Kimi & happy family!

New Circuit 1 – Valencia GP

This year F1 has several new circuits in its calendar. The first one is in Europe, the street circuit of Valencia. New tracks is always (I believe) an exciting challenge for F1 drivers, also for Kimi. Look at what he said in his site about new tracks : 'I like to discover new tracks, since I was a child driving in a kart, I always learned quickly to drive on unknown tracks.'

This new circuit is another masterpiece of Herman Tilke, a street circuit which has many challenging turns and need a high downforce set up from the cars. I can't wait to watch the 57 laps of Valencia GP next week, hopefully Kimi will be the first champion of this new circuit!

Kimi Is Still On Fire !

Who said Kimi is getting his motivation down? The yesterday Hungary GP was the proof. Although stucked on P6 and P7 behind Alonso on first half of the race, Kimi managed to grab 6 points in 3rd (podium) position. He also set the fastest laps while chasing Glock in Toyota who were in P2. However, after the engine blow in Massa’s car (good drive for Massa, before retiring just 3 laps before finish!), Kimi didn’t force his car anymore, and chose to drive safely. He’s got 6 points anyway, while Hamilton got only 4 points and Massa got zero.

So, how about the poor qualification and poor race on the first half? Kimi did admitted that he’s done a mistake on the qualification, and he still got problem with the car setting (again!). Starting from third row has never been easy in Hungaroring, where there are only limited chances for overtaking. Kimi tried to pass Kovalainen from the outside on the start, which cost him getting passed by Alonso. Struggling behind Alonso has never been easy either, but the time came after second pitstop when he could finally passed Alonso. P4 looked quite good for Kimi looking at the situation, but after Massa retired from the race, it’s getting better. Podium!

Kimi is still on fire ? Definitely! OK, people might think I only tried to please myself. But, look at his pace on the last laps of Hungary GP. Fastest laps, remember? So, no matter what people said about him, I believe that Kimi still has the strong passion and motivation as he had when he became 2007 world champion. The main problem is that he knows little about technical details. He is a racer by nature, and a very-very fast one!

Now, Kimi is on 2nd position in the driver championship, only 5 points behind Hamilton. Ferrari have 3 weeks time to overcome the problems before the next race. So, hopefully all the team is now on fire (just like Kimi) to change the situation, and to be back as a strong rival to McLaren on the championship.

Happy Wedding Anniversary, Kimi!

This week is a special week for Kimi, as last Thursday, the 31th of July was Kimi's 4th wedding anniversary. Happy Wedding Anniversary for Kimi and Jenni!

Another thing that I hope will make this week special is the Hungary GP this weekend. After 2 weeks of tests and practices, Kimi has been satisfied with the car handling. Ferrari even set fastest time at the first practice, where Hamilton finally closed the free practice season to be the fastest one.

So, how does Kimi feel about present situation ? He wrote on his personal site that he was not stressed at all with the last 3 races results. He was very disappointed, indeed, but he won't take it for too long. He is already motivated to go to Hungary to win the race. If he does, that would be a perfect gift for both Kimi and Jenni for their wedding anniversary. I believe that the situation will somehow change for Ferrari. Ferrari is a very big and experienced team, who has been in many hard situations in the past. And at the end, they could always reverse the situation to be better and even to win at the end of the championship. So, Kimi and Ferrari: why not close this weekend in Hungary with a win? Me and all Kimi's and Ferrari's fans all over the world are looking forward to it very much.

The Jinx Is Still To Be Continued In Hockenheim....

Again, in German GP in Hockenheim Kimi cannot win! Yes, he still managed to grab 3 points by finishing in P6, but like he always says, the reason of every race is just to win it. Period.

This time the car handling is the cause. Kimi has difficulties to handle his F2008 since the qualifying session, which caused him to be in the 3rd row of starting grid, P6. At the beginning, he even lost 1 position while trying to overtake Trulli and Alonso. On the middle of the race, huge accident of one of Toyota cars has caused Safety Car period. Kimi managed to go to the pit for 2nd stop, while Hamilton is still leading. After the pit stop, Kimi dropped down to P11, but he managed to overtake several cars in front of him until he’s back to P6, which he could maintain until the end of the race.

On the contrary, Hamilton’s race was close to perfect, thanks to McLaren’s team order and his brilliant manoevre while overtaking Massa.

These bad races have to be ended RIGHT NOW! All the team must work harder on the next 2 weeks time to be well prepared for Hungarian GP. DON’T let things like wrong strategy or car setting be a reason for another fail. Kimi can’t afford another fail. This time he must win! Or otherwise he would miss the opportunity to be world champion. And that might encourage him to retire from F1. Well, that’s one thing I and many others don’t want to see. So, Kimi and Ferrari, do your best in the next 2 weekends! I don’t believe in jinxes, I always believe that every success starts from hard working and commitment!

Exhaust Problem Disturb Kimi's Magny Cours Weekend

This post's title is the most fit sentence to express what had happened last weekend on Magny Cours GP race day. After a good start from testing day to pole position on qualifying day, Kimi got an engine problem that caused him second position at the end of the race, despite of the fastest lap he recorded. A broken exhaust, that was the one which 'disturbs' Kimi's weekend! I wrote 'disturb', not 'ruin' as, despite of the broken exhaust that caused lack of the car power, Kimi was still able to finish safely and score 8 points on P2. His team mate, Massa has successfully won the race, while Hamilton didn't score any point this time.

How do I feel about this failure ? I am disappointed of course, but looking at how Kimi can still scored the fastest lap with the power problem in his car, I believe Kimi is one of the best drivers of this season, and his chance to win the championship is the biggest among the others. Do I need to underline how Kimi made his fastest lap while he was in P2 (behind Massa) with the problem in his car? Impressive! That's Kimi! And that's a value that can help him repeat last year sweet victory in Silverstone. Welcome Silverstone, wait for Kimi's revenge this weekend...

Good Start at Magny Cours

The F1 racing has come back to Europe. Magny Cours GP has been sweet histories for Kimi. Is it going to happen this weekend, when he is 7 points ahead from Hamilton after the long bad weekend ? Of course! Kimi has showed signals of leading the race when he leads Massa in qualifying session, and grab the 200th pole position for Ferrari at the same time.

Looking at the good results both during free practice and the qualifying session, and considering that Kimi's main contenders (Hamilton and Kubica) will not start from the front rows, I can feel the atmosphere of victory tomorrow! If Hamilton could only finish in P9 or more, Kimi will come back to the championship. Let's see....

Retiring Issue...Again!

This is an interesting post from Edmontonsun.com :

'In only his second season behind the wheel of Formula One's lead Ferrari, Finland's Kimi Raikkonen said yesterday that retirement after his current contract ends is a real possibility.

The defending world champion shocked questioners when he was asked what his plans were when his Ferrari deal runs out after next season.

"I like the racing (but) the other stuff is not always the best thing," the 28-year-old Raikkonen said, referring to the constant glare drivers find themselves under.

" ... When there are too many things that you don't enjoy or too many things you don't want, it is time to go away.

Rumours already have started that Ferrari has designs on McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Renault's two-time champion Fernando Alonso.'

My comment ? If the 2008 season is going to be Kimi’s last season in F1 career, then I would not miss every race from now on. And of course, I really want Kimi to close his F1 career with world champion title. Whatever his decision would be, for me Kimi is one of very quick and skilled driver in F1 with his unique personal character!

A Bitter Loss At Canada GP

This time I’m 5 days behind from the race day of Canada GP to publish my post. The main reason was because of my preparation for my new career in internet business. But I also find it difficult to put my feelings in words! Although I didn’t see the race from television (the different time of Indonesia and Canada is 12 hrs, so the race was broadcasted at 12 am, while I was still asleep), I felt very disappointed to find that Kimi cannot finish the race after being smashed from behind by Hamilton. And this happened not in the race (which would counted as an incident), but in the pit lane!

After that rare accident, I searched in the internet for news. What the media and reporters had to say about the accident? What really happened there? Was that a common accident that can happen to any driver at any race? Or…was it a human error or silly mistakes by a non-experienced driver? Well, I got a lot of interesting news. Some of them said it was Hamilton’s fault and he deserved the 10 start position penalty at the next Magny Cours GP (Kimi included in this group), but some of them thought it was unfair for Hamilton being punished for slamming other car from behind, while Kimi could walk away from punishment when he did almost the same to Sutil back to Monaco.

Well, I personally think that all F1 drivers are professional and extraordinary drivers, but they are also human. There were times when they did awesome manouvre on the circuit which invites many people to salute them. But time would come when they appear like totally rookie and made stupid mistakes. Even a legend like Michael Schumacher did this kind of mistake during his career. And at those hard times, the best thing to do is to calm down, cool down, and be focused on the next races, to fight back for title, to do the best and to show their actual skill.

I hope Kimi will do the same thing after the Canada GP, and I wait for his win at Magny Cours. It’s been a long time since I cheered on his victory, really enjoy F1, and write a joyful post in this blog!

Is Raikkonen really going to wave goodbye in 2009? Or maybe....?

More speculation on Kimi's retirement issue :

written by: Bryn Evans

The current world champion, Kimi Raikkonen, is rumoured to be quitting formula 1 in 2009 when his current contract with Ferrari expires.

Sources close to Raikkonen have been saying that the champion no longer has the passion to fulfill his commitments off track and therefore will not be renewing his contract after 2009.

Are we to believe that Kimi has gone as far as he can? I think not. Unfortunately for Kimi there would not be many options open to him for a career beyond an F1 driver. Fair enough, his money has been made he doesn't need to work to pay the bills, but for someone who has a strict regime day in day out, how easy will it be to slip into a life with no goals and no purpose.

I don't think we are seeing the last races from the Finn just yet, maybe the prospect of Fernando Alonso as a team mate is not ideal in his eyes and maybe therefore a change is on the cards, and that change? BMW Sauber.

As I understand it, Kimi would relish the chance to prove he is the best driver and going back to his roots would be the ideal option for him. BMW Sauber have proved this year that they are fast becoming strong title contenders in the making but for that they need a world class driver, enter Kimi, the Finn would love the chance to return to BMW Sauber. Whilst driving for Ferrari is a dream for any driver, it is now a dream that Raikkonen has lived and for a man that hurtles round a track at 200mph for a living the challenges and goals need to be there.

Kimi know he can drive a Ferrari to another 5 world championships, but where's the challenge in that. He is no different from any Joe Bloggs, he want to feel pushed to the limit, he needs new goals to stay interested and driving for BMW Sauber would give him that.

So will the Finn be retiring? I think not.

Feel How Kimi Speeding At Monaco!

Click here to watch a short video of Kimi riding his F2008 at Monaco.

Another Resigning Rumors

A week after the bad weekend for Kimi in Monaco GP, rumours about his retirement has appeared again. It says that Kimi won’t renew his contract after 2009. Where did it came from ? Apparently, this rumours came from his friends that heard him saying at a party that he does not intend to spend much longer as a Grand Prix racer.

"Kimi loves the driving and hates everything else about Formula One.” That’s what the friend said. And this statement clarify what he meant by ‘hates everything else about F1’: ‘The public appearances, the life under the spotlight - he doesn't have the desire anymore," I can understand that for a person with a character like Kimi, it’s very annoying to be a star which is the risk every F1 driver must take to be able to race in the grand prix.

That means I can’t skip every chance to see Kimi’s performance at every F1 GP from now on. By the way, Montreal GP is only one week from now. Let’s see what will happen there!

Real Disaster In Monaco

Not only a bad race in Monaco GP, Kimi had to lose his leading in world championship after finishing in 9th position last weekend. Lewis is now leading 3 points from Kimi. It’s too difficult for me to write about Kimi failure in Monaco. In my favorite GP, I have to see my favorite F1 driver must lost in a humiliating way.

I know that every driver must have bad races or bad days during his career. But this one is…how must I say ? disappointing ? I must wait until few days to be able to post about this event. But anyhow, I know how Kimi must feel right now. And this week would be hard times for him, cause everybody will always remember that day. What makes it more difficult, is the fact that he must went through all the bad things as a reigning world champion. People have high expectation on a world champion, and when something doesn’t turn right, they will ‘shout’.

Anyway, Kimi has apologized to Sutil personally, and Sutil has forgiven him. The bad was bad, but everything is behind us now. The most important thing is how Kimi should left everything behind and ‘pay’ it at next races. The closest race is in Canada. Hope things will get right this time.

Good Signal To Sweet End in Monaco GP?

Kimi in Monaco GP

Ferrari was the strongest in Monaco GP! After a not-quite-good practice session on Friday, Ferrari managed to grab 2 front rows on the race tomorrow. Although not a pole sitter, Kimi has succeeded to start from P2, behind his team mate Massa. Where is Hamilton ? P3. If Kimi can overtake Massa on the start, I think his chance to win the race is big. Is this a good signal for Kimi to make a sweet-ending at Monaco GP?

Kimi Just Bought A ‘New Toy’

During the Monaco GP weekend, Kimi participated in a charity auction of the Elton John Aids Foundation. He bought a 1974 Chevrolet Corvette owned by Hollywood actress Sharon Stone at €200.000. The charity auction took place at Monaco's Meridien Beach Plaza hotel on Friday night. Several of Kimi’s friends, the F1 drivers : Hamilton, Mark Webber, Jenson Button and Nelson Piquet were also participating in the fashion show on the same event.

Is a new Corvette enough for the weekend? Of course not! Kimi always chase victory on every race. Just let’s hope that the new toy will bring luck for Sunday’s race. We’ll see…

Going Back To Monaco

The F1 GP is coming back at last to Monaco this week. I should say that Monaco GP has been my favorite ever since I became an F1 mania. And this year, Kimi Raikkonen come to Monaco as the leading world championship with 7 points ahead from Hamilton and Massa. Of course, I’d very much like to see Kimi win in my favorite GP, Monaco GP!

At the practice session, Kimi (Ferrari) and Hamilton (MacLaren) are very close in lap time. In the first session, Kimi beat Hamilton by 0.268s. Hamilton was consistently quicker through the short first sector, while Kimi had the edge through the more important middle sector from Mirabeau to the Swimming Pool complex – outpacing Hamilton by 0.4s through there on his quickest lap.

Here is Kimi’s comment on the overall practice session :
"I would say this was a normal day of free practice. We went quite well, especially on used tyres in the morning. But we struggled a bit to do a time on new tyres in the second session and now we have to look at the data carefully to understand how to improve. There is plenty of time to do that and so I am not particularly worried, at least at the moment.”

The team boss, Domenicali pointed out few things that need to be anticipated. Firstly, the F2008 performance with the softer tyre, and secondly the weather forecast which underline the possibility of rain during the race.

Well, I can only hope that all Ferrari team will do their best to win this race, and hopefully Kimi is the one who took the victory. Go for it, Kimi !

Definitely A Bad Weekend in Istanbul Park!!

Just what I have been worried for before the race, last week in Istanbul Park wasn’t a good week at all for Kimi! Three bad days in a row, problem in practice session, bad qualifying laps, and bad start on the race! The only good thing from last week was 7 points that Kimi have now ahead of other competitors. Well…what can I say? I am really disappointed, but that’s racing! Sometimes you win and sometimes you lost.

But, anyway, what was really happening back there in Istanbul Park race ? As I watched from TV, I could see that Kimi didn’t have a good start, rather slow actually which allows Kubica to overtake him. Later on I learned that Kimi actually had an incident which involved Heikki Kovalainen on the start which caused Kimi to break the front wing of his F2008. For the detailed explanation, I have quoted Kimi’s version at the official Press Conference after the race :

“I didn’t have a very good start. I got to the side of him on the braking. Then I got a little bit squeezed on the inside and I tried to slow down and get behind him, but he just turned in a little bit. The unfortunate thing for both of us is that I broke the front wing and he had a puncture. It didn’t help for either of us. We chose to use the front wing for the whole race because it takes too long to change it and it wasn’t too bad. I knew pretty much what had happened. I hit the rear wheel of Heikki and the bottom of the end plate came off.”

Ferrari had also a bad choice of tyres. “Yeah, if I’d chosen now I would go onto the harder tyres at the first pit stop but it’s too late. I think the first set of soft worked pretty well for me, but the second set, when it was new, was quite difficult and it was at a point when we needed to be faster, so that’s one of the reasons that we lost second place”

Despite all the above problems, Kimi could actually score fastest lap in the last laps of the race. That means F2008 still have its strong speed Kimi needs to catch more win at the next races. I just can’t wait to see Kimi fight back at my favorite race : Monaco GP in 2 weeks…

Don't Make Mistake Again, Kimi!

On the contrary to Barcelona GP, this week seems to be a hard week for Kimi at the Istanbul Park GP. After gearbox problem during Friday practice season, Kimi made a mistake that forced him to start from front row in P4, behind his main contender Lewis Hamilton who will start from P3. Kimi was disappointed on this position, although he admitted it to be his mistake to make a poor lap on the final qualification session (Q3). "I am a bit disappointed but I made mistakes on my second lap in Q3 and I have to accept that," said the world champion. "I didn't go into the final corner before the pit straight quite right and lost a lot of speed."

But, apart from the bad start position (on the second row plus on the ‘dirty’ track at the anti-clockwise circuit of Istanbul Park), Kimi is still positive about getting as much point as he can to save his leading in the championship. It is not easy, but with a car as strong as F2008, I believe Kimi’s chance to win this race is still big. I put a big hope on McLaren’s fuel strategy, as Kimi said : “Of course, there's a question mark over fuel loads and we won't get an answer to that until the first pit stops tomorrow afternoon."

Well, 2 bad days are more than enough! Go get a victory Kimi, and close this weekend with a sweet win !

Gearbox Problem at Istanbul Practice

Another F1 GP week has started this Friday at Turkey, the Istanbul Park GP. Another chance of victory for our reigning world champion, Kimi Raikkonen! Starting the first practice session, Kimi has a grearbox problem in his F2008, forced him to do only one lap time. Massa reached the top speed in the other F2008 at the end of 1st practice session. At the 2nd session, Ferrari has to find the perfect setting between the car and the Bridgestone tyres. And finally, with the standard grooved slick tyres, Kimi could record a best time of 1:27.543s.

When we are looking at the competitors, McLaren seems not quit far from Ferrari (at the practice session). Lewis Hamilton record a time lap of just 0.036s behind Kimi. So, the main contender of this race would still be McLaren and BMW Sauber. Let’s see what Kimi can do at the qualifying session this afternoon, as like he said, starting position will much affect the race, just like what we have seen at Barcelona last week.

Keep the pace, Kimi !

 

Kimi's New Hairstyle

Just 'launched' at Barcelona....

 
I prefer his 'mohawk' hairstyle, this new one make him look older ??