To me that says they are primarily Kimi fans rather than F1 fans.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the popularity of F1 suffers in Spain when Alonso retires because he is the main reason for it’s success there, but I didn’t realise so many people started watching F1 because of Raikkonen, or perhaps this site has attracted a higher proportion of Kimi fans than there generally are.

I understand that sport is always more enjoyable if you have someone to support, but even if all my favourite drivers and teams left F1 I don’t think I would say I would stop watching it.

Come on, please dont tell me that Massa is any better than Kimi.

Cause what I can see is, most Massa’s victories are from pole positions. So Massa havent really beaten Kimi yet!

Sorry, Massa… but you’re still a worthy driver too.. I was sad when you lose to Ham in 2008, and I prayed for you after Hungarian GP’s incident. So knockdown your team-mate, Alonso next year!!

From my view of point, without Kimi in F1.. the F1 fans will missed the excitements brought by Kimi!

So we shall see what gonna happens in near future.. as long as Merc GP is yet to announce their second driver. I have strong faith that Haug & Brawn will pick their best choice, to have Kimi Raikkonen for their second seat. Come on Merc!! he’ll will worth your every penny!

In 2010, I hope to see Kimi giving all his best to show the rest of the F1 fans that he’s capable of beating current F1 aces: Alonso, Hamilton, Massa, Button before he set to retired from F1!..

By the way, Vettel & Rosberg will be the future F1 aces in no time!! Love them too!!

But seriously if he, or anyone else for that matter are a bit bored with F1, then it is quite easy for me to understand their reasoning. I myself have grown quite tired of F1 as well during this last season.
Every year before the new season starts, during the off season, you will always find that one thread on a F1 forum where everyone is existed by the prospect of a new year, and every year people always predict or “hope” that there will be more racing and less controversy, politics and scandals. But for the last few seasons the controversy and scandals have just gotten more and more, each one bigger then the other. While at the same time we have to watch more and more “races” like Valencia, Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain. Beautiful scenery and all of them very nice places I am sure, but this racing not a traveling show!
It was during this year that I switched off my TV voluntarily for the first time ever, while free practice was still running, because the commentators would rather discuss things like crashgate then what is actually happening out on track. The whole crashgate saga was really like the last straw, I didn’t follow any updates on that subject, and I still dont know much about the whole subject, and most of all, I dont care. Then we had FOTA and the FIA, who were just trying to string the fans along like usual, while they dont actually care anything about the fans. And the list goes on and on…
But it does make you wonder, is F1 really about racing these days, or does sponsors, PR officers, politics, scandal seekers and a fat-cat minority really rule or rather ruin everything about the sport? Sure some of these elements have always been present, but we could take it because the racing was at least good. But these days, I just dont know?
Something is wrong with the sport when people are complaining more about a WDC asking for a bit more money, while at the same time someone like Bernie is taking millions from the governments of the countries that you live in, in other words your own money?
Although, that being said I honestly dont think money was the sole reason why the deal between Kimi and Mclaren didn’t work out.

As for Kimi he never bothers anyone or says anything bad about anyone, however this has never stopped others to act the opposite, rather then to follow his example, with the same decorum. Kimi showed true class this year while being fired in public, he always stayed professional. That takes a tremendous amount of self control, it hurts to be fired and especially in such a public manner. Money doesn’t just fix everything even if it is millions, F1 drivers are still people, and they still have their own feelings just like normal people, even if they are paid in millions and even if some of them doesn’t always show their true feelings. In fact I think that might have just perhaps have been the last straw when it comes to Kimi and F1, perhaps he has just had enough after that humiliation, he does have lots of pride. And yes, considering everything I dont blame him one bit. Sympathy might just be the wrong word for the situation, I will say I have empathy.

But luckily for me I will still be able to follow Kimi, because Kimi is a racer at heart and he will always be racing something whether it is a snowmobile, motorcross bike or a rally car. Kimi has a dream of becoming the first driver to be a F1 champion and a WRC champion, and I will fully support him to reach this goal, it will make him one of the really great drivers, a legend. I can see why he finds the prospect of WRC so alluring, there is much less nonsense and more racing. But it also takes a tremendous amount of skill and bravery to navigate you way around unfamiliar terrain at silly speeds.

Kimi might not be the best F1 driver as an overall package, but he is certainly one of the best. He has been fighting and competing at the top now for many years. It seems like F1 will again have a few pay drivers next year, it is therefore even more of a loss to lose a F1 champion, when he still has a few years of racing in him. F1 after all is suppose to be about some of the best drivers competing against each other.
There is quite a few drivers who I like, and who’s racing I like. But none of them really captures the imagination quite like Kimi. On the one hand Kimi is a fierce competitor and extremely fast driver, but unlike the most drivers in his league, he at the same time is also a gentleman when it comes to his sportsmanship. He is painfully honest in such a way that he is often criticized by the press, he always admits his own mistakes and he always reflects very honestly on himself. After nine years in F1 he hasn’t changed one bit, he has always remained true to himself. He follows his own will, and most often gets his own way without a fight. He is a bit of a rebel, when it comes to PR, and some people will always like a rebel. While on the other hand Kimi also have a bit of a maverick streak, how many F1 champions enters boat races dressed up in gorilla suits, or falls asleep clutching a blow-up dolphin? At the same time Kimi is also fearless in all of his racing pursuits, driving through the smoke at Spa or driving with fuel burning in his eyes, or his adventures on snowmobiles.
While others see someone who is boring in front of the cameras, he actually often displays a very clever sense of humour, if you dare too listen a bit more carefully. While most people often say that he doesn’t give back to the sport, he is actually one of the few drivers who really does, by having his own racing team. Unfortunately, it is becoming more and more apparent that Kimi actually belongs to the way that F1 used to be, it seems like he is really the last of his kind. Kimi has many faults and he is far from perfect, but the truth is, no one else is really perfect and at least Kimi doesn’t pretend as much. Perhaps people can relate to him because he isn’t perfect and he doesn’t try to be. Many people have tried to change him, but they never will. Which brings me back to may original point, I have realized in the last couple of days, that perhaps Kimi was one of the last few good reasons that really made it worth being a F1 fan. I honestly cannot say, if I will find the energy to watch next year’s F1 season.

Maybe you either ‘get’ Kimi and his approach or you don’t. There is something actually very cool about his attitude towards the 2010 season – ‘I’ll do it if there’s a chance to drive in a car that can win the championship’. It shows someone who knows his value (after x many seasons at the top in F1, in which time he’s won the WDC) without being over-assertive; and shows a level of honesty you don’t often see. It is a stance utterly devoid of PR statement and BS. I think that’s very cool, to say you won’t drive in the top driving championship in the world, in a merely good car, to make up the numbers. It has the ‘cool’ stylishness that Kimi’s fans love him for.

There is simply no-one around approaching Kimi’s non-BS attitude. He likes to win full stop; getting on the podium virtually doesn’t count, in the pleasure stakes, for him (remember his facial expression whenever he was second or third, in his years with McLaren? It was only ever when he WON that you’d see a proper Kimi smile). he likes to win, and he doesn’t like to ‘play the F1 game’, ie to get involved in all the corporate sponsorship side of the sport. (In other words, it is the sport side of the sport – the desire to win – which is purely why he is in it!). Perhaps perversely, to people like Keith, it is very appealing to see this kind of refreshing attitude, because we’d all like to be able to take this approach in life: turn up, do the essentials (in his case, drive), leave. So much of our working lives is taken up with small politicking, gossip, stuff not directly to do with the essentials of our jobs themselves. People understand this instinctively – that’s why it appeals. Kimi exemplifies this stripped-down, ice-cool attitude to everything; and has justified it by his unusual level of talent, displayed plenty enough for his fans, thank you very much.

Keith you should ‘get with the vibe, man’! Stop judging him by the expectations of all those other drivers and F1 sports-based people, who are all engaging with the ‘F1 as an arena with a lot of PR and corporate sponsorship and gladhanding issues and politics’ type view of the sport.