raikonen signed up thru 2010? what a mistake (spoiler)

i wonder how much Luca is regretting, if at all its true he forced Michael out in favour of Kimi.

 

I'll let you in on a little secret. In 2006 Ferrari had a problem, Felipe Massa had a contract for next year, Kimi Raikkonen had a contract for next year and Michael Schumacher didn't want to retire. Ferrari couldn't fire Michael Schumacher because he's just hop off to whatever team would have him and challenge Ferrari. They couldn't fire Kimi because he would just threaten Ferrari at some other team as well and Massa just wouldn't leave.

So a worried Ross Brawn sat in his basement and thought about the problem while carrying out his secret mask making hobby. Then it hit him. Make a Felipe Massa mask, give it to Michael Schumacher, make a Kimi Raikkonen mask and give it to Felipe Massa and finally make a Michael Schumacher mask and give it to Kimi.

This way, Schumacher can continue racing while his wife thinks he has retired, Felipe can keep racing and Kimi can earn an ass load of money while doing the one thing he enjoys - listening to pit-to-car radio transmissions from the garage.

 

It all becomes clear now.
Only Kimi is listening to 900 phone numbers and he can suck Finlandia while everyone thinks it water.

 

You're all right, he hasn't shown much motivation this year, but I'm going to stick with him. He's shown he's the fastest on the grid ( albiet not when he needs to ). He won the championship last year. This year wasn't his best, but I'll give him one more. I just think he's a great driver. If next year is as dismal as this one, I might change my mind.

 

Well, I'd posted this in another tread and I don't feel like retyping it so I'll just put it up here as it applies to the discussion.

...Massa's performance was no better than Kimi's. Actually it was much worse. Massa qualified in 6th and given Hamilton's lowly qualifying position of 15 had the opportunity of the year to grab the championship with both hands. Then Massa gets a break before the race even starts! Bourdais' car stalls on the grid so he picks up a spot, now he's 5th. Race starts and what happens? Well, Hamilton does exactly what Massa should have been doing, storms through the field. Moves it up to second and then drops back down and into 7th by the end of the race. Kimi takes some time as it seems he had a dry setup on his car and once the track started to dry out he moves from his 14th qualifying position to finish 9th. Only 10 seconds behind Massa at the end. He picks up five places and sets fastest lap. Massa on the other hand back pedals one spot back down into 6th. Kubica, Alonso and Heidfield all get past him.

Still the gap to Hamilton closes, but given the situation at the beginning of the race it shouldn't have closed he should be leading the championship.

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=214206

Both drivers didn't drive their best this weekend but I find it laughable that everyone's ready to sack Kimi at this point. His only fault was not living up to our lofty expectations. Ferrari fans never have those. While I was hoping for Kimi to do much better I was expecting Massa to at least take second if not the win and be well ahead in the points race. Even though I'm no fan of Massa he's our best hope of winning the WDC and I give him my support. After qualifying the race became damage control for Kimi and I thought he did a good job. For Massa the race was just a lost opportunity.

 

+10,000,000 Thank you

 

Sorry, but this isn't like KR didn't just show up this past weekend and everyone's calling for his head. He's had a very undistinguished SEASON. he shows some brilliance here and there, but, for the most part, he's just driving around the track seemingly uninspired. That's fine by me, I suppose, but he's getting paid a boatload of Euros to be at the front. Pay for performance. He's essentially cheated SpA. I don't see him as being hungry or intense. Maybe that's just his way, but I think he lacks the fire. I'm in no position to know anything more than what we all do, so perhaps SpA knows more. Regardless, he's VASTLY overpaid.

Now, it could be the car, tires, weather conditions and such. But, every driver has to contend with the same problems (except the car bit). And, car development is at least partially a driver's duty. If he's not good at development, then he's not going to excel in the races given how competitive the environment is. So, he's an incomplete driver. Why, then, is he the highest paid driver on the grid?

CW