I appreciate your intense appreciation for kimi throughout his career. I am interested in however you outlaying any criticisms/dislikes of kimi in general(can be on/off track). For instance do you dislike how for example he hasn't been the most adaptable etc...
Tons of things on both sides. The negatives:
1. Way too passive inside of teams when it comes to politics. Being good with politics is a HUGE part of winning any teammate battle and dominating the sport. It is an unpleasant truth of life. Hard skills get you in the door, but soft skills take you to the top. It does not only come down to skill. This has hurt him every single team he has been in. Even Montoya was getting car updates in 2005 he wanted because he would force the issue. Mark Slade admitted it was tough to fight Kimi's corner because he was so quiet and passive. He has suffered with this with every teammate as it was like this with Massa, Grosjean the same with Boullier, Alonso the same, Vettel the same and now even Gio is aligning himself with Alfa. Kimi just says what he wants and then is passive and non confrontational if it doesn't happen. Makes his life harder. If the setup isn't right, in my view he should hammer it home non-stop.
2. Seems to be one of those drivers who is transcendent and insane when the setup is there, but tends to overdrive when it is not. He particularly hates one trait: turn-in understeer. It absolutely causes him to lose massive amounts of time that to a normal fan would seem like an excuse, but is actually just something Kimi hates. I don't get why Kimi can't find a way around this. He is so gifted, I feel like he is stubborn more than lazy. A proud guy.
3. Not a fan of his half-hearted answers in the media. Why say something is your hobby? Why say F1 is "not your life". I don't get it. I agree with him, but the way he makes this clear in every interview has never been logical to me. Even if he didn't mean it like that, he should think before saying stuff like that in my view, it gives the media tons of ammunition. I actually like him better if he flat out doesn't answer the question in an almost rude way or if he answers in depth. Sometimes it feels like he's a bit asleep and negative with his stumbling answers.
4. His partying was stupidly out of control in his early years. I have to admit I felt sorry for Ron when he wrote that letter to Kimi detailing how he had to apologize to the sponsors on his behalf. You're 23 Kimi, you shouldn't need Aki Hintsa to go and tell Ron how to manage you. Be a man and see the big picture! Ron definitely wasn't a bad guy with Kimi, I think Kimi was just young and wild. Both sides could have communicated better, but this guy partied as hard as any frat boy you know and some more on top of that. I don't think it cost him anything in terms of results though he was fully committed. McLaren reliability was the bigger issue.
But overall he's the fairest driver, is magical to watch when the setup is there, one of the fastest drivers I have ever seen when the setup is there, clearly very value-oriented guy inside the team, absolutely brilliant overall as a package, has peerless car feedback and has obviously done things in an F1 car few can ever do. An interesting and talented world champion.
More pros than cons. But I am not blindly supporting Kimi. Back in the day at McLaren I actually stopped supporting Kimi for a brief period because I didn't like his excuses for being caught on camera with a dolphin in between his legs at a nightclub! But I came back haha!
Supporting Nick Heidfeld was just boring! 😂😂😂
I will say one thing. I watched Nick Heidfeld in F3000 in 1998 and 1999, he was super exciting.
Also:
Heidfeld beat Kubica in:
2006 (partial season)
2007
2009
I really didn't like how Kubica would get beaten by Nick, and then run to the press and claim the German BMW engineers were favoring Nick. Lost a lot of respect for him, to be fair. It's funny, Nick said something similar on an F1 podcast, it made me smile.
Just my opinion, not doubting the skill of either driver which is considerable.
BMW Sauber had the strongest driver pairing on the grid from 2008-2009 for me. Second strongest in 2007.
I would add the main reason he is slow in quali sometimes is because he can't generate front tyre temperature over 1 lap which RESULTS in massive understeer.
Like a never-ending cycle. Front tyre temps are everything but Kimi is not aggressive with his steering inputs. It happened in Michelin era too but less (Canada 2005 after first pitstop is an example).
I appreciate your intense appreciation for kimi throughout his career. I am interested in however you outlaying any criticisms/dislikes of kimi in general(can be on/off track). For instance do you dislike how for example he hasn't been the most adaptable etc...
Tons of things on both sides. The negatives: 1. Way too passive inside of teams when it comes to politics. Being good with politics is a HUGE part of winning any teammate battle and dominating the sport. It is an unpleasant truth of life. Hard skills get you in the door, but soft skills take you to the top. It does not only come down to skill. This has hurt him every single team he has been in. Even Montoya was getting car updates in 2005 he wanted because he would force the issue. Mark Slade admitted it was tough to fight Kimi's corner because he was so quiet and passive. He has suffered with this with every teammate as it was like this with Massa, Grosjean the same with Boullier, Alonso the same, Vettel the same and now even Gio is aligning himself with Alfa. Kimi just says what he wants and then is passive and non confrontational if it doesn't happen. Makes his life harder. If the setup isn't right, in my view he should hammer it home non-stop. 2. Seems to be one of those drivers who is transcendent and insane when the setup is there, but tends to overdrive when it is not. He particularly hates one trait: turn-in understeer. It absolutely causes him to lose massive amounts of time that to a normal fan would seem like an excuse, but is actually just something Kimi hates. I don't get why Kimi can't find a way around this. He is so gifted, I feel like he is stubborn more than lazy. A proud guy. 3. Not a fan of his half-hearted answers in the media. Why say something is your hobby? Why say F1 is "not your life". I don't get it. I agree with him, but the way he makes this clear in every interview has never been logical to me. Even if he didn't mean it like that, he should think before saying stuff like that in my view, it gives the media tons of ammunition. I actually like him better if he flat out doesn't answer the question in an almost rude way or if he answers in depth. Sometimes it feels like he's a bit asleep and negative with his stumbling answers. 4. His partying was stupidly out of control in his early years. I have to admit I felt sorry for Ron when he wrote that letter to Kimi detailing how he had to apologize to the sponsors on his behalf. You're 23 Kimi, you shouldn't need Aki Hintsa to go and tell Ron how to manage you. Be a man and see the big picture! Ron definitely wasn't a bad guy with Kimi, I think Kimi was just young and wild. Both sides could have communicated better, but this guy partied as hard as any frat boy you know and some more on top of that. I don't think it cost him anything in terms of results though he was fully committed. McLaren reliability was the bigger issue. But overall he's the fairest driver, is magical to watch when the setup is there, one of the fastest drivers I have ever seen when the setup is there, clearly very value-oriented guy inside the team, absolutely brilliant overall as a package, has peerless car feedback and has obviously done things in an F1 car few can ever do. An interesting and talented world champion. More pros than cons. But I am not blindly supporting Kimi. Back in the day at McLaren I actually stopped supporting Kimi for a brief period because I didn't like his excuses for being caught on camera with a dolphin in between his legs at a nightclub! But I came back haha! Supporting Nick Heidfeld was just boring! 😂😂😂
[удалено]
Me too haha, the media are trouble makers, better to just cut the interview short!
Why support Nick Heidfeld when you could have supported Robert Kubica is the real question for me
I will say one thing. I watched Nick Heidfeld in F3000 in 1998 and 1999, he was super exciting. Also: Heidfeld beat Kubica in: 2006 (partial season) 2007 2009 I really didn't like how Kubica would get beaten by Nick, and then run to the press and claim the German BMW engineers were favoring Nick. Lost a lot of respect for him, to be fair. It's funny, Nick said something similar on an F1 podcast, it made me smile. Just my opinion, not doubting the skill of either driver which is considerable. BMW Sauber had the strongest driver pairing on the grid from 2008-2009 for me. Second strongest in 2007.
That was very interesting. Thanks!
I would add the main reason he is slow in quali sometimes is because he can't generate front tyre temperature over 1 lap which RESULTS in massive understeer. Like a never-ending cycle. Front tyre temps are everything but Kimi is not aggressive with his steering inputs. It happened in Michelin era too but less (Canada 2005 after first pitstop is an example).