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I’ve never been a fan of Kimi Raikkonen, which I know is going to annoy a lot of people. He lucked into a world championship in 2007 when Hamilton or Alonso really should have won; he will never win a race in F1 again – even sitting on pole at the Italian GP I knew he wouldn’t win it and definitely not after Vettel was out of the picture. Somehow he is the last Ferrari world champion and there must be something in Maranello stopping them from telling him his day is done. However if Leclerc goes to Ferrari in ’19, rumours persist that Kimi will go to Sauber – maybe that won’t be a bad thing as in my view Kimi’s best results were when he was at teams or in drives he was never expected to do well in…
I firmly believe Kimi has stayed as long as his has in Ferrari because they want the seat ready for one of their upcoming drivers.
Jules Bianchi was looking on course to do just that (possibly in 2016 after a good year in Sauber), only to end tragically.
Since then Leclerc has been immense in his way through to F1. So I wouldn’t be surprised if he was to finally take over from Kimi.However I would be surprised if Kimi was to drive for another team.
I don’t see him stepping down to a lower team, as I doubt he’d have the motivation for it now. He’d end his F1 career as a Ferrari driver.Besides, I thought Ferrari were wanting a place for Antonio Giovinazzi. Which would also fit in with their partnership with Sauber.
Yes Jules was really displaying his obvious talent, super quick and committed. There was no doubt he would have been at Ferrari in 2016.
The trouble with Formula 2 or GP2 is, it doesn’t often correlate to F1. Plenty of drivers who have excelled in the lower formulas have failed when making the step up. We’ve seen a similar example with Stoffel Vandoorne, dominant performances in the lower classes just haven’t translated to the top flight. Why is this? Team motivation, set-up, understanding, skill? Did he have a car advantage in lower formulas that made the difference? Impossible to say. But I do feel that Charles could do with another year at Sauber, Ferrari has always been a team for the more experienced driver and change might not be best for them this year.
Kimi may be dull to watch and a shadow of his former self, but he is a good No:2 driver and whatever happens, that is how Ferrari works best.
So Ferrari and Sauber are indeed going to swap Kimi and Leclerc.
I guess that proves me wrong. 😛Could be interesting to watch, with Kimi taking over from Alonso as the “veteran world champion further down the field”.
Does that mean Kimi is still Ferrari’s backup if it doesn’t work out for Leclerc?
This has definitely been one of the more interesting years for the driver market…
My feeling is that Ferrari are losing faith in Vettel, he’s had a couple of years with a competitive car and produced a range of unforced errors and poor judgement. On paper Leclerc is a No:2 driver, but I think next year could be a huge test for Vettel if he doesn’t win the championship this year.
Kimi could be a back up, Ferrari and Sauber may want his experience in developing their 2021 car.
That’s a very interesting point.
How long can Ferrari deal with Vettel throwing away points and, essentially, championships?
His current contract ends in 2020. 2020 being the next (potentially) big window for top teams. So the next year could be decisive.And this year could end up as his best opportunity. He should have been in control of the standings by now.
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