Kimi "ICEMAN" Raikkonen - Formula 1 Champion

2009 F1 "Diffuser" Season

2009-06-10T23:31:00.003+03:00

Many would call it boring ! and I agree. Six wins out of seven GPs for Jenson Button with Brawn GP , definitely is a "BORING" domination. Most people assume that the FIA is responsible for this uninteresting season due the fact that the rule involving the design of the rear diffuser was not clear and has been interpreted differently by the different team, which gave the Brawns an edge over the other teams , actually Toyota and Williams used the same design of double decker diffusers , but definitely there performance can't be compared to the Brawns .

Actually i disagree with these people , for different reasons .

First , lets look at the start of the season in Australia , it was all about Brawn GP ,Red Bull and behind them Toyota and Williams - speaking performance wise - . Red bull did not have a double decker diffuser , although they were the nearest competitors to the Brawns . Toyota and Williams had the double decker diffuser , but there performance wasn't equivalent to how the Brawns performed , what we can deduce is that the double decker diffuser by it self was not the main part that gave Brawn GP the edge they had . Ferrari , Mclaren and other teams tried to convince us that it was all about the diffuser . No it was not , Sebastien Vettel was running third in the Redbull -i think- behind the Brawns although the did not have the double diffuser by then . So apparently it was not a matter of diffuser design , i think the design of the brawn is far more advanced in performance than the other cars on the grid.

Secondly , involving the misinterpretation of the rule . Stefano Domenicali was asked, after the court that was held after the Malaysian grand prix where all the teams that did not have the double diffuser requested to prove that the diffuser trio do not follow the rules . And on the contrary the court approved the double diffusers are in fact legal . So , Domenicali was asked if Ferrari could have interpreted the rule as the trio did ? Stunningly , his answer was yes , we thought about the double decker but the rule was not clear so we ignored the fact that we can use double deckers . Well Sir , if i were you i would have at least sent a letter or asked for meeting with the an FIA responsible to fully understand the case of this rule . That is actually an unacceptable and unwise decision taken by Ferrari , which in fact cost them a lost season .

Thirdly , currently in this part of the season Ferrari introduced the new double decker diffuser on the F60 and also made modifications to the design of the car specially the floor. They introduced it in Spain . Definitely it gave them a considerable performance boost , and from Spain through Monaco where they had their best result so far for this season , 3rd position for Kimi , and then last weekend in Turkey. After three complete weekends and still the Brawns are unreachable, neither are the Redbulls . Very disappointing from Ferrari.

To sum up , in my opinion no team should hang his mistakes over an unclear rule from the FIA , because they had more than one chance to improve , but they didn't . And in fact we should really pay respect to Brawn GP and designers of that car , because i think they did their best and are still doing . They deserve to be champions, with all respect to all other teams, specially to Ferrari of who i am a big fan and i think will soon be getting out of there miserable time and take their shape back again improving their stance in the sport , and they will fight again over championships ,that is for sure.

Q&A with KIMI .

2009-01-29T15:20:00.002+02:00

This Q&A from autosport . i dont think it is legitimate to copy and paste it over her . So here is the link to it for you to read it .

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72795

F60 Launch !!! The new Ferrari contender .

2009-01-29T13:26:00.004+02:00

January ,12th Mugello

Well lets start with the most important breaking news of the new year . Ferrari launched the new Ferrar F60 which will be their contender for the 2009 season , they were the first to unveil their car . The F60 debut was at Mugello's track in Italy . Of course we were expecting the car to be named F2009 as it was the trend with the F2008 and other Ferrari F1 versions , but this year is different as the F60 is a celebration of the existence of Ferrari in the Formula 1 business for the last 60 years .

As to comply to the new F1 regulations this year , we can notice the change in the new F60 , as it features a wider front and narrower and relatively higher rear wing . The new car features Ferrari's Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS), which has been developed in conjunction with electronics supplier Magneti Marelli. It is mounted on the engine - although the team has not yet confirmed whether the device will be used for the first race.

Some people judged the new F60 to no complying with the regualtions and the exhaust pipes were not covered as we can see near the cars rear . But Ferrari later fixed this problem.

From : Autosport.com

"As you can see the car is not an evolution of last year's car," said technical director Aldo Costa.

"It's a completely new car, starting from a white piece of paper. Fundamentally the biggest changes come from the new rules from an aerodynamic point of view and the introduction of new technology, which is the KERS system.

"Because of that we had to start work pretty early and to review the main concept of the car, so it was a very very intense and long job."

The F60 features a longitudinally-mounted carbon fibre-cased gearbox and has a new Brembo designed braking system.

Specifications of the F60

Chassis

Carbon-fibre and honeycomb composite structure
Ferrari longitudinal garbo Limited-slip differential Semiautomatic sequential electronically controlled garbo - quick shift
Number of gears 7 + Reverse
Brembo ventilated carbon-fibre disc brakes
Independent suspension, push-rod activated torsion springs front and rear
Weight (with water, lubricant and driver) 605 kg
BBS Wheels (front and rear) 13"
Kinetic energy recovery system by Ferrari in cooperation with Magneti Marelli

Engine

Type 056
Number of cylinders 8
Cylinder block in cast aluminium V 90°
Number of valves 32
Pneumatic distribution
Total displacement 2398 cm3
Piston bore 98 mm
Weight > 95 kg
Magneti Marelli digital electronic injection
Magneti Marelli static electronic ignition
Fuel Shell V-Power ULG-66L/2
Lubricant Shell

F60 Launch Ceremony

A short video of the launching ceremony

Track Debut

Massa was scheduled to run the car for the first time in Mugello later that day , he had a good impression of the car , and it rain without problems , and we go below with a video of the first lap with Fellipe .

Kimi on the F60

Trying to catch up quickly

2009-01-29T13:22:00.002+02:00

During the past couple of weeks , a lot of news have been out there that we missed . So unfortunately there isn't enough time to discuss them all thouroughly , so i am gonna run through pointing at the most important cases and also would love to reply to your comments afterwards in case of anything that wasn't clear .

Coming back Sooon !!

2009-01-25T12:37:00.000+02:00

Sorry people for not posting anything since New Year's , i actually had my final exams and will finish this week .I will resume posting new hot news by the end of the week . Thank you and BYE.

Santa :" Kimi was a good boy this Christmas."

2008-12-31T14:18:00.003+02:00

Well definetly Kimi wasn't that good this season , but Santa disagrees.
This week Raikkonen bought for himself a 250 000 euros Audi Q7 . I bet his now enjoying a woderful Christmas , with his wife and her family in Turkku (Finland) then back in Porkkala with parents. The car's specifications can be listed , the Q7 is mounted with a 6.0L V12 TDI engine that gives 500 BHP . Well i guess these are the least specs an F1 driver can accept.

Well after the holiday season it is expected that the teams will resume their testings and news are going to start rolling, i will try to keep the news updated as fast as i can.

Happy NEW YEAR to everybody.

New race engineer for the KIM

2008-12-21T14:08:00.000+02:00

New changes are happening inside the red team . Domenicali , Ferrari's F1 team principle told the media that Chris Dyer , Kimi's australlian race engineer will be replaced by Andrea Stella starting form the coming season. While Dyer will remain in duty for Ferrari as track engineer.

Chris Dyer was race engineer for Raikkonen during the last couple of years,and also race engineered for Schumacher towards the end of his Formula1 carreer.

Stella was working with Raikkonen before as performance engineer , many can recognize him from seeing work with Kimi in the paddock pictures.

Why would Ferrari do that ? Why would they send away Dyer who is experienced and older than Stella ?
I guess the new policy that Ferrari put in place for the last couple of years , is to bring the younger blood to action for the team . This started with Stefano Domenicali taking Todt's place . I guess this policy will bring great interest in the future , although in the middle of the transition period a few mistakes might happen , but for the long run great results will be achieved . We should also bare into our minds that Ferrari didn't leave the youngsters by themselves , but the experience of John Todt and Michael Schumacher is always there to hold up the team. And this was pretty clear when we saw them several times in the paddock with the Ferrari team.

We hope for a promising season with these changes , and i am sure it will be.

Kimi' eyes on 2009 Championship

2008-12-19T04:06:00.000+02:00

Kimi mad after crashing in singapore 2008

"Let's not forget that in his first year at Ferrari he was world champion. He will be back for sure.", Ferrari team president Luca di Montezemolo said to autosport a few days ago.

After the end of the last season and Kimi finishing in third position , a lot have questioned his performance defending his title . Kimi suffered during the season of several DNFs because of several accidents and also a less competitive driving. People said that he might be no longer motivated . But He told Ferrari this week that he will fix all of the chaos that happened in this season as he puts his eyes on becoming a double world champion this year.The 2007 champion hasn't scored any points in six races in the 2008 season .

Di Montezemelo said about Kimi :"I joke that we had Kimi until Magny Cours, then he was busy and he asked a friend of his to drive," di Montezemolo told selected media including autosport.com at Maranello.

"This friend was a very good driver. He put on Kimi's helmet, but now we finally have the proper Kimi back again.

"For a while he looked like a centre forward who wasn't scoring goals, but as soon as he did you knew he will be okay again. We have spoken recently and I think he is very, very determined and in good form."Let's not forget that in his first year at Ferrari he was world champion. He will be back for sure."

Michael Schumacher also said - during the end of the season - about Kimi's unstable performance , that the team has introduced new components to the car which didn't match Kimi's style ,or in other words Kimi couldn't take all out of them, unlike his team mate Massa who could really profit the best of them.

After the Italian GP , Ferrari has extended Kimi's contract for 2009 and 2010 . Many have questioned this decision ,given that Fernando Alonso was likely to sign for Ferrari . But Ferrari have real confidence in there drivers . And Kimi is not a normal driver , Kimi is a champion and Ferrari are very aware of his skills and what he can do . Definetly this doesn't mean that Alonso is not a good candidate for Ferrari. But what makes Ferrari what they are is that they are one solid team , gives great confidence to his members , even if they fail in some stage. A that is what a driver needs to come back , the support of a team that values his skills and capabilities.

"In Japan he drove a great race. He's a champion and a great leader, but for the moment we don't have any problem with our current drivers.

"That is why we confirmed officially Massa and Kimi until the end of 2010. Life is long and in the future we will see. But for the moment we don't have any grey areas regarding drivers for the next two years.

Kimi realy is a fantastic driver , no one can deny his skill , just last season wasnt this good , but at least he didn't walk home with empty , he was awarded the DHL fastest lap award for scoring the highest number of fastest lap during the season , finishiing with 10 fastest laps in 18 grand prix . This is a personal record for Kimi for the second time in his F1 career . Although Michael Schumacher still has this record under his name for scoring it before Raikkonen did for the first time. Of course being the fastest man on the track for 10 races is not something a random driver can do. But lets say it was the bad luck chasing him down like in the old days . And we will see him back, that's a sure thing.

One of Kimi's legendary overtakes-Suzuka 2005

2008-12-12T18:11:00.000+02:00

Watch this video with Kimi overtaking Giancarlo Fisichella .

A great manoeuvre , Kimi started this race in the 17th and overtook poor Giancarlo in the last lap for the pole. As we can see how Kimi took a great advantage exiting the last chicane , profiting from Fisico being on the inside , he went wide as much as possible to get a good apex entering the chicane , and we can notice how he stepped on the throttle at the same time fisichella did , although Fisichella was in front . Down the straight Kimi came realy close and took a good position on the right entering the fast sweeping turn one, in such circumstances at very high speed closing 300 Km/h taking turn with the least braking he could use to keep the car from sliding he succed in passing Fisichella and winning this race in the final lap. One of the greatest overtakes of his carreer . Enjoy the great commentry in this video .
Happy with your comments.

Final testing Day in Jerez

2008-12-11T20:21:00.000+02:00

For the third day in a row , Kimi Raikkonen and his team mate Felippe Massa finished testing today in Jerez . Kimi completed 84 laps still working on the endurance program with a best lap of 1:18.782 . Ferrari is supposed to be next week continuing there testing in Portugal.

Day 2 - Jerez

2008-12-11T02:15:00.000+02:00

Kimi resumed today morning his testing program searching for different setups for the car . Also worked on low downforce setups , to simulate the new aero package that will be used next season .

Next season new rules have been set to dramatically reduce downforce , this will be achieved by total banning of winglets and side wings and the car will be only supporting a wider front wing and tighter rear wing but only higher a few inches.

More details on 2009 rules will be posted later.

Back to today's testing , Kimi put under test few new components that have been built in the car , Ferrari did not supply furhter information about this piece that will contribute in the Ferrari car for the next season. In the mean time the endurance testing kept going for today and he has completed 89 laps.

This engine endurance test consists of running on the same engine for a distance equivalent to 3 race week ends as from next years teams will only be allowed one engine that should last 3 races in a row , this rule is part of the cost cutting solutions that the FIA are pursuing due to the world economic crisis.

So for today and the day before Kimi has completed 137 laps which is equivalent to about 2 grand prix distance , and tomorow the testing will continue and further news and analysis will be posted .

December Jerez testing Day 1

2008-12-10T02:56:00.000+02:00

Today Raikkonen came back to the cockpit in Jerez with his first winter testing session with Ferrari . Raikkonen worked today on an engine edurance testing program where he ran 48 laps as the first part of the 3 days test. He came in 5th in the unofficial FIA classification with a best lap of 1.20.261s.
Sebastien Buemi topped the results today for Torro Rosso , but these results
are no realy significant since every team are running with different programs , objectives and diverse aero packages.
Further news tomorrow for day 2.

December Winter Testing in Jerez

2008-12-09T18:35:00.000+02:00

Today , F1 teams resume their winter testing in Jerez and Bahrain circuit . Kimi Raikkonen will be testing with ferrari in jerez for today . Ferrari will test KERS and new Bridgestone dry slick tires.
Results of day one will be up soon .

2008 Season digest

2008-12-09T15:52:00.000+02:00

After the end of a historic and fantastic season , the 2008 season had been one of the most fantastic seasons ever happened in Formula 1,with the Brit Lewis Hamilton winning the championship in the last corner of the Brazilian grand prix sure was one of the hottest moments in Formula 1 history .

Talking about Kimi Raikkonen and his performance during the whole season trying to defend his crown . Lets start with the first GP of the season in Australia .

Melbourne : First qualifying session of the season was merely catastrophic for Kimi and Ferrari when he faced a problem with the electronic fuel pump and his car stopped then he couldn't proceed to Q2 and qualified 16 th . Sunday afternoon's race was characterised with numerous DNFs and only six cars crossing the finish line . Kimi had an incident trying to overtake the compatriote Heikki Kovalainen and slid off the track , then he came back to the race until he had an engine failure and quit the race. With all the incidents in the race , he managed to finish 8th and get only one point after Rubens Barichello was given a penalty for exiting the pits under red light.

Podium finishers : Lewis Hamilton , Nick Heidfeld , Nico Roseberg.
to be continued ...

Kimi Raikkonen's Biography

2008-09-06T14:47:00.000+02:00

Date of birth : October 17, 1979
Nationality Finnish
Place of birth: Esspoo , Finland.
Current Residence: Chigwell , London
Marital status Married (to Jenni)
Height 1.75m
Weight 63kg

Career:
Car number:4 (2009 season)
Current Team : Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro
Championships won : 1 (2007)

Formula One Career
2001
Team :Sauber Petronas
Points : 9 Drivers' Championship :9th

2002
West McLaren Mercedes
24 points 6th in the Drivers' Championship;
Podiums: 2nd in France GP, 3rd in Australia, Europe and Japan

2003
West McLaren Mercedes
91 points 2nd in the Drivers’ Championship
Wins: Malaysia
2nd position: Brazil, San Marino, Austria, Monaco, Hungary, US and Japan.
3rd in Australia and Britain.
Drivers' Championship :2nd

2004
West McLaren Mercedes
7th, 45 points

2005
West McLaren Mercedes,
2nd, 112 points
(7 wins, 12 podiums, 5 pole positions, 10 fastest laps)

2006
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
5th, 65 points
(6 podiums, 3 pole positions, 3 fastest laps)

2007
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro

WORLD CHAMPION !!!!