Formula 1: Kimi Raikkonen discusses his Ferrari image
By Asher Fair
Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 Formula 1 champion, discussed whether or not he feels that his image as a driver for Scuderia Ferrari is distorted.
Four-time Formula 1 champion Sebastian Vettel recently discussed the public image surrounding his Scuderia Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen, who owns Ferrari’s most recent driver championship from back in the 2007 season.
Vettel claimed that the image people have of Raikkonen, particularly when compared to Vettel, is distorted despite the fact that it looks like it is one-sided when all of the statistics are taken into consideration since he joined Raikkonen at Ferrari at the start of the 2015 Formula 1 season after moving on from Red Bull Racing, where he won each of his four championships, following the conclusion of the 2014 season.
To be specific when Vettel says it looks “one-sided”, since Vettel joined Ferrari in the 2015 season, he has won 10 races and secured eight pole positions while Raikkonen hasn’t won any races and has secured just one pole position.
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Also in that time period, Vettel has racked up 35 podium finishes while Raikkonen has racked up 17 podium finishes, and Vettel has led 691 laps, while Raikkonen has led only 63 laps.
As far as points go, Vettel has never finished behind Raikkonen in the championship standings when the two drivers have been teammates. In fact, he hasn’t finished behind him since the 2008 season, which was Vettel’s first season as a full-time driver in the sport, and he currently leads him by 18 points in the standings right now (66 to 48). Vettel has scored 873 points since joining Ferrari in the 2015 season, while Raikkonen has scored 589 points since that time.
Knowing that Vettel feels these statistics paint a distorted picture despite the fact that literally every single one of them favor him pretty heavdily, how does Raikkonen feel about the matter? Here is what he had to say about it, according to Motorsport.com.
"“The end result matters. The rest doesn’t really count. The people that we work with know what’s happening and what’s not. I don’t really care if people think you are slow. I know what we are doing. I don’t count on luck. You get what you deserve in a way. I’m more happy that I have the speed. That’s the main thing. We just need to put it together and I’m sure that we can do even better.”"
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Do you agree with Kimi Raikkonen that the end result is all the matters regardless of whatever speed he can show in practice and qualifying? If so, do you still agree with Sebastian Vettel that their battle may seem a little bit more distorted than it actually is on the basis that they have shown roughly the same speed?