“I can win races and fight for championships” : Kimi Raikkonen

Kimi Raikkonen is a man who can pack big guns in his back pockets and use them when he is done with all his ice creams. The Finn recently procured a retainer from Ferrari and shows no signs of slowing down.

When asked about what made him stay in the sport, he had this to say –

“It’s purely the racing. I enjoy the racing, and obviously I want to do well. If I didn’t feel that I can go fast, and I wouldn’t be happy in myself, I wouldn’t be here. As long as I feel myself that I can win races and fight for championships then that is why. If I didn’t feel that, I will be the first guy to do something else.”

We are sure that Kimi’s fans think the same way. The Iceman can win titles and the championship. He was at Ferrari after all when he clinched his first championship title in 2007. His pole at Monaco was anything but proof that he still knows what he is doing. And a retainer from Ferrari shows that his team believes he has a lot of punches to throw around.

But that is not the complete picture. Deny it as much as you want, Ferrari tries to follow a driver 1 – driver 2 environment. This technique pretty much undermines the skills of the second driver. If the effect of this environment is still there, it does hurt Kimi’s chances to a world championship title. Though Ferrari has closed the gap at the front, it is still anyone’s guess whether Kimi is able to pull ahead or not.

If we give it some more thought though, he does not have that much options either. A seat at Mercedes, the closest competitive car, looked highly unlikely. Red Bull, if it follows its trend, will not look outside Toro Rosso. Anything below that are mid runners and Ferrari, a top-on-the-charts team is definitely a better choice.

In conclusion, we will see Kimi don red and drive red in future seasons. And through it is a confidence booster for the driver, only future will unfold the hidden layers to his success.