"The Iceman cometh back" by Anthony Peacock

The Iceman cometh back 

5th May 2012 By Anthony Peacock 

The Iceman, back in the Formula One paddock, hasn’t exactly melted – he’s way too cool for that – but he’s got a smile on his face a bit more often than we saw during his final year of rallying in particular. 

In fact, fresh off the back of a podium at the Bahrain Grand Prix, Kimi is already talking about adding to his total of 18 grand prix wins. Reigning champion Sebastian Vettel, for one, is convinced that Kimi will soon be a winner again. He should know, because he came very close to being passed by a black and gold missile that came from out of nowhere in the closing stages of Bahrain. Kimi had one chance, took it, but backed off when it was all getting a bit too hairy. As always, fast but fair. 

Having previously been linked with Williams at the end of last year, Kimi’s management team knew exactly what they were doing when they plumped for the re-born Lotus team instead. Lotus isn’t quite in the big three yet – but it’s definitely best of the rest. And the only missing link was an established world champion, which they now have. 

After Bahrain lots of people were saying that they saw the ‘old’ Kimi again, but that’s not quite true. What we were actually seeing was more like the very young Kimi, who burst into Formula One on the back of just 23 car races, mostly in Formula Renault. The same one who was found fast asleep half an hour before his first race, and who Sir Stirling Moss called: “the fastest driver in the world.” 

But Kimi’s performance in Formula One now is no less impressive than his first year in rallying, even though it didn’t net any podiums. It’s just that Formula One is where he inevitably has the most experience, which is why he’s not too surprised by his front-running pace again. With PR sensitivities in Formula One as they are, Kimi would never be allowed to admit this, but he almost certainly believes that he’s been driving better over the last couple of years in a rally car than he has for the last couple of months in a Formula One car. 

In the Formula One car, what Kimi does is just “normal driving” as he puts it. What he does in a rally car is far from normal. Which is why when you ask him which is more difficult, he replies “rally, of course” – in a slightly surprised way, as if you’ve just asked him whether it’s true or not that night normally follows day… 

Currently Kimi is seventh in the Formula One standings, just one point behind Chinese Grand Prix winner Nico Rosberg and 19 points – less than a win, remember – behind championship leader Vettel. 

Lotus has some upgrades planned for the next race in Barcelona: a track where Kimi still holds the lap record from 2008. With four winners from the first four races, the beginning of the Formula One season has never been closer – but it’s already clear who one of the biggest stars is going to be this year…

Fonte: MaxRally.com

Gosto muito, muito mesmo, de ler os textos e opiniões de Anthony Peacock sobre Kimi. Ele sempre escreve sobre o Iceman de uma maneira direta, sem rodeios, e o que ele fala é exatamente o que penso. 

Neste texto ele fala inclusive sobre a facilidade versus a dificuldade dos mundos da F1 e do rali, em termos de pilotagem, e a opinião de Räikkönen sobre o assunto. E ele tem razão. Kimi nasceu neste mundo da F1, então para ele é simplesmente mamão com açúcar estar em um destes carros, por isto o rali foi tão difícil e mesmo que as pessoas achem que não, a performance dele foi sim, boa, para quem não era do ramo, como Loeb, por exemplo. 

Räikkönen ficou em 10º em suas duas temporadas no WRC, sem nunca ter sido piloto de rali desde os primórdios de sua carreira. Isto definitivamente é uma conquista muito grande.

Beijinhos, Ludy