On Montoya 2002 Hungary..... On Hamilton 2013 Australia..... On MSC 2012 Brazil..... On Rosberg 2015 Hungary (lap one)..... On Alonso 2021 USA..... On Kobayashi 2012 Australia On Fisichella 2005 Japan..... On Alonso 2021 Austria..... On Ricciardo 2020 Portugal (lap one)..... On Sutil 2012 Hockenheimring..... On Hulkenberg 2012 usa On Magnussen 2020 Nurburgring (into hairpin)..... On Button 2013 Singapore.... On Maldonado 2013 Singapore..... On Schumacer 2004 Spa (going down into eau rouge)... On latifi 2021 Qatar On Hamilton 2018 Monza... Can find a lot more...
Ciaron after watching so many times your videos about Kimi, i really wonder what would happen if Kimi drove W11 for example? Probably the world was not ready to see that kind of speed. I truly respect today's drivers or older drivers like Lewis, Fernando or Seb, but when i see Kimi it seems like a different class of racing. As a fan that doesnt know a lot about F1, i have to admit that drivers like Kimi, Montoya, Michael, Mika were much more enjoyable to watch. However, Kimi is my favourite because of his fairness, his amazing driving style and most importantly his wheel to wheel skills.
His time at Lotus was probably his best in F1. I remember when he was at McLaren (during their Mercedes era) he never seemed to really adapt to their corporate nature. At Ferrari in 2007 he won the WDC, but Ferrari had the momentum from 2006 when they had a strong second half of the season, and the F2007 was genuinely quick. His return to Ferrari and Sauber (he debuted with Sauber before joining McLaren) produced moments but nothing major.
This is what Kimi is when the car is up to his style and he can trust his vehicle 100% in any circumstance. Sad Ferrari didn't care enough and put their apples in the baskets of Alonso and Vettel.. Especially in Kimi's latter time in Ferrari..
Yes it was, he was nervous fighting for the lead again in a car I think. Ultimately, it didn't make a difference in the big picture. He got third in the championship, beat both McLarens and obliterated his teammate which is materially the maximum that car could have done.
kimis style is giving doubt to the other drivers, as you can see clearly he shows up inside or outside for the other driver to back off or they both will crash. kimi will always push for a pass where he can use that to his addvatage. they know his character and persona, finnish sisu!
The scariest one was racing against Maldonado...he was not as skilled as most of the other drivers...Schumacher seemed to always respect Kimi...he knew Kimi had the speed, and Schumacher's battles with Mika Hakkinen probably made him respect Kimi........
Wow. I still get goose bumps watching Kimi's amazing race craft. It's a shame that he couldn't continue his career at Lotus. Something very odd happened to his momentum when he went back to Ferrari.
Why does that Kimis passing in 13.03 of toro rosso, where that curve was closing, why it looked like toro rosso stop for coffee when kimi was aside him? Or is toro rosso simply braking so much earlier? Why? Avoiding collition, or was kimi just that much faster in that corner?? Can somebody share your toughts?
@@ciaronsmith4995 i saw that situation then like u, thanks bro. Yeah, Kimi have been my no1 idol since he go to the paddock early 2000s. I start to watch f1 seriously after Häkkinens first wdc. Pinnacle of my fanlife when i went hungary 2007. We decide with friends, when we were drinking, two days before Hungarys first friday practice, how awesome it would be to watch f1 live. Next morning with big hangover my friend woke me up and said:" our flight is 24 hours from now to Budapest and we have hotel for 5 nights"😅. I live in Finland.
He came back from a break in F1 to demonstrate his mastery. Grosjean was also good it the Renault at the time. They had their shìt figured out at the time.
From 2001 - 2019, Kimi Raikkonen demonstrated that by having a memorable personality, a majority of F1 fans will continue to circle jerk a driver despite the fact that he was beaten by his team mate in eight seasons and only out performed his team mates 19% of the time throughout his entire career.
He's the fastest driver since Senna at his peak during the tyre war. He was F1's highest paid driver for a reason. His personality is irrelevant to his monstrous speed and skill. Stats without context are irrelevant - remember, he had 11 DNFs in 17 races in 2002 all down to car unreliability. He would have destroyed DC that season without that. Not sure what sport you've been watching. Certainly not F1 is it?
Kimi always seems to have Massa's number, wish Lotus had the funds Redbull had at that time to develop their cars more, Kimi could've been a title contender.
What's your opinion on his 2nd stint at Ferrari, and why couldn't he keep up with Vettel? I mean I believe Vettel is faster but not that much faster. What happened?
First of all, Kimi is a much faster driver than Vettel if you compare at their peak periods. Much faster. Second, Kimi was nearly 40 by the end of that stint, and hated the car handling in 2014, 2015 and 2017. Ferrari cars understeer, Kimi likes high rake and entry oversteer (like Red Bull from 2014 onwards). Third, Ferrari would absolutely give Kimi the worst strategies. Fourth, Pirelli mandated tyre pressure and camber limits after Silverstone 2013 which hurt Kimi's driving style. So all that put together gave you his 2nd stint at Ferrari.
@@ciaronsmith4995 Ok thanks for your response. You're right I forgot about his butchered strategies, and I think it's a reason he lost so much patience with the crew at Alfa. And I agree he had more pace than the Ferrari let on, obviously his Mclaren days proved this. Also surely something's up behind the scenes at Ferrari politically or something else that impacts driver performance. I mean just look at how Vettel dropped off.
Because Marko didn't want him to beat Seb at Red Bull. He had no choices. It was McLaren or Ferrari, and he obviously thought Ferrari was better than McLaren.
Guys I have 100 point question for you! On that first Brazilian GP clip. That exactly same race and same first corner fight between Kimi and Michael. Let's go back to 2002-2006 seasons. They had identical fight with Michael on Ferrari and Kimi on McLaren. I still remember Kimi was outside and Michael overtook him inside and they was fighting like 4th position or smthing. So my guestion is what year race that was :D I was hella young kid back then but nowadays still remember it and still getting instantly flash back to good old times :3
I remember the first years seing f1 that it was so satisfactory to see Kimi overtaking because he was so clean and Smooth. But the answer of puting Alonso in the same car that Kimi is not well answered to you. Simply KO in 2014 in the underoversteer car Alonso made 2 podiums with a trash car. Kimi couldn't even finish in points. So you talked more than you have to talk.
You are confused. The matchup you refer to was in the hybrid era, in Kimi's first year back at Ferrari with a rookie race engineer who couldn't understand English. Kimi absolutely hated that car, it suited Alonso's driving style and was the opposite of Kimi's driving style. That's why the gap was what it was. You cannot compare two different eras like that. Alonso was at Ferrari for 5 years prior to when Kimi joined. If you put Kimi and Alonso in a car that actually suits Kimi's driving style, Kimi would beat Alonso every time. Remember, F1 is more complex than any other sport. You cannot jump to conclusions. Same car argument is irrelevant - the same car can suit 2 drivers in completely different ways.
@@ciaronsmith4995 Bro you didn't hear what Alonso said from the car. In Brazil 2014 for example see what he made in same car with no style of Alonso. A lot of information is remaining to you. Mate also in qualy the Lotus in V8s had bigger pace than the Ferrari, but by relabiality and the well pit box in Ferrari, and the Alonso magic's pace they beated Lotus. Alonso with the fourth best car was making miracles, while Kimi was doing decent overtakes, but being constant, like Alonso. Of course, a part of the fault of the crash in 2012 in Japan was fault of Kimi. He didn't leave the space, like he made with Vettel in Silverstone 2013 could be? He was damn good but also damn aggressive. But the fault of losing the championship of 2012 is not from him, is from the bad overtake by Grosjean in Spa.
@@Chilleandoconf1 Alonso repeatedly said it suited him. I have videos on my channel with Alonso saying it. Also onboards do not lie. If you know Kimi's driving style and you know Alonso's, it's clear.
@@Chilleandoconf1 They are clear as day. 2014 was an outlier and totally meaningless season. You need to examine more carefully both the season and both driver's driving styles: ruclips.net/video/hDeAQ3c9PWw/видео.html&ab_channel=CiaronSmith
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Enjoy this master at work.
Kimi 2012 is legend
I was a kid but i remember knowing Kimi was going to be a champion when he basically skipped junior formulas, and went from driving karting in 98-99 (to having 20 or so races in between In some formula renaults etc In 2000) to Formula 1 for 2001 season.
.. We Finns have many champions in motor racing(to cheer), latest being Kalle Rovanperä, who became the youngest WRC world champ ever by far(22yrs1day) this season. But even his talent(as a racing driver) is nothing compared to (what i think of) Kimi's.
Kimi's McLaren-Mercedes seasons made him the best racer this country has ever produced. He didn't even need to be a world champion.. He has been unique talent to me since 2005.
.. Check that actually since 2004 when he beat Schumacher/Ferrari f2004(and the rest of that grid) at Spa. That one victory(taking account the differences between the cars Kimi and Schumi, Montoya etc were driving at the moment) proved me that the Iceman was better than Mika.
@@petel7418 Agreed.
Jacques Villeneuve had a comment those days I remember. He said Alonso could have been WDC with that Lotus in 2012. He had blamed Kimi for not squeezing everything possible from that car. Your opinion?
@@TheKoT.41 That's funny 😂 .. Alan Permane told in beyond the grid podcast that Alonso had said to him that he would have won the title with Lotus In 2013. 😄 Permane said that Vettel won(and would have won no matter what) the 2013 title..
Lotus ran out of money in 2013, they couldn't even pay Kimi's salary/bonuses(that's why Kimi skipped final races of 2013), so bold claim from Alonso..
.. Jacques Villeneuve on the other hand is on a whole another level of retardness. He wouldn't have given Kimi the superlicense to race in 2001(.. Ironically, Kimi beat Jacques in several races in 2001, and after 2001 season Kimi was already way better driver than Jacques..)
.. Jacques also has other, to say at least questionable opinions that shows the world he's living in..
My second favourite stint of Kimi after his McLaren one. Even though he won the championship with Ferrari, the skills and moves he showed in that Lotus reminded me so much of his McLaren days.
I agree. Anthony Davidson said something similar too. The "aura" Kimi lost in 2008 returned. As Luca Di Montezemolo said at the end of 2013, Kimi had "returned to greatness".
In my opinion his Lotus stint was a big "what could have been", Kimi missed race wins in Bahrain,Spain,Hungary,Valencia 2012 Germany and Hungary 2013. Those were the last years when Kimi was still in his prime, then i dont know maybe because of ageing or the hard confrontation against fellow world champions or simply cars not good for his driving, the Ferrari Kimi from 2014-2018 was just a shade of his McLaren, Ferrari and Lotus days
@@matz1974 No he didn't. None of those races were winnable except Bahrain 2012, and Germany 2013 (but his radio failed, so not his fault) and he won Abu Dhabi and Australia, which no other driver would have done. You're exaggerating. His Lotus stint was simply unreal. He outperformed his car. I have explained this about 1000x - after Silverstone 2013 the tyres changed, and then in 2014-2018 the hybrid rules were introduced. This really hurt Kimi's driving style as the hybrid Ferraris understeered like crazy initially.
@@ciaronsmith4995 Hungary 2012 for sure, even Hamilton said that if Kimi didnt start 5th he would have won the race, he was the fastest car that day, Valencia was winnable too, again because of starting position he spent too much time behind Hamilton and Maldonado but was quicker than Alonso, btw im glad Alonso won
@@matz1974 Not really. Valencia was not winnable, it was a lottery race in many ways and Kimi did well to stay in second while his teammate retired (and was passed by Alonso too). Grosjean himself was nowhere near the pace of Kimi or Lewis in Hungary either. McLaren had a faster car - when Lewis had to extend the lead, he had the tyres left to do it. Kimi's strategy would have played out the same whether he was starting higher up or 5th.
Again, nobody could have done better overall, in that car.
Lotus Kimi was something else. Getting just two wins during that stint was less than Kimi deserved, but that basically sums up Kimi's whole career.
I can still remember how pumped up I was when I heard that Kimi was coming back. One of the reasons that made 2012 season legendary
I remember that first interview in some basement of a house somewhere! Was like F1 suddenly came alive again!
Oh and this: ruclips.net/video/Sxwh0MHw5nE/видео.html&ab_channel=CiaronSmith
Kimi’s race craft is a huge inspiration to me.
As a kart racer, I can tell you there’s a LOT of guys who consistently win races through dirty driving (wanging it up the inside out of nowhere, tapping back ends just enough to push people off line for the next corner etc) but few who truly have the talent and skill set to win clean.
I absolutely love racing with guys who much like Raikkonen can race inch perfect without contact.
@tonkinesenchill4240 soooo true! I do karting a lot and have to sometimes change my style to "elbows out", when most of the guys just go complete dirty, which I personally hate... What country do you mostly race at? Me - Estonia, Belgium, Netherlands, sometimes Dubai
@@SergeyKorsikov All around the UK for me but I’ve also done some racing in Spain.
Indoor go karting here in the uk can be very dirty, outdoor karting is better but still has a lot of politics and bad sportsmanship involved.
Ironically some of the best karting racers I have ever witnessed never went on to pursue a career in racing (largely because of costs).
There was one guy in particular called Oliver Bayani I raced against for a few years, he was phenomenal.
He wasn’t the best in terms of outright speed but had amazing race craft and always found a way to win races from any grid position and always did it clean, I never once saw him punt anyone off the track or do anything silly and it’s just a joy to watch people who have that skill level.
@@theelf152🥱
his control was seriously incredible. he knew that car like it had been a part of him his whole life. he knew exactly how to slot it in to get through corners double wide
Kimi's racecraft can easily one of the (if not the) best of the last 50 years of the sport. Even beyond Prost, Senna, Hakkinen, Lauda, etc. This guy had almost no experience before he jumped in an F1 car. And his moves where phenomenal from the start. Personally I easily rate him as the best raw talent of formula 1.
Wish the Lotus saga had a different ending.. and I am gonna say; no move to Ferrari for Kimi. He seemed so relaxed, himself, took that 4th best car into title-decider 2012 and drove that car way past it's abilities.. only if the team had it's finances in balance..
If they had secured finances, I am sure Kimi stays. Ferrari was a political mess.
True
It was a much better car than people give it credit for
@@gregmayled No it wasn't. They didn't even develop their cars past mid season and the team stopped paying Kimi in 2012 - most top drivers like Kimi would have quit that team immediately and demanded payment. Kimi made it look good clearly, being a world class driver that he is and the absolute master of tyre management he's been since ~2003. An often overlooked point is that he was reunited with his old McLaren race engineer, Mark Slade - that really made things click too. The likes of Grosjean, D'Ambrosio and Kovalainen were awful in that car from 2012-2013. Grosjean never finished higher than SEVENTH in the standings. Shocking when you think Kimi finished in the top 3 in 2012 and easily would have been top 3 in 2013 without skipping the final 2 races of 2013 for back surgery. Cheers.
@@ciaronsmith4995 people who worked on the car knew what it was capable of. James Allison said about this on a beyond the grid episode, it was a very underrated car.
The most amazing thing about that, is that i can barely remember any mistakes from him during that era!
Always on the absolute edge in constant wheel to wheel battles (as the field was insanely close during that period), yet he never binned it into the wall and never had any major contacts (the exception being the 2012 Japanese GP, but it was Alonso's fault).
true, but the car and Kimi was absolutely in sync. I think strongest pairing for Kimi, better than turbo hybrid Ferrari, by a long shot
He was about average in Melbourne 2012. Bur after that, he got it going. His racecraft was at his very best in Bahrain 2012, Monaco 2013 (till Perez crash), Korea 2012, Spa 2012, Abu Dhabi 2012, Singapore 2012 and many more.
Sadly after tyre compund change in 2013 mid and wheelbase update, he could not get on top of tyre management.
Perez is called tyre whisperer these days. What a yoke compared to Iceman 🔥
Bahrain 2012 he was too cautios while fighting Vettel
You guys need to remember he came back from a two-year break from the sport. Of course he was a bit rusty.
7:46 jesus christ. Do people realise how amazing this is? Not a single vid out there could better demonstrate kimis brilliance. A god of a racer
Then he "put that in his pocket" and repeated against Button in the Mclaren later. Absolute balls out genius!
Kimi and michaels wheel to wheel battle at turns 1&2 interlagos was the stuff of legends. An iconic moment in motorsport. Two of the finest f1 drivers ever havinf a good old battle. Love it
Verstappen and Hamilton tried to replicate that this season and the pair of them royally cocked it up. Cringeworthy
It just shows that Kimi’s energy goes into smarts and racing rather than talking. Actions speak louder than words, literally Kimi.
Kimi's awareness of the space was just the best. No competition. He could judge the space with Maldonado, what else could explain this. The fairness that Kimi had while racing, no one even comes close. One of my top two favourite drivers as I always get confused in who is on the top in my list!!👍👌
Completely agree! In my lifetime no Racer in any category of Motorsport, Including F1 was as fast, fair & precise as Kimi - no-one even comes close and I've been around motorsport more than 40-50 years.You find emotion; anger:frustration;vengeance; slackness, poor control, kicks in to everyone even the "greats"...never with Kimi. Unless the equipment fails him he is :mm perfect, respectful of the speed and consequences, but brutally fast & fair.
Truly. Raikkonen is the kind of driver to leave exactly enough space for a car to fit in, according to the rules, and leaves it up to the attacking driver if they are want to risk the overtake.
This era of Kimi was so amazing to watch
Not much talking, not much bullshiting around just pure racing passion 🙏🙏
might be biased because a) I grew up in V8 era and b) I just really love it when non-top team driver does incredibly well and get on the podium or win, but to me this stint of Kimi was as good as his stint at Mclaren. To me, it was proof that he can drive slower cars incredibly fast as well.
Also story of a driver almost bankrupting his team just by being too good at his job is hilarious
Agreed. I mean he already proved that in the 2004 and 2009 cars he won in. Not to mention he took a 1-year old McLaren to the last round of the title fight. This was just further confirmation of it, in my view.
Even Schumacher gave him room. Tells you a lot about drivers appreciative of Kimi's racecraft.
Oh man, Bahrain 2012 still haunts me, Kimi should have won that one. How different was the wheel to wheel back then, just enough respect between drivers, nowdays 90% of those would have ended up in collisions and whining on radios. And that white helmet, really throws you way back to the good days.
Wheel to wheel back then was shockingly bad when it came to drivers like Perez, Grosjean etc. It was really just Kimi who set an unbelievably high bar. Kimi said in 2013 it was impossible to trust 80% of the grid. He said he could trust Alonso, Michael, Jenson, Lewis and Seb or something like that. Canada 2013 pre-race interview I think.
@@ciaronsmith4995 a disgrace that kimi never won the brazil gp in 09. Webber moved late on him and knocked off his front wing yet he got away with it and won the race. Shocking
Was scared of fighting with Vettel
@@matz1974 That may be true too. Kimi didn't like racing Seb period in my view - I think he knew a crash with Seb would cause more trouble than it's worth. It's not that implausible.
@@ciaronsmith4995 Yeah possibly but when he was close on the straight he could have gone to the inside but backed out, the Kimi of Suzuka 2005 would have made that pass, what would have been a race winning move
15:00
Watching this battle with the joy of hindsight is a wonderful thing. Knowing that Kimi used these exact same defensive lines with worn tyres against Hamilton on new rubber on Lap 21 of the 2018 US GP. This part of his tremendous defence resulted in Lewis eating up his tyres trying to pass him, thus allowing Kimi to win on a sub-optimal one-stop. Raikkonen's brilliant defending on aged rubber mitigated Lewis' tyre advantage during his second stint on his preferable two-stop strategy, resulting in Hamilton having too much ground to make up after his second stop, and Kimi therefore taking the chequered flag.
This race was one of Kimi's all time greats in my opinion. Especially considering that, contrary to what the pundits said at the time, Ferrari did not get "the strategy bang on this afternoon" as I recall Crofty saying. The one stop was clearly achievable, as Kimi unquestionably proved, but it was NOT optimal. Lewis' cheap two-stop under VSC was better. The one-stop was an achievable shot in the dark from Ferrari's perspective, because whilst it was doable on paper, it relied on both a defensive and tyre conserving masterclass from Kimi to pull it off. Also worth noting that the Verstappen blockade in the final few laps certainly didn't hurt his chances, but again this is something Ferrari could not possibly have accounted for when they committed to the risky one stop.
Overall Kimi achieved an against the odds race win with an inferior strategy, with no teammate to support him, against a prime Lewis Hamilton in a superior Mercedes car. It's a drive that STILL doesn't get the full credit it deserves, and I would love to see a video in the future taking a closer look at it.
I'd like to thank you Ciaron for providing us with this great Kimi content. Hopefully F1 & DTS newbies will stumble across this channel and discover that, actually, he wasn't just a 'haha funny team radio bwoah man.' But rather one of the most prodigious natural talents F1 has ever seen. There is a very good reason why the legend Sebastian Vettel named Kimi as "the most naturally talented driver" he's ever raced with just before he retired last week.
Thank you. You're spot on.
Ciaron , THANK YOU, for this wonderful film. 19 minutes of great overpassing, in which Kimi is never forcing one adversary. Is there any pilot today that you could follow his moves in 2 seasons , back to back, have so many action and yet all of them so clean?
Is there One pilot Ever - who is that good. I haven't seen him in my 57 years. No-one but Kimi is that fast , that precise or fair- Noone!.
Extremely underrated at Lotus. Putting that car in places it shouldn’t be in almost every race
Yes and when you consider how many critics ate their hats after what they said before he came back!!. I'm on record as saying "he would be on the podium at least several times each year and have at least a few wins in that 2year period "...I gave it to everyone - all the so called "paddock experts" and media!
I started watching F1 after Monaco 2021 but still kimi vs schumi moves give me more excitement then modern ones. Idk man this guy is another level
Go back and watch the seasons from the 2000’s and you’ll see plenty of that
Exactly he is the best
@@fiftyin07 Yeah from Kimi!
Kimi is my love since Mclaren Days ❤
Thanks for a video buddy! Soooo nice to recap this all...
Yes, I have ones on his McLaren and 1st Ferrari stint in this format too if you search for them. Cheers.
White helmet in black car was epic too
I was always a Michael Schumacher fan during the 00's. But then he retired and then raikonnen went to Ferrari. I was a fan immediatly, but I was never aware of the amazing skill that Kimi displayed during the 03 and 05 season. Thanks to you I now know that Kimi was special (say he was alien like). Keep making these videos and posts and keep Kimi's legacy alive!
These look like the perfect cars for him. Were underestimated by other teams but Kimi stole the show with them! Looks like he was enjoying himself a lot as well. Think the racecraft shows that.
True master. All your Kimi's videos are the ultimate compilation mate. Great work. keep on !!
Kimi the GOAT!
Nice memories...thx for the great video mate!
A lovely morning’s watch 🤩
Cheers Ciaron,that's my treat for a Sunday.Enjoyed that 👍👍
Everytime somebody points to Schumacher or Hamilton because of the amount of championships they won, i immediately point to Kimi because of the amount of skill and pure speed he presented on track like no other. The amount of championships won may make you an amazing driver (i will never take that away from the likes of Hamilton, Vettel or Alonso) but the amount of respect, skill, speed, courage and determination (for example 7:42 proves it. If it were Max, he would have crashed) showed on track is what makes you a legendary driver. A GOAT driver, if you will. And a quick reminder (despite it being a "meme"), this was just a hobby for Kimi.
For exmaple, that part with Vettel at 16:19..............i dont really get what Vettel was on. Kimi clearly gave him enough room. I guess Vettel was just salty that Kimi overtook him.
Btw, i know Bottas is nowhere near the level of Kimi or even Mika but on what tier level would he be or could have been (overall)?
a genius at wheel to wheel racing
Absolutely spot on.
No-one is better- Absolutely no-one ever.
Absolute Master at the wheel of a race car...There will never be another Kimi Raikkonen. All these double/multiple /7 times/wdc, show me one of them that can find a way past so creatively, so cleanly mm from the other car. Thanks again for these clips Ciaron, its important people see this because we may never see such supreme skill ever again.
Alonso
@@sunritroykarmakar4406Not even close
@@sunritroykarmakar4406BTW we just saw F1 post Alonso top 20 & if you see his no 6? i think it is he goes so wide he almost loses it in the grass!!.. Whilst good - ALL of Alonso’s overtakes have a-lot of panic and stress in his actions- you will rarely find such a thing with Kimi.
Always on the edge, never over the edge! Kimi, the one and only...
His racecraft overshadowed his qualifying speed these days
He nearly bankrupt them with how many points he won ,what an awesome run it was.
Even when hes retired we still cant leave him alone. We miss you on the track Kimi!
2:40 You don’t see many overtakes late on the brakes round the outside of bus stop. Great stuff.
"Its more like a hobby for me" -Ice Man
Was very impressed by Kimi in 2013 when i started watching. He was my 2nd favourite behind Alonso
great video
Mega Video Man Thanks
Yeah ciaron this is the best vid youve uploaded on your channel for a while. Brilliant stuff. I will be coming back every other week to watch this gem
It pains me that we dont have any drivers on current grid with this level of racecraft. Very sad. Instead you got verstappen barging into everyone yet being hailed as some sort of GOD just cos he knows how to dominate with the fastest car. You got fools like ocon and stroll aggressively moving late on straights. The driving standards of modern f1 drivers is shocking. Youve got a 7 time world champion whos abysmal to be quite frank in that department too. Every race that guy is getting caught up in some incident.
Kimi is really special. To be insanely fast is one thing but to have that finesse and the wheel to wheel racing he posseses asw makes the greatest ever for me.
Thanks, I like the McLaren one too.
@@ciaronsmith4995 ah yes ofc i forgot u had that vid asw. Legend mate.
@@LandoNoWins99 Thanks. Yeah this Lotus one came out nicely. I think it shows Kimi really did have the best racecraft overall among the drivers he raced with. Just relentlessly clean, precise and successful in his passes. It's not about making 1 crazy overtake - it's about showing skill consistently. Which Kimi did so well.
awesome video
Thank you. Turn up the volume and enjoy the McLaren version of this video here: ruclips.net/video/OHamz9eR650/видео.html&lc=UgxNxQc49KCDFOIngd14AaABAg.9k4LO2TMyTa9kCJyzm1i48&ab_channel=CiaronSmith
Kimi the best!!❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
In this two years i always loved the thing, if Kimi passt someone then in the next lap set always the fastest lap if he had clean track. That was the fact, in that Kimi doesnt change after two years off F1.
But what happened at Ferrari? Santander and Politic
Total perfection if he had retired in 2020 instead of in 2021.
His race craft was epic during those years. Shame he probably didn't have that peak speed he had at McLaren which is maybe why in 2012 he had to do a lot of work on Sunday but he was away for 2 years. In 2013 he improved this a lot.
Yep... McLaren and Kimi were a good fit... unfortunately he had this many engines blowing up! Otherwise he could have won two more championships.. Kimi was always my favorite driver by far...
It wasn't mainly due to "rust", but to the power steering of the Lotus, Kimi didn't liked it really much in the first half of 2012 and that penalized him in qualifying, but once adjustments were made, he easily dominated Grosjean even in that exercise!
Also, the Lotus had trouble warming the tire up, which wasn't ideal to maximize one lap pace!
@@quentinhirschfeld9382 Spot on.
What made Lotus great was also its weakness. It was a great all round car, really well balanced, but this made it struggle to get heat into its tyres over 1 lap compared to its rivals. Also for the keen observers on the cool /wet tracks the tyres would go off really quick. On hot ones - Bahrain, Singapore, Abu Dhabi it went really well which was further evidence of its weakness to generate heat over 1 lap.This is why it was great over a GP distance - it looked after its tyres really well and was able to maintain consistent pace far better than most cars. (sauber was excellent on its tyres but lacked pace). Everyone raved about Grosjeans 1 lap pace(I don't know why) - yet even he could not get close to pole and was still beaten by Kimi. Yes Kimi may have been down a tenth or so on his past ,but reality was, cars like Red Bull had the most advanced Aero & blown diffusser and clever engine mapping creating a virtual traction control, Mercedes/Mclaren &Ferrari had engines that produced 50bhp more in 2012! (& only till mid 2013 engine equalisation regs made it 20bhp to Renault). All of this made them on average 4-5tenths faster over 1 lap but they all went backwards on Sundays. I will never accept that Kimi lost 4-5 tenths on return - even he said "it doesn't feel like I lost anything,- I'm sure maybe you lose a little even if you don't think it" which confirms my thoughts on the subject. Critics and other have to remember that Experience teaches you how to adapt to even the smallest of losses & 18 years prior experience of circuits also helps with this,but definitely beyond a shadow of a doubt car characteristics/set up are the primary reasons.
He was not far off his McLaren days at all - Kimi was a top 2 driver on the grid these years. The "speed loss" is exaggerated. Lotus not having any money was the main issue that prevented him from winning the title at Lotus and a corrupt tyre change mid season in 2013.
Really miss him.
Ladies and Gentlemen
This is greatest driver in the history of Formula One 🐐
I agree! There is only one Kimi. We will never see a driver like this again.
If you lived through it, you will tell your grandchildren about it.
Kimi made very few mistakes in his career that made him a team principal favourite
Clean fair racing
Thanks a alot mate.... You are doing god's work as far as kimi fans like me are concerned. Please upload these to any Google drive or any other platform ad backup as ytbe tends to remove such videos over time...
I have another possible Kimi video for you....
Kimi-around the outside - raikkonen....
I haven't seen any driver perform so many around the outside moves as Kimi did. His ability to carry a lot of speed through the corners is not even recognised by many new age fans.
Some of the moves he has done around the outside are just absolute insanity...
Some of the kimi around the outside moves I've noted
On Montoya 2002 Hungary.....
On Hamilton 2013 Australia.....
On MSC 2012 Brazil.....
On Rosberg 2015 Hungary (lap one).....
On Alonso 2021 USA.....
On Kobayashi 2012 Australia
On Fisichella 2005 Japan.....
On Alonso 2021 Austria.....
On Ricciardo 2020 Portugal (lap one).....
On Sutil 2012 Hockenheimring.....
On Hulkenberg 2012 usa
On Magnussen 2020 Nurburgring (into hairpin).....
On Button 2013 Singapore....
On Maldonado 2013 Singapore.....
On Schumacer 2004 Spa (going down into eau rouge)...
On latifi 2021 Qatar
On Hamilton 2018 Monza...
Can find a lot more...
Ciaron after watching so many times your videos about Kimi, i really wonder what would happen if Kimi drove W11 for example? Probably the world was not ready to see that kind of speed. I truly respect today's drivers or older drivers like Lewis, Fernando or Seb, but when i see Kimi it seems like a different class of racing. As a fan that doesnt know a lot about F1, i have to admit that drivers like Kimi, Montoya, Michael, Mika were much more enjoyable to watch. However, Kimi is my favourite because of his fairness, his amazing driving style and most importantly his wheel to wheel skills.
raikkonen v schumacher battles are always exciting
Kimi always find ways to unusual overtakes.
Actual hard racing. None of this running other drivers off the road nonsense.
His time at Lotus was probably his best in F1.
I remember when he was at McLaren (during their Mercedes era) he never seemed to really adapt to their corporate nature. At Ferrari in 2007 he won the WDC, but Ferrari had the momentum from 2006 when they had a strong second half of the season, and the F2007 was genuinely quick. His return to Ferrari and Sauber (he debuted with Sauber before joining McLaren) produced moments but nothing major.
Colin Chapman would have been proud
This is what Kimi is when the car is up to his style and he can trust his vehicle 100% in any circumstance. Sad Ferrari didn't care enough and put their apples in the baskets of Alonso and Vettel.. Especially in Kimi's latter time in Ferrari..
He should have won in bahrain 2012. Its unfortunate he was a bit hesitant against Vettel.
Yes it was, he was nervous fighting for the lead again in a car I think. Ultimately, it didn't make a difference in the big picture. He got third in the championship, beat both McLarens and obliterated his teammate which is materially the maximum that car could have done.
0:55
A reenactment of 2006 Schumi's pass in Brazil. Except this time Raikkonen learnt the move and had the upper hand
kimis style is giving doubt to the other drivers, as you can see clearly he shows up inside or outside for the other driver to back off or they both will crash. kimi will always push for a pass where he can use that to his addvatage. they know his character and persona, finnish sisu!
Kimi watching this video: bwoah, I was just having some fun.
The scariest one was racing against Maldonado...he was not as skilled as most of the other drivers...Schumacher seemed to always respect Kimi...he knew Kimi had the speed, and Schumacher's battles with Mika Hakkinen probably made him respect Kimi........
The overtake into t1 in monaco was the craziest thing ive seen in my life. 11:38
@2:21 you can see the effect of dirty air on Kimi's violently shaken antenna
Great observation.
Wow. I still get goose bumps watching Kimi's amazing race craft. It's a shame that he couldn't continue his career at Lotus. Something very odd happened to his momentum when he went back to Ferrari.
The rules completely changed in 2014 and he was adapting to a new car/team.
KING KIMI 👑👑👑👑👑👑👑
What's the background music in the beginning of the video?
The Swan. Famous classical song.
Gran Turismo edition.
Wow. He even overtook Kobayashi 😮😮😮
His years on Lotus just don't beat his years on McLaren
A király
Decent times by Kimi with the second best of the grid. Not bad at all!
The Lotus was the 4th best car and the 5th best team overall. Cheers. They couldn't even develop the car past mid season or pay Kimi.
JAJAJA
Why does that Kimis passing in 13.03 of toro rosso, where that curve was closing, why it looked like toro rosso stop for coffee when kimi was aside him? Or is toro rosso simply braking so much earlier? Why? Avoiding collition, or was kimi just that much faster in that corner?? Can somebody share your toughts?
Kimi is one of the greatest drivers who has ever lived. He braked later and was braver. He has made countless moves into Turn 1 at Suzuka.
@@ciaronsmith4995 i saw that situation then like u, thanks bro. Yeah, Kimi have been my no1 idol since he go to the paddock early 2000s. I start to watch f1 seriously after Häkkinens first wdc. Pinnacle of my fanlife when i went hungary 2007. We decide with friends, when we were drinking, two days before Hungarys first friday practice, how awesome it would be to watch f1 live. Next morning with big hangover my friend woke me up and said:" our flight is 24 hours from now to Budapest and we have hotel for 5 nights"😅. I live in Finland.
@@ciaronsmith4995 p.s. please continue to work with your quality content channel for a long time, ok? I enjoy it.
3:05 that pass on Maldonado while Hamilton rammed him and afterwards Maldonado was the crashing goat.
He came back from a break in F1 to demonstrate his mastery. Grosjean was also good it the Renault at the time. They had their shìt figured out at the time.
Grosjean didn't look too good when compared to Kimi.
love it when kimi puts manners on humbilton
😳 @ 16:15 versus Vettel. Simply amazing, that was against a 4x champion in his prime!
Raikkonen is a lot better than Vettel. Peak for peak. They took my McLaren racecraft compilation video down.
@@ciaronsmith4995 Agree, Suzuka GP 2005.
It's nice seeing Massa get schooled by Kimi after Ferrari prioritised Massa while they were teammates. Karma.
From 2001 - 2019, Kimi Raikkonen demonstrated that by having a memorable personality, a majority of F1 fans will continue to circle jerk a driver despite the fact that he was beaten by his team mate in eight seasons and only out performed his team mates 19% of the time throughout his entire career.
He's the fastest driver since Senna at his peak during the tyre war. He was F1's highest paid driver for a reason. His personality is irrelevant to his monstrous speed and skill. Stats without context are irrelevant - remember, he had 11 DNFs in 17 races in 2002 all down to car unreliability. He would have destroyed DC that season without that. Not sure what sport you've been watching. Certainly not F1 is it?
you give Kimi a car with a stiff front end and he's the best driver ever.
Some good moves vs Schumacher
„Around the outside of Maldonado“ says it all.
8:11
Kimi’s contemporaries: Schumacher, Alonso, Hamilton, Vettel, Hakkinen, Verstappen… That he’s even got one title is impressive.
At his peak, nobody was faster than Kimi. He should have won 3 titles easily. 2003 and 2005 were just unlucky.
Kimi always seems to have Massa's number, wish Lotus had the funds Redbull had at that time to develop their cars more, Kimi could've been a title contender.
Still so funny to me that Lotus almost went bankrupt cause Kimi had a contract he got a Bonus for every point he scored back then. LMAO
What's your opinion on his 2nd stint at Ferrari, and why couldn't he keep up with Vettel? I mean I believe Vettel is faster but not that much faster. What happened?
First of all, Kimi is a much faster driver than Vettel if you compare at their peak periods. Much faster.
Second, Kimi was nearly 40 by the end of that stint, and hated the car handling in 2014, 2015 and 2017. Ferrari cars understeer, Kimi likes high rake and entry oversteer (like Red Bull from 2014 onwards).
Third, Ferrari would absolutely give Kimi the worst strategies.
Fourth, Pirelli mandated tyre pressure and camber limits after Silverstone 2013 which hurt Kimi's driving style.
So all that put together gave you his 2nd stint at Ferrari.
@@ciaronsmith4995 Ok thanks for your response. You're right I forgot about his butchered strategies, and I think it's a reason he lost so much patience with the crew at Alfa. And I agree he had more pace than the Ferrari let on, obviously his Mclaren days proved this. Also surely something's up behind the scenes at Ferrari politically or something else that impacts driver performance. I mean just look at how Vettel dropped off.
Remember, Kimi Finished 3rd in the championship in 2012
Because Lewis had many bad luck with the McLaren, like 2005 Kimi. Lewis could've won 2012 WDC too without those like 2005 Kimi.
He should've never returned to Ferrari in 2014. That move didn't make any sense, and I still wonder why to this day...
Because Marko didn't want him to beat Seb at Red Bull. He had no choices. It was McLaren or Ferrari, and he obviously thought Ferrari was better than McLaren.
Formula 1 has lost two irreplaceable things
Kimi and good sounding engines
Guys I have 100 point question for you! On that first Brazilian GP clip. That exactly same race and same first corner fight between Kimi and Michael. Let's go back to 2002-2006 seasons. They had identical fight with Michael on Ferrari and Kimi on McLaren. I still remember Kimi was outside and Michael overtook him inside and they was fighting like 4th position or smthing. So my guestion is what year race that was :D I was hella young kid back then but nowadays still remember it and still getting instantly flash back to good old times :3
Yes I have a video on those two fights. Here: ruclips.net/video/heDRBWtdTFc/видео.html
Go to 1:58
@@ciaronsmith4995 Thank you very much
I remember the first years seing f1 that it was so satisfactory to see Kimi overtaking because he was so clean and Smooth. But the answer of puting Alonso in the same car that Kimi is not well answered to you. Simply KO in 2014 in the underoversteer car Alonso made 2 podiums with a trash car. Kimi couldn't even finish in points. So you talked more than you have to talk.
You are confused. The matchup you refer to was in the hybrid era, in Kimi's first year back at Ferrari with a rookie race engineer who couldn't understand English. Kimi absolutely hated that car, it suited Alonso's driving style and was the opposite of Kimi's driving style. That's why the gap was what it was.
You cannot compare two different eras like that. Alonso was at Ferrari for 5 years prior to when Kimi joined. If you put Kimi and Alonso in a car that actually suits Kimi's driving style, Kimi would beat Alonso every time.
Remember, F1 is more complex than any other sport. You cannot jump to conclusions. Same car argument is irrelevant - the same car can suit 2 drivers in completely different ways.
@@ciaronsmith4995 Bro you didn't hear what Alonso said from the car. In Brazil 2014 for example see what he made in same car with no style of Alonso. A lot of information is remaining to you. Mate also in qualy the Lotus in V8s had bigger pace than the Ferrari, but by relabiality and the well pit box in Ferrari, and the Alonso magic's pace they beated Lotus. Alonso with the fourth best car was making miracles, while Kimi was doing decent overtakes, but being constant, like Alonso. Of course, a part of the fault of the crash in 2012 in Japan was fault of Kimi. He didn't leave the space, like he made with Vettel in Silverstone 2013 could be? He was damn good but also damn aggressive. But the fault of losing the championship of 2012 is not from him, is from the bad overtake by Grosjean in Spa.
@@ciaronsmith4995 I cannot jump to conclusions if that are not demonstrated. The case of 2014 is demonstrated and justified.
@@Chilleandoconf1 Alonso repeatedly said it suited him. I have videos on my channel with Alonso saying it. Also onboards do not lie. If you know Kimi's driving style and you know Alonso's, it's clear.
@@Chilleandoconf1 They are clear as day. 2014 was an outlier and totally meaningless season. You need to examine more carefully both the season and both driver's driving styles: ruclips.net/video/hDeAQ3c9PWw/видео.html&ab_channel=CiaronSmith
3:16 so that’s where Hulkenberg learned it from!
Yes. Kimi put serious manners on Hulkenberg in the early days on different occasions.
With these moves Kimi would have ended up on the wall or gravel if those drives were Max Verstappen
Always leava da space.
The Ice ManZs