2013 F1 season driver rankings #3: Kimi Raikkonen

2013 F1 season review

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Kimi Raikkonen and Lotus kick-started their 2013 campaign with a victory in Melbourne. But they never recaptured that high and problems off the track saw Raikkonen leave the team before the end of the year.

Raikkonen exploited the E21’s kindness to its tyres to full effect after passing Hamilton, pitting twice while most of his rivals made three stops. But that was to be his only win of the season: a similar opportunity presented itself in Spain but this time Fernando Alonso got the better of him and Raikkonen lost too much time in traffic.

Another potential chance at victory was lost in China – his only front row start of the year – after a problem with his launch settings. Nonetheless he took an impressive second despite front wing damage incurred by hitting Sergio Perez.

Five races in Raikkonen looked like Sebastian Vettel’s closest rival for the title, the pair separated by just four points. But he added just three more to his total in a pair of disappointing races.

The first of those, in Monaco, saw another run-in with Perez where both paid the price for being too uncompromising with each other. Raikkonen recovered a single point with a late charge on fresh tyres. Despite a catalogue of car problems in Canada he managed to keep his record points streak going until Hungary.

Beat team mate in qualifying10/17
Beat team mate in race8/12
Races finished15/17
Laps spent ahead of team mate485/831

The frustrations continued at Silverstone where he should have been on the podium but for a questionable pit call to stay out when the Safety Car was deployed. However he regained some of the lost initiative with second places in Germany and Hungary which temporarily restored his second place in the drivers’ championship.

However by now team mate Romain Grosjean was increasingly a thorn in his side. At Silverstone and the Nurburgring Lotus had to tell Grosjean to let Raikkonen through – and Raikkonen may not even have got close enough at the latter race had it not been for the Safety Car.

The restrictions imposed on tyre use after the Silverstone failures partly limited Raikkonen’s ability to set the car up the way he wanted. And the long wheelbase version of the E21, introduced after the summer break, also suited him less well.

Raikkonen’s troubles were most strongly manifested in qualifying, where he lined up eighth or lower for five races in a row. But he still had strong race pace, which as always was the strongest aspect of his game.

He was back on the podium at Singapore thanks in part to Grosjean retiring but also in spite of having aggravated a back injury in practice. Second place in Korea featured a brilliantly committed pass on Grosjean which left his team mate fuming.

However the Indian Grand Prix highlighted his difficulty with car and tyres as he had to make another late pit stop. At the next race he was back in the short wheelbase car.

After qualifying at Yas Marina the signs were encouraging – Raikkonen was fifth, two places ahead of Grosjean. Unfortunately he was sent to the back of the grid for a technical infringement, after which he crashed out on the first lap. He then quit the team to have his back seen to before moving to Ferrari.

Raikkonen often made the best of what he had in the races and what problems there were tended not to be of his making, a few minor penalties aside. But he found his team mate ever more difficult to contain in the second half of the season and that isn’t going to get any easier when he’s up against Alonso next year.

Kimi Raikkonen 2013 form guide

How the rankings are produced

This is a ranking of how drivers have performed in the 2013 season, irrespective of their form in previous years. Among the data referred to in producing the rankings are notes on each driver’s performance at each race weekend, compiled data on car performance, direct comparisons between team mates and each driver’s form guide.

Over to you

How highly do you rate the drivers who’ve appeared so far in the rankings? Give your views on them in the comments.

Image © Lotus/LAT

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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92 comments on “2013 F1 season driver rankings #3: Kimi Raikkonen”

  1. Wish he gets fit for 2014, because to beat Alonso he will need to be on top of his game.

  2. Romain was ahead in Nurburgring and Silverstone thanks to his team’s strategy.

    Sivlerstone : Didn’t pit kimi in respond to fernando’s undercut. Team pitted Romain that was behind Kimi instead. Kimi pitted and came out behind Romain that was lapping slowly and impeding Kimi.

    Nurburgring : Pit kimi too early (he was ahead of romain) when he was still lapping faster than most behind on medium tire. He got stucked behind traffic and losing time.

    Despite struggling with long wheel base car and revised pirelli, he often transcend forward. Same thing couldn’t be said about Romain. When Romain is struggling, he was usually nowhere.

    1. When Romain is struggling, he was usually nowhere.

      Something Something Indian Grand Prix.

      1. What he is saying is, where was Grosjean in the first half of the season? He did a good job in India because everything went his way.

      2. Lotus should have had 2 drivers on the podium at the Indian GP (Grosjean making it from 17th shows their race pace), but they mucked up Kimi’s strategy on the one stop lengths. Another podium chucked away via bad pit strategy… No wonder Permane was f’** angry!

        1. Attempting to do 53 laps on a single set of tyres is too much to ask from any driver.

  3. When Kimi was given short wheel base in Abu Dhabi after insisting strongly with the team, he showed his pace immediately despite qualifying with damaged floor in which according to Gary Anderson costed him a few tenths.

    One should question why Lotus trying so hard to impede kimi performance and lost themselve 3rd / 2nd in WCC..

    1. why Lotus trying so hard to impede Kimi’s performance

      Obviously they weren’t. On some occasions they made genuine mistakes, and on some occasions you’re contriving thin excuses for Raikkonen not doing as well as Grosjean.

      Which is why you’ve ended up accusing Lotus of doing which they obviously didn’t do because it would be completely irrational.

      1. +100… seen her do this over and over *roll eyes*

      2. Surely the team knew that long wheel base going to retard the front end responsiveness??

        Why took them so long to bring back the short wheel base only in abu dhabi after kimi threaten to skip the race???

        1. No no Candice – it’s obvious Lotus we’re impeding Kimi in other ways. The first one that springs to mind is a stretch of water from car to motorhome upon which Kimi could walk. The other, a convenient way for the rays to escape from Kimi’s backside.
          Why Lotus never factored this in I’ll never understand. It’s clear Kimi would have won the WDC at least three times this season had they got it right!

          1. Praise the Ice Cream Lord!

        2. Candice, do you have indications of Kimi asking for the SWB version to be brought back earlier than Abu Dhabi?
          Do you have indications Kimi threatened to not race in AD because of not having the SWB version at his disposal?

          As far as I know and can see from the press reports:
          – Kimi asked for the SWB version in AD and got it
          – The talks of Kimi not racing were because of him not being paid instead of him not getting the car he wanted

          If you have any indication of the contrary, please provide so.

          1. dont forget kimi’s spine injury relapse was due to mechanic not fitting the seat properly in Singapore Fps.

          2. Ah yes, ofcourse they played with his health and life by having a mechanic installing the seat in a wrong way!

            Pretty sure that mechanic hasn’t slept too well, and to try and put it on Lotus trying to keep Kimi from doing well is appalling. Extremely bad form.

            Last point – you haven’t addressed any of my questions. I think I know what that means.

          3. its just too much coincidence after the ferrari announcement.

            Enstone squad is famous of sabotaging his own drivers if you didn’t just watch f1 in 2013.

          4. Still no answers to my questions, I see? Just some loose insinuations?

            And no, I didn’t just watch F1 in 2013. I started watching in the 80’s, and have rarely missed a race since. Can you say the same?

            Anyway, if you get it together, there are still a few questions to answer for you.

    2. Oh, not you again.

      1. If anyone is looking for a short read to the responses (which she quite frankly didn’t even deserve) to Candice’s comment look no further than the above.

      2. Ha ha, I thought the same :)

    3. Candice, since I have a few minutes before work, let me provide you with some pro bono counselling: to begin, perhaps if you would provide some plausible answers to the questions you ask, someone might take you seriously. Failing that, you’re just living in world of enigmas without explanations, and no matter how strongly you believe that it all points to some hidden truth, you’re really just picking out random details that fit your pre-conceived notions while ignoring the overwhelming part of information provided by this thing out there called reality. Very much in the manner of creationists and other fundamentalists, you’ve constructed a story that makes sense only from the inside. Now, be that as it may, I should tell you that today I saw a guy in a Lotus shirt driving a Renault to buy some ice cream and, now, I have no proof of anything, but he looked like the type who would dislike Finns and his radio was playing ‘Sabotage’ by the Beastie Boys – what do you think THAT’s all about then, eh? In any case it certainly was suspicious – better follow up that lead.

      1. If I’ve learned anything in my life it is that you can’t use stone cold logic and factually accurate arguments to show someone that they are wrong when they clearly think their favorite sportsman can do no wrong when they have fabricated what they feel is a bullet proof argument to justify all their hero’s misfortunes during a season.

        Love the Beastie Boys reference though.

    4. This in my opinion is another example of Lotus looking like an amateur team.
      Now they didn’t do it on purpose, did they? It is an absurd thought, isn’t it? Only Maldonado could say such nonsense, right?
      They wanted really bad to get to second. But when you have a top driver and you know for a fact that he prefers oversteer to understeer you don’t put him in an understeer version of the car, no matter what.
      Ok, I understand, they wanted performance badly and they were searching for means to get that performance. So they tried this and that and the other. But why wait so long before changing back when Kimi’s driving was suffering?
      And they only did this on Raikkonen’s suggestion! Hot shot Permane couldn’t get this on his own, really? He thought the long wheelbase was the best choice. Well, of course, once you throw a ton of money into the research you don’t go back on it, you have to look like your research is paying off!
      In Abu Dhabi Kimi said he was pretty satisfied with his choice of the short wheelbase but he couldn’t really know how he would have done with the long wheelbase, since he didn’t test both versions back to back.
      Why didn’t he test both back to back? Why was he put in the position to guess which version was more appropriate for him? Didn’t they have data on both models? I may be wrong, but I am pretty sure this can be achieved in the simulator, and they didn’t really have to work their asses off to build 2 cars for him. And even if they had to work hard, isn’t that their job?
      But wait… Romain needed a boost, didn’t he? Quantum needed a proof there was some life in Lotus after Raikkonen was gone, too.
      I am sure they lost 2nd in the DC on merit. They should have tried harder. And in my opinion the idea that they sabotaged Raikkonen may have a grain of truth in it. Not sabotaged as in modifying tyre pressures. But as in not providing their top driver with the most suitable equipment, just because he was on his way out and being difficult in the media.

      1. yea, its funny how driver has better idea on what suit him than engineers around with all those data around.

      2. And what about the possibility that the LWB version was just inherently a better car than the SWB version, backed up by all their simulation data?
        Grosjean’s progress certainly gives food for thought about on that subject. If the LWB effectively was the better car, then I think it’s logical they would have tried for a few races with Kimi too, even if he didn’t get the hang of it immediately. He might as well have performed well the second or third race with it. You can expect that from a top driver.

        Anyway, if I’m reading well Kimi got the SWB back the moment he asked for it (which is for the AD race). Why blame Lotus or hold them for amateurs?

        1. yea….LWB is the better car.

          Thats why Kimi outqualified Romain the moment he got SWB back with damaged floor.

        2. Because they put Raikkonen on the position to guess which was best for him. And I am sure there was some data behind the switch. I am sure it wasn’t arbitrary. But you give the driver the opportunity of trying out both, isn’t that the best way to do it?
          I think it is exactly as you said: they thought ‘let Kimi get the hang of it’. It didn’t happen right away. ‘No matter, keep at it’. And after the incidents in India Kimi said ‘I had enough, give me the SWB back’. And they said, ‘fine, have it your way’, we want second. No, I wasn’t there, these are just guesses. But I think they are sensible ones.
          But the approach is still wrong, isn’t it? They should try to build a car after a driver’s preferences, not the other way around. Especially considering Raikkonen is what? 34? Not quite a rookie to learn new tricks. And not when the championship is at stake.
          Yes, they were satisfied with Romain’s pace, but that doesn’t mean both drivers have the same preferences. And in this case, they clearly don’t. But they needed a rising star and they manufactured one. Romain had an excellent end of the season, no doubt, but this also has a PR scent attached. Remember the end of the season when Boullier stated Romain is one of the 3-4 best drivers. It was the cherry on the cake that they baked all autumn long.

      3. @floring, Just 1 point, when testing new parts, the track gives you true results but has many variables to identify and isolate which makes it hard to quantify, the simulator simulates exactly what the engineers program it to simulate, which may or may not be reality, the best way to find out if a new part will make a car and driver faster is to have the driver test it back to back with the original part.

      4. What past two years showed that Lotus indeed have a bunch of amateurs in their key decision making positions, it is very sad as it is also obvious that they had a very strong technical capital back at the factory.

    5. No. The floor was giving him several tenths as it provides more downforce. That is why is it illegal to have it wear more than 2mm

      1. the floor was illegal because it deflected beyond what was allowed. It was found to be damaged, and Anderson is the former ex boss that knew too well how much performance was lost and gain with those damage compared to you.

        1. http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/formula1/24807236. There you go! Gary Anderson’s review of the Abu Dhabi GP.

    6. Lotus would have gained £7.5m for 3rd and £17.5m for 2nd, so they should have gained money even with paying Kimi’s extra wages.. possibly enough to take Hulkenberg over Maldonado for 2014..

  4. I guess it’s fair to say that unless the Ferrari 2014 ends up being a beast, the Scuderia won’t be getting poles that often…

    1. certainly seems they will have to get both their drivers to help them and create a starting system alike what the Enstone squad had in 2005-2006 to propel them from the 2-3rd row into the lead @fer-no65

      1. I think their starting system is still ahead of the rest. At least ahead of RBR’s.
        Merc have been doing some rocket starts lately too.

        1. True, Ferrari get brilliant starts – just look at “the start of the year” from Massa at Silverstone. I would say however that the best starter of the season was Perez, just ahead of Alonso. Whether it’s the McLaren or him, he always seemed to get lightning starts.

    2. like Lewis and Seb didn;t had a beast qualifying car in 2013….

      1. Yes, but Alonso and Kimi are not as strong qualifiers as Vettel or Hamilton. You can see that from this season.

        1. luckily im not starting to watch F1 only since 2007.

          I remember alonso and Kimi were supreme in getting pole when they were given the car to.

          Kimi was able to get pole with 10laps more fuels than anyone else and his teammate montoya in 2005 monza gp.

          That certainly isnt something that weak driver in qualifying could achieve.

          1. 2005 happened 8 years ago.

          2. Yes, and Massa is still an awesome driver because of 2008… there’s a reason Hamilton and Vettel can outqualify Button and Webber respectively most of the time while Raikkonen and Alonso (Especially this season) only manage it half the time against their teammates.

          3. The only thing I see there is age, really. Reactions slow in the 30s.. both guys were rapid in their peak. Webber said as much – he was out-qualifying Vettel in 2010, when in his mid-30s.

          4. Webber was also said to be the fastest one-lap qualifier we saw.

            And then came Vettel…

            things change as the years go by, the regulations and cars changes, and drivers start facing different drivers, you know.

        2. @craig-o
          The fact that if Vettel & Hamilton are better qualifier than Alonso & Kimi this doesn’t make them crap at qualifying, i mean how much does this two have more in their bags 3 or 4 tenths ? I’m pretty confident that both Fernando & Kimi could do a better job than Webber who was sometimes close sometimes even faster than Vettel

          1. @tifoso1989
            Yes, Webber was ‘sometimes’ faster than Vettel, hence why he only outqualified Vettel once on merit out of 19 attempts this season … then Petrov is also ‘sometimes’ faster than the highly-rated Kubica because he outqualified him only twice in 2010 >_> FYI 3 or 4 tenths mean a lot given how much closer the cars are today compared to the past.

    3. @fer-no65, to be fair to Nando and Kimi it is likely that they could have set their cars up to be faster in qualifying but doing so would have shortened tyre life so that the gain in qualifying would not exceed the loss of race performance. Everything this year has to be considered in relation to the poor tyre life.

    4. Qualifying also has a lot to do with the car. Kimi and Alonso might have lost some performance in qualifying but a lot also depends on the fact that they have been driving cars that are more suited to race pace then qualifying pace. Ferrari needs to design a car that is good in both areas.

  5. Judging Kimi’s season was a bit hard because we can’t be sure how much the back pains effected on his racing after Singapore. I had him 4th in my list, behind Hulkenberg, but I guess 3rd is justified, since he did have fantastic first half of the season. Anyway, something must happen to his qualifying if he still want’s to win more titles with Ferrari.

    1. nothing wrong with his qualifying as long as his team provide him what he demand from them.

      Pointy front end + accurate and incredibly sensitive power steering.

    2. nothing wrong with his qualifying as long as his team provide him what he demand from them.

      Pointy front end + accurate and incredibly sensitive power steering.

    3. Yeah an odd year for him really. Some great drives but between his back problems and his souring relationship with Lotus it’s hard to judge how close to his maximum he was able to deliver towards the end of the season.

  6. 2013 F1 season driver rankings by Team Bosses #1: Kimi Raikkonen, highest Return on Investment.

    1. Actually no, the team didn’t pay him at all. You can’t divide by zero!

      1. Undefined.

      2. But the limit approaches infinity!

    2. haha, what an insight!

  7. Not Kimi’s best season but he started it off very well, but really was outshone by Grosjean in the 2nd half of the season, he will need to step up in quali against Alonso because I don’t think Kimi is quite as strong in terms of race pace, but we will see. It should be exciting to watch! Also a shame to see him end his Lotus career how he did, but that’s how it goes sometimes…

    1. grosjean got 50 points less than raikkonen and before his departure 70 less…do u still think grosjean outperformed raikkonen? it’s strange people’s ability to distort reality.
      secondly, I personally don’t think raikkonen’s problem, if any, is race pace but keeping his motivation high and getting the car he likes.
      alonso and raikkonen driving styles are different, so it’s up to ferrari to give them a car and set ups which suit their driving style.

    2. CRAIG-o : WHAT are you talking about?? Raikkonen ALWAYS got a better position in the race and he was very strong! So how can you say his race pace isn’t so good?? Both his & Alonso’s paces are great in the race! In qualy, Raikkonen is better than Alonso.

  8. I think that 3rd place for Kimi is overrated. Because he didn’t shine whole season. He showed that he can run out of motivation, and then his speed become affected big time. This happened also in season 2008.

    1. yea, funny how his performance affected when the announcement of ferrari deal was announced.

    2. he was the one that came closest to Vettel in WDC standing, have more finishes ahead of vettel in gps than any other drivers.

      I said 3rd is well deserved, even 2nd. As the ferrari was the best car to have in first half of the season and Alonso blew it couple of times.

      1. Ferrari was not the best car. Redbull and Mercedes were always better. Alonso outdrove his cars performance, and what you call blew it a couple of times is maybe more like the that he only blew “totally” outperforming the car.
        Raikonnen got some lucky results because of safety cars and also the Renault was so good on tyres at the start of the year – all this equalized at the year went on, and then he seemingly lost interest and deteriorated in performance.

        1. funny, i remember kimi lost a certain 2nd place because of Safety car and team strategy error.

          Well, its always Kimi that has been lucky.

          and nope, ferrari definately the best car to have in first half.

          1. Yeah, like Kimi didn’t blew it in Abu Dhabi, but it was probably a mechanic steering his Lotus to a crash? That’s about the times Alonso “blew” it this season. They both had lacklustre races as well as brilliant onces. (both weren’t good at Monaco for example). So they were evenly matched until the end of the season, where Raikkonen got in more and more trouble with Grosjean, while Alonso stayed ahead of Massa.

            It’s funny how you are calling all the bad luck on Kimi but none on Grosjean.. and how you keep forgetting Raikkonen got on the podium twice due to great timing off the SC or he wouldn’t even have gotten close to Grosjean those races. You keep putting it off on the SWB car, but Grosjean was able to go quicker, so why couldn’t the great Raikkonen manage the same?

            Everytime anybody asks you questions, you’re just going to avoid them and start rattling about some conspiracy. Sadd, really.

        2. @kpcart – Just stop assuming Alonso “totally outdrove” the car, and can never put in a poor performance to make him sound better, please.

          1. +100 alonso is good at talking when his results don’t talk.
            strangely there are people who believe everything is said by him and don’t imagine it can be said for a personal interest and to sound better than other drivers.

    3. All this ranking plagued by nepotism and flawed.

  9. Raikkonen could have had an hefty lead in the championship till Hungary but both Ferrari and Lotus couldn’t capitalize on their pace advantage whereas Red Bull managed to score as much as their front tyres would grant them at every event at least with Seb they did, when they got their new front tyres a weekend after the F1 field got the safer rear tyres Red Bull continued their riot of the championship, all things considered the top 6 rankings are fair even if Rosberg was better than Hamilton and the other english driver Button was worse than Perez not to mention that Massa was even worse than the stats say.

  10. I think kimis been very overrated this year. I’d put him 5th, swapping him with Lewis.

    1. why swap him with lewis that hasn’t pose a serious challenge to Vettel throughout the season?? And was non existent in 2nd half of the season as well.

      Couldn’t even get 3rd in WDC despite kimi missed the last two races.

      Lewis is the only overrated driver here. Kimi was the one that came closest to Vettel in WDC point differences and had most GP finish ahead of vettel than anyone else.

      1. Candice: I totally agree with you, Hamilton is the most overrated driver in F1 and the comparisons with Ayrton Senna sometimes are simply hilarious! People forget he started at a top team, but they always attack Vettel saying he must prove himself, when he is the one who started in a mediocre team!

    2. Swap with Alonso would be more appropriate.

  11. I think kimi deserves 3rd best after the first half of season, but no way for the second half, grosjean was better. so third overall is pretty lucky here

    1. you mean after Korea instead of the overall 2nd half.

      fact twister.

      1. People are entitled to their own opinion. Who are you? The blog moderator?

      2. Fact Twister? Since Hungary, in race-results it was 2 – 3, where Grosjean lost a race in Singapore (wich would make it 2 – 4) and he lost a position to Raikkonen, he would have never lost without a great SC for Kimi. He was ahead in both races Kimi retired, eventually could have made it 2 – 6 in favour of Grosjean.. But yes, he’s a fact twister and Raikkonen was better all the way.

  12. I dont follow. For me the driver ,who constantly failed to reach solid results in qualy, can´t be that high. Lotus car was mighty, sensible to tyres ( the huge advantage in todays F1 ), yet he wasn´t able to put the weekend together. I can recall several costly mistakes in qualy from him. Yeah his charges through the field were mostly impresive, but imagine how many races could have he won, if he would taken the better place on the grid.

    If I put this together with the fact he refused to drive two races to go, I don´t see him in the top 5. You can say whatever you want, that he wasn´t paid at all and similar, but he consciously let Hamilton and Webber overcame him in standing, leaving him with, what I think was the second fastest car, on the fifth place. And that´s a shame.

    1. so you work without being paid?…that’s not work but voluntary service.
      f1 driver is a work.

      as for qualifying:
      raikkonen 11 grosjean 6

      lotus wasn’t made to be strong on a single lap, that’s why nor raikkonen neither grosjean achieved great results in qualifying…it’s not up to the driver, it’s up to the car.
      you don’t see him in the top five, maybe u see hamilton who spoilt races more than qualyfing despite having a very strong car(and points are given on sundays, not on saturdays) on the single lap thanks to tyres test?or hulkenberg(very good, but gutierrez is not that good)who didn’t win a single race and never got a single podium…just for u to remember…heidfeld and raikkonen back in 2001 achieved several podiums with sauber and the same can be said for perez last year. or maybe grosjean who ended seventh on wdc, was overall weaker in qualifying than raikkonen(11-6) and didn’t manage to win anything?
      raikkonen spoilt some of his qualifies because lotus adopted long wheelbase which suited grosjean’s style but not raikkonen’s. one.
      when lotus came back to short-wheelbase raikkonen outqualified grosjean again.

      than again…lotus second fastest car when? in the last 5 races. lotus has never been the fastest car in the whole year. at the beginning it was ferrari, then it was rbr and mercedes, in the end only rbr. lotus was always second to someone else and it’s pretty normal given the fact that they were struggling to survive and had no money.
      the last sentence makes me think u haven’t watched a single race and makes me laugh a bit.
      vettel was the only one who could win races, especially in the second half of the year.
      raikkonen could have won another race if lotus had given him short wheelbase and if lotus had paid him on time, but could’t have won several races, just another one maximum.

      1. the last sentence makes me think u haven’t watched a single race and makes me laugh a bit.
        vettel was the only one who could win races, especially in the second half of the year.
        raikkonen could have won another race if lotus had given him short wheelbase and if lotus had paid him on time, but could’t have won several races, just another one maximum.

        @kotrba @dario
        I definitely don’t follow this.
        The longer wheelbase was introduced in the second half leading to Raikkonen ‘struggling’. And he could not win a race till lotus gave him a short wheelbase. Yet you also say that only Vettel could win in the second half, so the 10cm longer wheelbase didn’t matter and Kimi wouldn’t have won anyway.

        Thing is Kimi was brilliant at the start, but to get 5 second places in 9 races (Malaysia-Hungary) surprises me. Shouldn’t he have pushed for another victory? maybe a better qualifying, maybe a better start at Spain (Alonso overtook him and Lewis after the first corner, not due to clutch). Also, he could have avoided a crash with Perez at Monaco like other drivers did.
        Till Canada, I’d say the Ferrari was equal or better than Lotus (Spain was where they were close to equal, Kimi was stuck in trafic for too long) After it, The Lotus was definitely better. Since SPa, though Kimi struggled against RoGro. And his performances at Korea, Japan and India showed how much better Grosjean was suddenly.
        While Kimi, Lewis Fernando and Vettel might be the big 4, Kimi (Disregarding Nico and Nico, one doesnt have a car, the other doesn’t have luck) was 4th on my list simply for getting 50 points in 7 races in second half AND being beaten by Romain AND missing the final two races.

    2. Did you read the statistics??
      Beat team mate in qualifying 10/17

      What are you talking about??

  13. Was Kimi really the 3rd best driver this year?
    I can’t help but think that Lotus was a rocket ship and in the hands of a few other drivers it would have been closer to the RB. Having been to 3 GP this year the Lotus was most impressive in terms of cornering ability and traction. If you’re getting resoundingly beaten by your inexperienced teammate by the end of the season then i have to question whether he really was the 3rd best driver this year. Not for me. Not by a long way. A year of disappointment and lost opportunities.

    1. Lotus unlike other teams continue to bring upgrades from korean gp onwards while others focus on 2014.

      LMAO that it tooks Lotus 5 gps to become the 2nd best car while Ferrari and Mercedes took a few gps to become an inferior car.

      Lewis was never in contention despite the car allow him to.

      Kimi came closest to vettel at least when ferrari was the best car in most of the first half.

    2. I tend to agree that an Alonso, Vettel or Hamilton would have won more races this year (and in 2012) in a Lotus which was probably over the balance of the year the second best car. Third place in these rankings is hard to call to be honest – both Hulk and Lewis have got good claims on it too.

      Having said that, you have to respect the consistency Raikkonen displayed from the start of the year until the tyres were changed – particularly as he was quite often coming through the field to get on the podium. Would’ve helped if he’d qualified better mind. Suspect he’s going to get pretty comprehensively beaten by Alonso next year.

      1. Kimi could have won more races if it wasn’t for Lotus’s strategies. In these past two season their strategies is what has let them down the most. Vettel obviously had a great season, Alonso also had a good season but not as good as last year. Lewis did well for someone in their first year with a new team, but ultimately he had a few where he was just anonymous. Kimi had a consistent performance.

  14. I’m not surprised that Kimi’s ranking has churned up some discussion. Mainly, I think this is because of the many variables at play in the second half of the season which affected Kimi’s performance (short wheel base vs. long wheel base, tire changes, back injury, not getting paid, joining Ferrari, etc.).

    IMHO, we must consider both how the season started and how it ended. While Kimi’s first half was unquestionably strong, by the end of the season he was resting at home and his not yet former team was losing valuable ground in the constructor’s. Therefore, all things considered, I think third place belongs to Hulkenberg – the driver that did much with less and for whom 2014 was an emphatic statement.

    1. *2013… too many emails about next year!

      1. Resting at home is an interesting way of putting it. Kimi was having back surgery, they are not just going to give you back surgery for nothing. And Kimi has a history of back problems this is his 3rd back surgery, and his back was injured while he was actually on duty.

  15. Only third ? You have to be kidding Keith, the only WDC that wasn’t paid all year, had to fight against all the other teams and his own. Wasn’t on a rich team like Alonso and Vettel and it is third ? I only watch F1 because of him really, the only top guy that doesn’t play the sad game all the other top drivers play, doesn’t complain about anything, never blames the car. Was boycotted, insulted by his own team after he said he was going to Ferrari, that is a fact, you have to be blind not to see that he deserves at least 2nd. He was better than Alonso and if he had Vettel’s car he would have obliterated everybody else much faster than Sebastian did. Best driver since Ferrari’s Schumi.

  16. A good summary. Much has been said about Kimi’s second half the season and while his qualifying wasn’t good for a few races he still did a good job in the races. He still scored two podiums in Singapore and Korea, and he often at times had to suffer from bad strategy calls like in India for example. In the end Kimi didn’t really have a lot of anonymous races.
    It is shame Lotus weren’t sharper in the strategical department they could really have done with a higher placing.

  17. I have been a huge fan of Kimi. Perhaps because of his few words, he left not only the impression of being someone that has a unique personality, but also of being a very straightforward racing driver who loves the racing/driving more than anything else…even under many very puzzling circumstances in Lotus this season, I think he did bring out the best of his car. I am hoping his new year will be great…Ferrari will produce a car that fits Kimi…and truly…he knows what he’s doing:)

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