“Kimi lives on another planet”
January 14, 2009 by Negative Camber
Filed under Top Story
Much has been made over the years about Kimi Raikkonen’s aloof nature and “iceman” demeanor but Stefano Domenicalli, Ferrari boss, has summed up his drivers persona this week by saying; “Kimi lives in another world; another planet”.
This probably won’t surprise anyone as Kimi is a unique character amongst the glamor and bombastic nature of F1. He, for lack of a better term, is a fairly simple guy who lives within himself and doesn’t seem to car too much about the world around him. Some might suggest that he spends a significant amount of his life navel-gazing but I think he is just an odd character comparatively. Kimi has chosen a profession in which glam and glitz are the standard fare. Kimi, conversely, is not standard nor is he the type who gushes over the things that make F1 bright and shiny. To that point, I say good for him.
“Kimi lives in another world; on another planet,” he is quoted as saying by the German news agency SID.
Domenicali’s point is reinforced by an anecdote of the Italian press following the launch of the new F60 single seater earlier this week.
According to colleagues who attended the Mugello roll-out of the 2009 car, while drivers Felipe Massa, Michael Schumacher, Luca Badoer and Marc Gene conversed in the paddock, 29-year-old Raikkonen was asleep in a car in the carpark.
“Kimi isolates himself,” Domenicali confirmed. “If he feels pressure, then it’s only because he has put it on himself.
“Nothing that is coming from the outside affects him at all — and that is unbelievable,” he said.
Domenicali said he would never expect Raikkonen to emerge from the winter break and “has suddenly learned Italian”, or is “suddenly smiling”.
“That is not the way he is,” the Italian explained. “But he is completely impatient to drive and win races again.”
Source GMM.
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Up my way in Boston we would call that Kimi being Kimi
I’ll take Kimi over Manny any day of the week. Good riddance to bad trash.
Oh, and by the way… Please chill the vodka rig.
Cheers
-Andrew
aka dash451
Ever since that boat race in the gorilla suit, maybe even before that, we’ve known he’s an odd character. Since he’s not expected to ‘mentor’ anyone at Maranello then it doesn’t matter so long as he’s winning races, BUT I do often wonder how he gets on with the rest of the engineering staff and paddock crew.
I dont know what people is expecting from him. He’s a very fast racer, that’s it. His personal life or his character is nobody’s business and quite frankly, he has never deliver 110% since his maiden fly at Macca. He’s WC ’cause Macca self-destroyed in 07. If people at Ferrari or Kimi fans are expecting a passionate, glamorous and outspoken Kimi this year they’re moonwalking. He’s beyond F1 minibubble; he’s got a life, a wife, friends, hobbies; he enjoys life more than the soup opera F1 is. The day he get bored and discovers there’s a more interesting kind of racing -ie rallying…- he’s gone for sure.
Both very good points folks. I think the only reason it comes up is because Ferrari went from a guy like Schumi who had the whole team built around him and was instrumental in feedback, communication and intimately involved in the process. Kimi shows up and drives. So the disparity is really by comparison but honestly, as long as Ferrari know what they are doing with the car and can get Kimi to communicate what he needs, it shouldn’t be an issue.
It does raise an interesting issue about what it means to be a *great* F1 driver. What combination of the following (and more) are needed:
* Fast driver
* Good at giving feedback and development
* “Plays well with team”
* Leadership
* Sponsor interaction
* Media and public interaction
Obviously, just about all of us would rank these differently, as would the team bosses — and maybe it even would change within one team depending on the year and where they are at (i.e. working hard on developing a car vs. having a car that’s pretty strong already).
That said, it is hard to imagine a team boss wants one of his drivers sleeping in a car while others interact with each other, but who knows?
I wouldn’t suppose that the planet Kimi lives on is called Planet Vodkatronious, and that “Raikkonen was asleep in a car in the carpark” really means he was passed out recovering from a hangover . . .
Awesome. I find the idea of Kimi asleep in the car park to be hilarious.
So yeah, he lives on another planet from the surreal one F1 lives on – it’s called Earth, and it’s where the rest of us live. He strikes me as a regular guy, quiet with people he doesn’t know/trust but with a wild streak ten miles wide and – obviously – some serious driving talent.
He’ll finish out his Ferrari contract but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him bail from F1 when he’s done. He just doesn’t seem to have the same drive any more, it’s like he’s proven to himself that he can do it. I think he’s happier at Ferrari than he was at McLaren just cos they seem to put less pressure on him. Ron is a guy who likes to get his money’s worth. Maybe Domenicali and Luca DeMontezumasrevenge have realised that those kind of tactics don’t work with Kimi.
Interesting to note that both Kimi (driving a Fiat of course) and Mika (in an Evo 9) will be competing in the Arctic Rally this year, both with top-notch co-drivers too. I would absolutely love to see Kimi move to WRC after F1.
Even more interesting that Ferrari would allow their talent to compete in a risky event (ask Gigi Galli) so close to the season start. Almost like they figured if they said no, he’d do it anyway under an assumed name, so they may as well get some publicity from it..
I agree G60. I thought they had stipulations in their contracts for any risky side-events. MArk Webber can tell us about that. :) I bet Kimi would be a damn good WRC guy to be honest.
Ford already said he could test with them if he wanted…Would be a sweet combination…Kimi, Ford, and the vodka rig….look out Scruffy!!
Well when he retires he can always create “Kimiworld”!
John “charter member of Kimiworld” Stone
i originally thought perhaps he was from the planet of the apes with that gorilla suit….but he does live on the same planet as Luke Skywalker and by the way he acts….I would say he leads a very small rebel alliance that everybody can appreciate!! props for Andy’s great column last year ;)
quite sure kimi will win a few more gp’s next season but i am sure he will refurbished himself to fight against hamilton, massa, kubica, heidfeld and alonso for the wc. . .i hope i am wrong
last year Kimi wasn’t at the top, Massa has been much stronger. In term of talent I think Kimi is stronger, but he had a bad season last year and nobody knows why, even in ferrari.
Maybe he’s too young to start the decline of the champion, I really hope he can recover . But last year he did’t seem the same, I think he’s quite tired with all the f1 life, as he said once the only thing he like in f1 it’s driving. Next year he has to come back, if not he would be fired for alonso.
Last year Kimi struggled with the car and that destroyed his motivation. A frustraded Kimi lost his cool and that was the end of his campaign. Remember he started the season well but then things went sour. SPA is a good example: brilliant start, total control of the race right to the point where it started raining and the car became difficult to drive with his style. Hammy overtook him and knowing Kimi (all that counts is winning, the rest is boring), being overtaken right at the ned of the race just shattered his motivation and concentration anf he went off. Spa was the whole picture of his season. If he is given a good car and he gets off with a good start to season, I think he will be wc 2009, easily. There’s nothing wrong with his motivation. Speed he has. Hope he gets a car that suits him. Then Hammy, Massa, Cuby and the rest of the field will only be fading images in his mirrors for the whole season. Welcome back Kimster. Vodkarig? When was the last time you read news about his wild drinking? Maybe he’s learned to drink responsibly?? Life is good on planet Kimi.