Formula One: Daniel Ricciardo’s criticism of Kimi Raikkonen’s season is spot-on

Daniel Ricciardo’s criticism of Kimi Raikkonen’s 2017 Formula One season may have been controversial, but it was spot-on.

Daniel Ricciardo held the 4th position in the Formula One drivers standings throughout most of the 2017 season. But in the final race of the season, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, he was forced to retire after a tire puncture, and Kimi Raikkonen’s 4th place finish shot him ahead of Ricciardo in the final standings.

Ricciardo’s last four races of the season featured three retirements and a season-low finish of 6th place in a race that he was actually able to finish after a 16-race stretch to start the season during which he was forced to retire just three times and finished no lower than 5th place in a race that he was actually able to finish.

Because of the finishing order of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the points rewarded as a result of it, Raikkonen finished ahead of Ricciardo in the final standings by a point total of 205 to 200, with Raikkonen taking 4th place and Ricciardo having to settle for 5th. This led Ricciardo to criticize Raikkonen’s 2017 season.

"“If I’m brutally honest, with that car he should have been a long way in front in the championship. So, yeah, I don’t think it’s a big deal.”"

Say what you want about Ricciardo being jealous or being a “hater” because he got passed for 4th place in the standings in the final race of the season, a race in which he was forced to retire. But he is right. And plus, who really cares about being 4th anyway?

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Raikkonen was driving for Ferrari, the second best team in the sport behind only Mercedes, the team that has now won the last four constructors championships and has had the drivers champion in each of the past four seasons.

Ferrari won five races and had their own Sebastian Vettel leading the drivers standings for much of the 2017 season. Yet Raikkonen himself won none of those five races, and he hasn’t even won a single race in the four seasons since he returned to the team back in the 2014 season.

So yes, Raikkonen should have finished way ahead of Ricciardo in the 2017 standings, but he didn’t. While Raikkonen hasn’t won a race since the 2013 season, Ricciardo managed to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix this season. Both Ricciardo and Raikkonen finished ahead of the other in 10 races this season. Given the fact that Raikkonen drove for a better team than Ricciardo did this past season both in terms of consistency and speed, these things should not have been the case, but they were, and because of it, Ricciardo’s criticism of Raikkonen’s season is spot-on.

Next: Who is the greatest Formula One driver of all-time?

Do you feel as though Daniel Ricciardo’s criticism of Kimi Raikkonen’s 2017 Formula One season is accurate, or do you think he went too far? We’ll see how the 2018 season unfolds and which driver gets the better of the other in what should be an even more competitive battle than it was this past season.