I believe that despite being called 'The Iceman', Kimi Raikkonen is not such a cool cucumber after all. Like a lot of F1 drivers (particularly those at the very top), I believe Kimi needs to feel like the real star of the show within any team that he is driving for. I believe this partly explains his relative performances with the likes of Alonso and more recently with Vettel. Deep down, Raikkonen knows that with such teammates, the focus inevitably is not all on him and perhaps his performance suffers as a result...
I say this because you can't help but compare the Raikkonen we saw in his 2 years at Lotus, where he was undeniably the clear focus of the team in terms of ensuring that his every concern and request was met. This was inevitably because the team knew that he was their best bet of getting the best out of the car and producing some eye catching performances. Lotus therefore had to keep Kimi happy otherwise they knew they would very quickly lose him (inevitably they lost him anyway).
As a result of this clear focus and attention, Kimi's performances improved and he became a real 'dark horse' threat come race day for a surprise win as he did in his now famous Abu Dhabi 2012 race win and as he almost achieved in Bahrain 2013 against Vettel. This ominous, looming threat was always associated with Kimi as in his McLaren days - who can forget his last lap win of the Japanese Grand Prix after scaring Fisichella out the way?
There is an argument that the atmosphere / culture of a team also has to fit the driver and it could be said that the Ferrari 'family' atmosphere doesn't quite fit with Kimi as can be seen during his tenure with Massa between 2007-2009. McLaren's precise and almost clinical approach seemed to help Kimi during his time at McLaren between 2002 - 2006, when the Iceman was quickly feared up and down the grid. At Ferrari, both past and present, I can't help but get the impression that Raikkonen gets quite comfortable and as a result, loses some of his sharpness.
Either way, Kimi's current performance against Alonso and Vettel at Ferrari has been somewhat disappointing particularly compared to the promise shown during his performances at Lotus. It could be said that at Lotus, Kimi was motivated to drive at his absolute best in his attempt to impress and join a larger team to obtain a real chance to win. With a new Ferrari contract now being dangled in front of him, will this help him in his performance as again Kimi fights for the continued survival of his F1 career and once achieved, settle back into the comfort of the Ferrari family...?
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