Ice Age

Ontem eu postei esta notícia onde alguns nomes do automobilsimo entre pilotos e jornalistas, davam sua opinião sobre o retorno de Kimi para a mídia alemã MotorSport-Magazin.

Hoje deixo uma matéria com algumas destas declarações e outras coisinhas sobre o Iceman, seu jeito de ser e seu retorno...de sucesso.

Aos fãs de Kimi, leiam com carinho, faz um bem enorme ao nosso coração!!! #fato

Ice Age

Kimi Räikkönen never wanted to adapt to F1 and he also never did. But apparently the F1 world adapts to the quiet blond from the high north. In light of his comeback even long-time critics become silent.

The red light flashes, all cameras are pointed on him, hundreds of journalists, armed with pen and notepad, hang on his lips. But instead of enjoying the attention at the FIA press conference in Barcelona Kimi Räikkönen only seems to think: “Help, I’m a celebrity – get me out of here.” Since the start of his career he hates the circus around F1. When he talks with media representatives then he doesn’t speak, he whispers and mumbles, why he in the past got vilified by many as bogey or HP-autistic. “He isn’t everybody’s darling but he also doesn’t have to be. There are many journalists who don’t get along with him but that’s not his problem”, Jo Leberer, his former companion at Sauber comes to Kimi’s defence. “F1 is a men sport. It is rough, in the past it was associated with women and parties. Thus Kimi is so popular – also in Germany – because he is different. He isn’t appropriate for a curtain sponsor or appliance manufacturer but that’s not sense and purpose of a racing driver.”

And those who watched Räikkönen closely in Barcelona saw that not with all journalists the word “bullshit” flashes on his forehead. After qualifying he sat cheerful in the Lotus motor home, drank water from a bottle in gummy bear shape and talked 18 minutes with Heikki Kulta, a Finnish journalist. “People like to think they can reason the whole from details. We humans like clichés so differentiations disturb certainly”, says Kulta. Two years F1 break haven’t changed Räikkönen, he still doesn’t want to adapt. But F1 seems to adapt to him, especially Lotus who unlike McLaren and Ferrari, take the Finn as he is and play with his image. In Malaysia the team gave out ice cream with best wishes from Räikkönen – in reference to the race in 2009 when Räikkönen got out of the car before race stop and ate an ice.

The whole paddock seems to be happy about the comeback of a real type. “It was sad when he left F1 and I'm glad he's back”, says Johnny Herbert. “I like Kimi, especially the way he pushes and gets the most out of the car. He doesn't like all the stuff with the media, but he is not the only one. But he shows it more than others.” Also Damon Hill praises: “Kimi does his own thing. He is not interested in the circus around him, it is only the driving. He lets his performance on the track speak for itself.” But not only in his character Räikkönen is still the same also in terms of talent he hasn’t lost anything. In only his 4th race for Lotus the Finn was standing on the podium. As a comparison: Michael Schumacher didn’t manage that in 2 comeback seasons and the German is after all seven times champion whereas Räikkönen only got one – and as many critics says, that only with luck.

“Michael took nearly a year in order to get reasonably at the top. Kimi came back and was immediately there”, Jackie Steward points out. “They are two different personalities. Kimi is a true racer, Michael is not and never was. He had a good car and a good team and drove well. But for Kimi there is more heart and soul in it.” Indisputable Räikkönen is clearly younger than Schumacher and with the E20 he had a good car from the beginning. But also indisputable is that the Finn’s car control is like no other. “What Kimi can get out of the car you see rarely”, says Leberer and remembers an anecdote from their time together at Sauber: “We have once been training with mountain bikes and he went up the hill just on the rear tyre. He pulled up the bike and started. When he went down the hill – it has already snowed to some extent, leaves were lying around – I was only thinking that he will bite the dust and therefore Peter Sauber will kill me. He rode like a maniac – in a positive sense. He absolutely controlled the bike and got the maximum out.”

While Leberer isn’t surprised by the brilliant comeback of the Finn some critics had to revise their opinion. “I said at the beginning of the year that I do not think Kimi will manage. So I really have to admit: I was wrong. Kimi is fully on it”, Christian Danner acknowledges. “He copes perfectly with all the modern realities, cars without fuel stops, Pirelli tires. His performance is just great.” At the same time Räikkönen stays still Räikkönen. He refuses to use the simulator for Lotus because he prefers to “drive real cars on the track” and skipped the important test in Mugello because he didn’t like the predicted rainy weather. In the past this would have been used against him. Now it raises the admiration of his performance even more. “It's so crazy what he does sometimes. Sometimes he doesn't come at all. It is unbelievable. But that is Kimi, he is like that. I do not blame him. He brings his performance in this way - not different”, says Danner. The word motivation problem which always came up in connection with Räikkönen, doesn’t seem to exist in the vocabulary of journalists. In the vocabulary of the Finn it never existed anyway. “

As long as I know that I gave 100 % and I’m happy with my driving than I’m satisfied. That’s honest. For whom that is not enough, it’s not enough” Räikkönen says. So honest he is also when he is disappointed with his own performance like he was in Bahrain. On the way to the podium Red Bull principal Christian Horner congratulated Kimi with the words: “Strong race, Kimi!” The short answer of the Finn was: “Not strong enough”. Räikkönen only wants one thing: drive and win races. “The younger generation has taken over the helm and Kimi is still more in this category in terms of competitiveness than Michael. I think Kimi will have more success than Michael” Herbert thinks. Also Hill expects still a lot from the 32 year old. “Kimi has immense talent and experience. And he is still young. I only started with 33 years in F1. Early 30s is a good age for a racer, so it's for him a very good time to be back in F1.” If Räikkönen’s critics will stay silent for the rest of the season will not least depend on his results. The comeback is successful without a doubt. From race to race team and driver got stronger, whereas some top teams missed consistency. That allows hope for big in 2012.

Fonte: www.motorsport-magazin.com/ Tradução para o Inglês: Miezicat 

Já falei tudo no post de ontem (link no começo desta postagem) sobre como é bom ler estes textos, mas uma coisa que quero ressaltar da matéria acima é o fato como a Lotus realmente está sabendo aproveitar-se da persona Iceman. Ela brinca com os mitos da carreira e da personalidade do finlandês e usa isto ao seu favor. Ajuda no paddock e com os fãs. Acho que por isto Kimi se sente à vontade lá, como não se sentiu em seus outros times.

Eu sempre fico meio tensa, confio desconfiando, mas gosto da forma como a Lotus brinca com a imagem de Kimi e fico feliz que ele se sinta bem por lá. Ele merece.

Beijinhos, Ludy