"Belittling" by Heikki Kulta
Belittling
13.5.2013 14:49, heikki.kulta
Eddie Jordan asked Kimi on the podium if people are belittling his chances in the WDC-battle. Kimi replied that he doesn't care if he goes unnoticed since he only tries to get the best results possible.
Do regular people on the paddock also think that Räikkönen's real chances to win the WDC are underestimated?
Johnny Herbert, SKY Sports
– It might be true, then again Kimi doesn't care one bit about it himself, Sky Sports' commentator Johnny Herbert says.
– Kimi is really consistent and strong in banging results. Just like he was last year also. Last season his driving was of such class that we waited all the time for the victory to come. We had to wait until Abu Dhabi. Now the victory came straight away in the opening race, but Kimi is sort of again in the same situation he was in last year, that the next victory better come soon.
– Kimi would get the points he needs from a victory only, and it would give a nice boost to the team to squeeze even more, Herbert thinks.
Herbert is not worried that Lotus-team's development work would suffer due to lack of money.
– Of course the development work is important, but this year it seems to mean even less than before. I think that the differences in the cars are minimal and it's good for both Kimi and Fernando. They have now the opportunity to take advantage of their own race strenght and close the gap to Sebastian Vettel, who according to me still has the fastest car.
Mika Salo, MTV3
Mika Salo believes that the championship battle will definitely be between Vettel, Räikkönen and Alonso.
– It feels weird how some think they can afford to belittle Kimi's chances in this game. I don't think that Ferrari still sees Kimi as any opponent, it's like they race against Vettel all the time.
– I have no idea where it stems from. Maybe they don't believe in Maranello that Kimi can race the whole season on this level.
Salo doesn't think that the updates in Barcelona have changed the WDC-battle's character.
– I don't know if Ferrari's update even was that big. They just got everything to click after losing many points during a couple bad weekends. Alonso just drove well and it was a bald move from him to overtake Kimi and Hamilton from the outside in the third corner, Salo thinks.
Gary Anderson, BBC:s Technical Expert
Gary Anderson sees Alonso as the biggest WDC-candidate, but he says at the same time that Räikkönen will make it tough for Ferrari in the future also.
He is worried over James Allison's departure.
– Lotus is a quick car and developing it isn't an expensive project anymore. It's easy to develop a good car. But Allison's departure might have an impact on how the whole team works.
– I think James has been like Newey. He has overviewed everything as a whole and taken care of many things with a good understanding. When Lotus loses a leader who is that experienced I don't know if anyone within the team can fill his shoes efficiently, Anderson says.
Albert Antonini, Auto Sprint
Let's go over to the writing media. One of the last workers in the media room on Sunday night is Auto Sprint's Alberto Antonini, who emphasizes that Räikkönen's possibilites should definitely not be belittled.
– I believe Kimi has a very good shot in this year's WDC-battle. This year is completely different from earlier years in F1. We haven't seen earlier a car which after the 3rd pole in a row drops as low as the Mercedes has. This season we need a completely different way of thinking and driving a race.
– Kimi is as a racing driver from old times and he is brilliant in adapting to different requirements blindlingly fast. He has raced on all possible tires and he has the keys to manage tires in Lotus. I think that the Ferrari from year 2009 was the only thing Kimi had difficulties with.
Can Räikkönen maintain the speed to the end of the season?
– I believe he can. Ferrari is however the biggest favorite, but Kimi is a tough challenger. One has to remember that at the end of last year's season Lotus-team's update-package was some sort of a catastrophy in the beginning, then hocus-pocus, Kimi won with it in Abu Dhabi, Antonini says.
Heikki Kulta, Turun Sanomat
The season is still young. I give Kimi a chance of 25 % to cross the finish line as the WDC. I give Alonso 35% and Vettel 40 %.
Let's keep in mind that they have promised tire-changes to the 8th GP in Silverstone, but I doubt it will drastically change the power relations.
How does our blog-gang react to Kimi's and Lotus-team's chances?
Fonte: Turun Sanomat / Tradução para o Inglês: Nicole
Desde o começo da temporada tenho esta sensação de que as pessoas subestimam as chances de Kimi no campeonato.
Isto até deu uma melhoradinha depois que ele venceu na Austrália, mas a sensação que tenho é que eles sempre comentam algo do tipo: "ele pode vencer, mas..." e aí vem sempre um crítica.
E o mais incrível é que o talento dele não serve de nada nestas horas, não vejo as pessoas analisando que o talento de Kimi pode ser o diferencial quando algo na Lotus faltar. A ele não chateia, como o próprio respondeu à pergunta de Eddie Jordan ontem depois do pódio, mas a mim sim.
E depois de ler as opiniões do comentaristas acima? O que vocês acham? Kimi tem sido subestimado na sua capacidade de lutar pelo título?
Beijinhos, Ludy
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