Wednesday, May 20, 2009

and The.. . .not very nice.

Now I come to the one man whom I think should get his butt kicked out of F1 for good. Kimi Raikonnen. First of all, when Kimi joined McLaren from Team Sauber in 2002 to replace Mika, I thought very highly of him. I saw the hunger in his eyes just like his fellow countryman. He didn't seem too interested about anything else except racing his car. Just the way a driver should be. Even his post race interviews were something we use to laugh at (we still do). It was obvious he wasn't interested in giving them. The next few years he earned even more respect from me. I really enjoyed his driving skills. He had everything to take over Michael Schumacher as the greatest ever. Then I started noticing a change in his driving. Somewhere around 2006 he started getting erratic. His focus seemed to be disappearing. The turning point for me was in the Chinese Grand Prix in 2006 ( I may be wrong with the date, but not with the incident). He had engine problems and he had to retire. As he was getting out of his smoking car, one marshal was trying to get him to safety while the others were putting out the fire. I was shocked to see him turn around and push that marshal who tripped and fell over! That poor marshal got up and still tried to guide Kimi out who once again swung his arm around against that marshall. I don't care who you are, or how frustrated you may be with the race but I cannot accept such behaviour. The poor man is trying to save your life and you take a swing at him for doing his job? There are young children watching you on TV and they think the world of you, and is this the attitude you wish to teach them? Also in the same season. In Monte Carlo, he had a problem with his car midway through the race during the safety car period. I was shocked to see him get out of the car and with his helmet still on, he simply walked along the sidewalks and headed towards the harbour. He then got on board a yacht and was later seen without his shirt and drinking champagne with his very drunk friends. All this 'live' on national TV! Shouldn't he have walked back to his garage to discuss the problem with his mechanics? Or maybe he just wanted to continue with that strip dance for those lap dancers like he did before. He's also been known to get drunk in public very often. Here watch this video and I hope you have a good laugh like I did. So he won his championship in 2007 by a single point. Good for him. He's not been doing very well since and I understand it's because of the lifestyle he is leading. He is a known playboy and a heavy drinker. He partys like there's no tomorrow and he has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. He is not doing any justice to the US $50+ million he gets annually, being the highest paid driver right now. I believe Team Ferrari would drop him after this season and I would not be surprised. His fame and fortune has obviously clouded his thinking. Now I'm not one to hit a man when he's down but I sincerely hope Kimi gets his head out of his arse and start thinking straight. Personally I believe he will. I feel he still has it in him. But he needs to focus. He needs to start talking with his mechanics. Work with them. Let them know what he needs and work alongside them as they improve on the car. Forget about the women, the booze and the partying. Because if he continues like this, he'll just become another one of those drivers we don't talk about anymore after a while. And I'd hate to see him forgotten like that.

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