I tried to keep it in check, rein it in but it became too hard to contain and I am now in full blown F1 mode (this should read as: completely obsessesed and it has spiralled totally out of control). Here's a thought, if it's already an obsession, can it spiral out of control? Wouldn't the word obsession imply that it's out of control. But anyways, I've completely gone off my rocker F1-Kimi wise.
For the past week since watching the Belgian GP, I have been google-newsing Kimi Raikkonen every 30 seconds for the latest on my favourite driver. If I'm not doing that, and there's only like so, so many times that you press search and a new item pops up in the 30 second window I give myself, I'm trawling blogs for mentions of him. If it's not that then I'm watching all the clips, Kimi past and present, of him on Youtube. When I'm not near a wifi hotspot, I've been watching his past races that I downloaded. When I'm not doing that I'm constantly thinking about the next race, his last win at the Spa-Francochamps circuit, his undetermined status as Ferrari pilot for 2010, what other teams he should go to should he not be at Ferrari next year and on and on and on.
My every waking thought is Kimi-Ferrari related. I can't seem to think of anything but Kimi-Ferrari-F1. Even when my mind tries to wander down a different path, something reins it back towards Kimi-Ferrari-F1. I'm really exhausted from it all. And I'm so anxious when I'm not near a PC with a connection to the WWW to click on the "Search News" button every 30 seconds. And even when I'm in front of one, right before my cursor hits that button, my heart starts beating a lil bit faster, out of nervousness. I want to know the news but it scares me at the same time. I'm afraid it's news I just don't want to hear. It's a damned if you do and damned if you don't situation. Have I proven the absolute nuttiness yet or is more convincing still needed on that front?
Part of me is like this because of all the rumours swirling in regards to his 2010 contract with Ferrari. Although I'm quite convinced (and extremely hopeful) that he remains with the scarlet team for next year, it's just not guaranteed. I mean, he does have an inked agreement to drive with them for next year but there's a buyout clause. The announcement for Ferrari's 2010 line-up should come this weekend at Monza. This is traditionally where Ferrari makes their plans for next year known. The word in the paddocks are strongly veering towards an ouster of Kimi from Ferrari in favour of Fernando Alonso. Yet, Ferrari has vehemently denied this. So too has Kimi. But like the saying goes, where there is smoke.....
Of course, these kind of talks has been rampant in years past as well. Not so much about the Kimi leaving Ferrari but about the Alonso move to Scuderia. Personally, I don't believe Alonso would be a good fit with Ferrari if they plan on retaining Massa for next year and beyond. I also don't think it's wise of the team to hedge their bets on Massa either. I know this appears cold and callous but the man was involved in a near fatal accident and suffered massive trauma to his skull/brain and upper left eye. Although the reports indicate that he will recover nicely, that does not guarantee he will be recovered for racing. In past experiences (read: reports on driver's who've had head injuries), drivers whom have had accidents such as Massa's rarely recover their past driving form. I'm not saying that Massa will be one of those who cannot make that adjustment but the odds are quite stacked against it going positively. Therefore, it would be a wise move on Ferrari's part to retain some semblance of stability by keeping Kimi at Ferrari for 2010 with Giancarlo Fisichella as the other driver. The team is still transitioning from the Brawn-Todt-Byrne-Schumi powerhouse and would do well to keep upheavals to a minimal. One season of no drama on the management side would do the team a whole world of good. As of this year alone, the number of tactical mistakes that have come out from the Ferrari pits have been astounding. It's definitely not the well-oiled machine that the other teams used to want to emulate. Also, the sabbattical I am suggesting for Massa should be spent maybe doing a less strenuous series in order to gradually get back to race fitness, physically as well as mentally. After Kimi serves out his 2010 contract and then the following year, by all means sign Alonso if they so choose. By then, Massa should be sufficiently prepared as well.
Then Ferrari can descend into a chaos of their own choosing with Alonso trying to manipulate things to go his way and Massa getting all stroppy by the slight he feels when paired with a more mercurial teammate. I mean, I don't care, like I've stated many times before, I am a fan of the driver and I go where he goes but I just thought I'd throw in my 2 cents into the hat. I'll discuss my points on Alonso first. I think Alonso is a good driver, fantastic on certain days. He is pretty much a consistent driver and is a double world champion because of it. He shows his passion for driving which is something the rabid tifosi would appreciate. However, whereever he goes, controversy follows (read: Ferrarigate, Nelsinhogate). The guy is just a magnet for trouble. The team he's with constantly end up with a PR nightmare. Another thing about Alonso is that he may drive for a team but the person he serves is himself. He seems to have no qualms about throwing his team under a bus when things don't go his way just as he did to McLaren. Now, I know that that was way back in '07 but what's to stop him from repeating himself? The only way I see Ferrari and Alonso working out is if Flavio Briatore can come along for the ride and I doubt that's in any way a possibility. I will give him this though. Since returning to Renault from his tumultuos time at McLaren, he seems to have mellowed out significantly to the point that in some races, he's also got me rooting for him in a race. This is a major testament of his personality improvements as prior, I hated the guy with as much passion as I love Kimi. But I'm sure that he will still demand number 1 status in the team and as a double world champion, I would say rightly so. However, that might have worked at the Ferrari of yore but the Ferrari of the moment is all about equality (supposedly anyway).
Which brings us to Felipe Massa. This guy has always had esteem issues. He's been known as the lesser of the two Ferrari pilots, the supporting driver shall we say, so he always feels as if he has something to prove and although I should state that I believe he should prove himself, he should also just talk a lil bit less and drive a lil bit more. Ever since coming to the fore in the latter half of the '08 season, he has fancied himself as the new renaissance man at Ferrari, Schumi's second coming so to speak. This year, he went as far as to say to the international media that he was the guy keeping the team motivated and inspired during the tough times of the opening season and the whole FOTA-FIA feud. All well and good but let's walk the walk when we talk the talk. Kimi who talks as little as possible was the one who salvaged Ferrari's opening season record with his points score in Bahrain. Kimi was the guy who put the underwhelming Ferrari on the podium first. Who's the renaissance man? The man who says he is or the man who simply does? It's quite annoying most times when Massa goes off on a rant about missed oppurtunities and how he should have won this and this race or another. You end up first, you win the race. Anywhere else and if you failed to finish means you did not win the race. Coulda, shoulda, woulda have no place in Formula 1. Stop the whingieng and stop fancying yourself too much.
To his credit though, he did outperform his more illustrious teammate in 2008. One reason that has been bandied about is the '08 car was developed to be more suited to the driving style of Felipe Massa. Then there were of course the supposed "Kimi has no motivation" issues. But everyone's allowed an off day. Ok, it was more of an off six months of racing but an off half-year by Kimi's standards is what some drivers can only dream of. After all, Kimi did finish as the third over all driver. It's not like he was dead last or anything. Number 3 out of 20 is more than good. Of course, to his detractors, getting paid about USD50 million a year should warrant more than a third place. Fine, yes, the salary he commands is a substantial amount but it's to perform as part of the Scuderia Ferrari F1 team. By playing supporting driver to Felipe Massa when he was mathematically out of contention for the drivers championship last year, he fulfilled his contract to the company. He allowed Ferrari to retain the constructors mantle for the second year running in a more, let's say, fair fashion. It was done on the track and not "gifted", so to speak, by the Motor Sports World Council. He did his job as a driver didn't he? The constructors is far more important in terms of revenue for the teams. The drivers championship is simply glory for your pilot.
Ok, there's actually more where this came from but I've decided to break it down into a coupla posts :D. TBC.....
For the past week since watching the Belgian GP, I have been google-newsing Kimi Raikkonen every 30 seconds for the latest on my favourite driver. If I'm not doing that, and there's only like so, so many times that you press search and a new item pops up in the 30 second window I give myself, I'm trawling blogs for mentions of him. If it's not that then I'm watching all the clips, Kimi past and present, of him on Youtube. When I'm not near a wifi hotspot, I've been watching his past races that I downloaded. When I'm not doing that I'm constantly thinking about the next race, his last win at the Spa-Francochamps circuit, his undetermined status as Ferrari pilot for 2010, what other teams he should go to should he not be at Ferrari next year and on and on and on.
My every waking thought is Kimi-Ferrari related. I can't seem to think of anything but Kimi-Ferrari-F1. Even when my mind tries to wander down a different path, something reins it back towards Kimi-Ferrari-F1. I'm really exhausted from it all. And I'm so anxious when I'm not near a PC with a connection to the WWW to click on the "Search News" button every 30 seconds. And even when I'm in front of one, right before my cursor hits that button, my heart starts beating a lil bit faster, out of nervousness. I want to know the news but it scares me at the same time. I'm afraid it's news I just don't want to hear. It's a damned if you do and damned if you don't situation. Have I proven the absolute nuttiness yet or is more convincing still needed on that front?
Part of me is like this because of all the rumours swirling in regards to his 2010 contract with Ferrari. Although I'm quite convinced (and extremely hopeful) that he remains with the scarlet team for next year, it's just not guaranteed. I mean, he does have an inked agreement to drive with them for next year but there's a buyout clause. The announcement for Ferrari's 2010 line-up should come this weekend at Monza. This is traditionally where Ferrari makes their plans for next year known. The word in the paddocks are strongly veering towards an ouster of Kimi from Ferrari in favour of Fernando Alonso. Yet, Ferrari has vehemently denied this. So too has Kimi. But like the saying goes, where there is smoke.....
Of course, these kind of talks has been rampant in years past as well. Not so much about the Kimi leaving Ferrari but about the Alonso move to Scuderia. Personally, I don't believe Alonso would be a good fit with Ferrari if they plan on retaining Massa for next year and beyond. I also don't think it's wise of the team to hedge their bets on Massa either. I know this appears cold and callous but the man was involved in a near fatal accident and suffered massive trauma to his skull/brain and upper left eye. Although the reports indicate that he will recover nicely, that does not guarantee he will be recovered for racing. In past experiences (read: reports on driver's who've had head injuries), drivers whom have had accidents such as Massa's rarely recover their past driving form. I'm not saying that Massa will be one of those who cannot make that adjustment but the odds are quite stacked against it going positively. Therefore, it would be a wise move on Ferrari's part to retain some semblance of stability by keeping Kimi at Ferrari for 2010 with Giancarlo Fisichella as the other driver. The team is still transitioning from the Brawn-Todt-Byrne-Schumi powerhouse and would do well to keep upheavals to a minimal. One season of no drama on the management side would do the team a whole world of good. As of this year alone, the number of tactical mistakes that have come out from the Ferrari pits have been astounding. It's definitely not the well-oiled machine that the other teams used to want to emulate. Also, the sabbattical I am suggesting for Massa should be spent maybe doing a less strenuous series in order to gradually get back to race fitness, physically as well as mentally. After Kimi serves out his 2010 contract and then the following year, by all means sign Alonso if they so choose. By then, Massa should be sufficiently prepared as well.
Then Ferrari can descend into a chaos of their own choosing with Alonso trying to manipulate things to go his way and Massa getting all stroppy by the slight he feels when paired with a more mercurial teammate. I mean, I don't care, like I've stated many times before, I am a fan of the driver and I go where he goes but I just thought I'd throw in my 2 cents into the hat. I'll discuss my points on Alonso first. I think Alonso is a good driver, fantastic on certain days. He is pretty much a consistent driver and is a double world champion because of it. He shows his passion for driving which is something the rabid tifosi would appreciate. However, whereever he goes, controversy follows (read: Ferrarigate, Nelsinhogate). The guy is just a magnet for trouble. The team he's with constantly end up with a PR nightmare. Another thing about Alonso is that he may drive for a team but the person he serves is himself. He seems to have no qualms about throwing his team under a bus when things don't go his way just as he did to McLaren. Now, I know that that was way back in '07 but what's to stop him from repeating himself? The only way I see Ferrari and Alonso working out is if Flavio Briatore can come along for the ride and I doubt that's in any way a possibility. I will give him this though. Since returning to Renault from his tumultuos time at McLaren, he seems to have mellowed out significantly to the point that in some races, he's also got me rooting for him in a race. This is a major testament of his personality improvements as prior, I hated the guy with as much passion as I love Kimi. But I'm sure that he will still demand number 1 status in the team and as a double world champion, I would say rightly so. However, that might have worked at the Ferrari of yore but the Ferrari of the moment is all about equality (supposedly anyway).
Which brings us to Felipe Massa. This guy has always had esteem issues. He's been known as the lesser of the two Ferrari pilots, the supporting driver shall we say, so he always feels as if he has something to prove and although I should state that I believe he should prove himself, he should also just talk a lil bit less and drive a lil bit more. Ever since coming to the fore in the latter half of the '08 season, he has fancied himself as the new renaissance man at Ferrari, Schumi's second coming so to speak. This year, he went as far as to say to the international media that he was the guy keeping the team motivated and inspired during the tough times of the opening season and the whole FOTA-FIA feud. All well and good but let's walk the walk when we talk the talk. Kimi who talks as little as possible was the one who salvaged Ferrari's opening season record with his points score in Bahrain. Kimi was the guy who put the underwhelming Ferrari on the podium first. Who's the renaissance man? The man who says he is or the man who simply does? It's quite annoying most times when Massa goes off on a rant about missed oppurtunities and how he should have won this and this race or another. You end up first, you win the race. Anywhere else and if you failed to finish means you did not win the race. Coulda, shoulda, woulda have no place in Formula 1. Stop the whingieng and stop fancying yourself too much.
To his credit though, he did outperform his more illustrious teammate in 2008. One reason that has been bandied about is the '08 car was developed to be more suited to the driving style of Felipe Massa. Then there were of course the supposed "Kimi has no motivation" issues. But everyone's allowed an off day. Ok, it was more of an off six months of racing but an off half-year by Kimi's standards is what some drivers can only dream of. After all, Kimi did finish as the third over all driver. It's not like he was dead last or anything. Number 3 out of 20 is more than good. Of course, to his detractors, getting paid about USD50 million a year should warrant more than a third place. Fine, yes, the salary he commands is a substantial amount but it's to perform as part of the Scuderia Ferrari F1 team. By playing supporting driver to Felipe Massa when he was mathematically out of contention for the drivers championship last year, he fulfilled his contract to the company. He allowed Ferrari to retain the constructors mantle for the second year running in a more, let's say, fair fashion. It was done on the track and not "gifted", so to speak, by the Motor Sports World Council. He did his job as a driver didn't he? The constructors is far more important in terms of revenue for the teams. The drivers championship is simply glory for your pilot.
Ok, there's actually more where this came from but I've decided to break it down into a coupla posts :D. TBC.....
