Kimi Raikkonen now most popular driver on F1 Fanatic

2013 F1 season review

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Kimi Raikkonen has overtaken Jenson Button as the most popular driver among F1 Fanatic readers.

Here’s who F1 Fanatic readers were supporting at the end of 2013.

Drivers

Another driver whose popularity has grown among F1 Fanatic readers recently is hNico Hulkenberg, who now features inside the top ten.

Mark Webber has announced his departure from F1 having been the fifth-most popular driver on the site, with more supporters than team mate Sebastian Vettel.

Here’s the data in full:

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Teams

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The last time we looked at the data Lotus were poised to overtake Ferrari as the most popular team. The gap has widened since then, suggesting Raikkonen’s impending switch of teams is already having an effect.

However despite a poor 2013 campaign McLaren remain comfortably the most popular team.

Which drivers and teams do you support?

Here’s how to show who you’re supporting on F1 Fanatic:

  • Log in with your F1 Fanatic account (sign up here if you don’t have one)
  • Select Edit My Profile from the top-right menu
  • Select F1 Teams and Drivers
  • Make your selections then click Save Changes

Where are F1 Fanatic readers from?

See the most recent breakdown of F1 Fanatic readers by region.

2013 F1 season review


Browse all 2013 F1 season review articles

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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100 comments on “Kimi Raikkonen now most popular driver on F1 Fanatic”

  1. Where is marussia in the team rankings?? I don’t see them

    1. Yeah where is it. Surely they are more popular than Caterham.

      It just goes to shoe that an inability to construct a sentence is the best way to be popular :-)

      1. Cos they’re still waiting for Max Chilton to finish:-)

        1. As tired as the Max Chilton jokes are getting, this instance was funny ;)

  2. For some reason these numbers don’t seem right to me. Could very well be cause they don’t match my personal preferences, but Di Resta over Rosberg, Hulkenberg and Massa.. really? Also when reading comments on this site the last few months, thats not what people write. I guess maybe some people haven’t updated their F1F profile in a while, and therefore these “new” stats include old data. Would have been interesting if preference-profiles got cleaned some weeks before this article is made, and then see what people really think at current date. Anyway, thats just a suggestion. Thanks for the article Keith :)

    1. There might be some old info in there, but I think we also have to remember the language of the site and those who use it. If you go to a German-language F1 website, I expect Rosberg and Hulkenberg are higher. A Portuguese site, you probably will find a lot of Massa fans. Every so often people complain about F1Fanatic being too UK-centric, but I think it is just natural to have this tilt because of the language.

      1. that and the fact that the site is british! but i think is the best F1 site and im in latinamerica!!!

    2. It’s pretty hard to determine what profiles aren’t updated, used or temporarily inactive without having a dedicated person to check on that. Heck, most pay-to-register forums have tons of ‘lurkers’ and people who post 3 times a year. You can’t delete or decide not to include those profiles or clean them; they might not come back.

      People are going to like who they are going to like, too. Hulkenberg hasn’t been around that long, Massa probably lost a lot of support in 2011 and early 2012 and Rosberg is the guy everyone keeps forgetting about.

      Besides, Keith posts references to updating your support lists every once in a while. If you’re not going to update then, you’re probably not going to if they’re cleared, while the rest of us have to sort it out again; which’ll end up having a ton of people also not filling in those lists despite being active on here.

      1. I see your point. Not every active member will notice that votes are being collected for presentation. But i guess it’s still better to clean-swipe and get some decent statistics, rather than meaningless data from previous years being used.

  3. Haha Kimi’s top, no doubt for his straight talking/rudeness. It just puzzle me how people laugh it off when it’s him, but other drivers get vilified the second they’re not polite to their engineer etc

    1. I know what you mean. I like to watch him race… but on the rare occassion he opens his mouth I wish he hadn’t!

    2. It just puzzle me how people laugh it off when it’s him, but other drivers get vilified the second they’re not polite to their engineer etc

      @timi Care to share any examples?

      1. Hamilton saying anything akin to ‘Just let me drive, man’ often leads to ridicule.

        1. Yes, it does lead to ridicule when he begs for more information the next second or when he tweets crap about his team and team mate, radio’s that his own terrible maneuver is the other guys fault and so on and so on. If you can’t see Kimi as far above all that then so be it. At least a lot of people can.
          Peace!

          1. You should have gone through team’s radio communication posted by Keith before commenting on Lewis. Blindly criticizing someone will not do any good to you or your favorite driver. Peace!

          2. You are funny @vineet ! Maybe you should have gone through which drivers I support? I don’t blindly criticize anyone but however much I love Lewis he still often behaves in hopeless ways that work directly against him. Especially regarding popularity.
            Cheers!

        2. Because he is trying to imitate Kimi

    3. Probably because he doesn’t talk well due to PR and then screams at his engineers when most of the time the general audience doesn’t get to know of it. He isn’t hypocritical, he doesn’t care what others think of him. You don’t see that kind of people.
      Unlike Hamilton, as Nick said. Or Vettel (atleast Malaysia and him ignoring Rocky’s “dont do a purple” every race.
      And I don’t support Kimi, I’m not biased against you.

    4. @timi. I am with you. I don’t get all the fawning over Kimi. He is robotic, sometimes rude towards his team and yet every syllable he utters is received with bated breath and applause by his fans. Not to mention he hardly engages them (fans)

  4. Di Resta more popular than Hulkenberg, Rosberg, Massa, Parez? Force India less popular than Sauber despite having a better driver line-up? You are kidding me, right???

  5. lol Vettel.

      1. this amazes me! is incredible!

  6. Kimi’s help column: Brazil 2007

    “When you win a world championship, show some excitement but not too much so as to not waste your energy levels”

    Kimi’s help column: Malaysia 2009

    “When its raining, don’t go outside. Simply have an Ice Cream and a Coke”

    Kimi’s help column: Abu Dhabi 2013

    “When your teams not paying you, a ‘back’ problem always comes in handy”

    1. Kimi on posting comments on the internet:

      “When you don’t have something funny, constructive or new to say, don’t say anything at all, also, why joke about how careless I am and then say I run a help column?”

      1. @npf1

        Its just a joke, go hate someone else.

        1. I’m not sure why you think I’d hate you, but I don’t. I hate how Kimi Raikkonen has become a forced internet meme.

          1. Simply because Kimi never hate anyone personally.

  7. Seriously, Raikkonen? I personally find him quite tasteless.

    1. I’m not a big fan of Kimi off-track. You can have a laugh at him, but in the end he can come across as a forced character. In some interviews you can get a glimpse of the real Kimi, but generally he puts on a persona of the Iceman and ends up shunning the people who support him.

      On track, though, Kimi is one of my favorites, right up there with Alonso, whose personality doesn’t get my full blessing either. However, I support the drivers I like on-track a whole lot more than the ones I like off-track. You’d be more likely to see me pissed at Alonso and Raikkonen doing poorly, than being happy Vergne or van der Garde doing well.

    2. @spoutnik Yeah, I find it quite strange that he has so many fans, people complain that we don’t see the driver’s personalities anymore but I don’t think Kimi is all grumpy with his family and friends too, so we’re not seeing his real personality either.
      I think people just like something different that’s all.

  8. I’m tipping Mercedes and Williams, Rosberg and Massa will again gain momentum next year along with Ferrari overtaking Mclaren

    1. @funkyf1 And I think Sauber will lose momentum, with the frankly uninspiring driver line-up next season.

  9. Why is Raikkonen the most-liked? Simply because he’s different from the rest. He’s apolitical, straight-talking, matter-of-fact and very cool. Yes, even he loses his calm on occasions, but who doesn’t? He doesn’t order about the team to build a fast car from him, does not try and put the talent of others down, doesn’t blame his team for errors that are his doing, owns up for his mistakes, doesn’t play mind games. He is, on many levels, better as a person than all of the champions in the field. Vettel is probably a close second, with Button and the rest following.
    Of course, he wouldn’t be as much in the limelight as he is, if he wasn’t successful, which brings me to the drivers who haven’t won championships. Many of them may actually have the potential to be more liked than Raikkonen (Ricciardo’s Colgate Smile comes to mind as a potential likeability magnet), but they are still young and/or are not yet in the limelight. So, Kimi’s opposition is just the champions, and he’s definitely the one with the least bones about stuff.

    1. @wsrgo Spot on, mostly. Disagree about DR however. I never got the appeal of Ricciardo to be honest, both in and out of the car. Yes, he smiles a lot(too much?), but he looks to me just another PR robot like the rest of them. Different programming that’s all

  10. Kimi’s 1st place doesn’t really surprise me, but Di Resta being P7 is a surprise. I guess big amount of British users explaisn that.
    I’m glad to see Bottas is the most popular rookie over Bianchi!

    How many Kvyat supporters are there? I can’t be the only one… right?

    1. DK Supporter here

      1. @huhhii Here’s a list of all members that are fans of Kvyat: http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/members/?s=Daniil Kvyat

        1. Thanks @enigma, I didn’t have a clue there’s a feature on this site which lists all the supporters of one driver!

          1. @huhhii Yeah, you can find supporters of each driver on their profile (https://www.racefans.net/daniil-kvyat/), where their birth date is written.

  11. Yes yes yes, I know what I am doing. Just leave me alone.

  12. Raikkonen? Yeah I found his little stunt in India heroic (sarcasm), the biggest surprise of this article was when I read he overtook Button, I mean how is Jenson ‘the balance isn’t right’ Button popular in any way, I get bored of his monotonous drone on the team radio, like “Just no grip out there guys” or “Yeah the Caterham’s completely screwed us”.

  13. Not surprised Toro Rosso isn’t particularly popular. They just don’t feel like a proper team, just a baby team for Red Bull. I’m sure not many people would make friends with a badly cloned version of me, with everything about my clone being worse than me, if you understand my attempt at an analogy…

    1. I agree, whatever little respect I had for Toro Rosso went out the window when poor Tost was trying to justify Helmut Marko’s decision of dropping Alguersuari and Buemi, he said something like “our only purpose is to find young talent for Red Bull” any other team would say winning!!!

      1. in the end that is what they are here for: provide RB with experienced drivers when they need it. but im sure, some italians must be rooting for them…

      2. Al last that’s one team that consistently brings talent into F1 instead of pay drivers. I tink they’re to be commended for that.

  14. Well, this is a Finnish website, what else would you expect?

    1. Seems legit.

    2. Wrong,Buddy,this is a British website.

      1. No it isn’t – it’s a site for all F1 fans, regardless of nationality. As you’ll see from the link in the article, less than half the current user base are from Britain.

        1. Unfortunately the relative dominance of British members make most voting results skewed. Would be interesting to know what percentage of each answer are from which region. e.g What percentage of di Resta’s (or McLaren) supporters are British and what percentage are not? Also what percentage of fans that DON’T support Vettel are NOT British or American?

          1. relative dominance of British members

            If you’d familiarised yourself with the data linked from the article above you’d know that far from being a ‘dominant’ majority British visitors to the site are outnumbered by more than two to one.

        2. @keithcollantine Wouldn’t that make for an interesting article to see where F1Fanatic users are mainly based, who they are and where they are from? Numbers about how long people follow F1 etcetera..?

          1. @ardenflo There’s a breakdown linked in the article.

      2. @Salapeii – Joke = Over your head

    3. If this was Indonesian site, 4th most populous country, Kimi will win vote by FAR.

  15. OmarR-Pepper (@)
    26th December 2013, 14:09

    Now Webber and Di Resta are gone, Hulk climbs up 2 places.

  16. I know all british guys will jump to kill me. But what do you see in Jenson? He was just lucky to drive that Brawn.
    In other words, It’s been a good thing he screwed up with Williams, then Benetton, BAR and Honda.

    1. I’m British and I don’t see anything in Jenson, definitely the slowest world champion on the grid, I agree he’s a good driver but that’s all he is, Jenson doesn’t have the edge or work ethic to be considered one of the greats of the sport.

    2. Jenson was second best in 2004 and has shown he can drive through the years, but his first three seasons were very poor, as were the Honda’s in 2007 and 2008. It’s not as if he lucked into a championship, considering his wins with McLaren and how he did compared to Hamilton.

      He is a nice guy, too. I’m not British, but there is no need to cry preference based on nationality. Besides, it’s not as if he won every Driver of the Weekend poll.

    3. @mumito I am not British and not a JB fan but your post is factually incorrect. JB had a most impressive rookie campaign with Williams. Can’t fault him much during his long stint at BAR/Brawn either. He had a bad couple of seasons with Renault, especially 2001 but that’s all

      The only reason I’m not a fan is that I don’t like his boring and overly-sensitive driving style. But his results are actually great overall, even if not on the level of Hamilton, Vettel, Alonso. But this is a popularity contest not who’s best driver contest.

      1. The 2001 Benetton was a bit rubbish, but he didn’t finish in front of Fisichella a single time. Statistics show he did in Japan, Fisichella actually retired, but was classified.

        Funnily enough, people were writing off Jenson in 2001/2002 because of a lavish lifestyle and not enough dedication, which seems to be Hamilton’s burden these days.

        1. @npf1 Yeah that’s what I said, JB had a miserable time at Renault(Benetton) in 2001 most of all. That Benetton also wasn’t only slow but completely anti-Button style, mainly because it had that radical 111-degree engine, which was supposed to lower the center of gravity and improve everything. In reality all it achieved was inability to heat up its tires, particularly the fronts resulting in the worst trait of a car for Button-chronic understeer. And for food measure it was chronically unreliable too(I remember that all but one of Benetton’s many technical retirements in 2001 were engine failures!)

          1. good measure, not “food measure” :)

          2. I remember they were one of the last teams to have parts of the engine cover cut out as seen in this picture, ironically JB retiring with engine failure.

            I also remember people were hard on Renault in 2001, that being their comeback year with much promise and all. Funny how they did carry on with that extreme angle until 2003.

          3. @npf1 I liked the clean and lean look of that car a lot! my 3rd favorite car of 2001 behind only the Jag and the Prost. Pity they were all duds

            That engine story reminds of recent things with the same team: the forward exhausts and the double DRS. Wasted a lot of time on decisions that led nowhere.

  17. James Jensons work ethic was always higher than Hammy the gangsta rapper .We were told by engineers at the MTC that on a visit there in 2012

    1. Are engineers at the MTC really so open with inside information?

  18. I’ll be honest: I don’t understand the appeal of Raikkonen. I never have. He has always struck me as a closed book; unapproachable and difficult to get him to open up. I imagine that if I saw him down at a pub, there would not be much in the way of conversation, probably because we would only talk about racing.

    When I am in my classroom, I try to position myself in my students’ minds as someone who can exist outside the school. I don’t just go to school, then go home, and do it all over again the next day. And I would like to think of the drivers in the same way: that if I happened to meet one of them, then I could strike up a friendship with them despite the fact that they are a racing driver, not because of it.

    But I don’t see that in Raikkonen.

    1. While I’m a big fan of Raikkonen on-track, I don’t care much for his Iceman persona. Sometimes he’ll give a glimpse of the real Kimi, but I think he puts on the character of closed book at the track for some reason. He’s friends with some proper mental people (The Dudesons) and likes to party, so I can’t imagine him actually being like that.

      Mika Hakkinen’s post=race interviews were utterly boring, as was his PR work, but there’s footage of him talking to Dutch commentator Olav Mol from 1994 and 1995 and he’s talkative and even cracks a joke from time to time. He’s returned to that post-F1. I think both Mika and Kimi have taught themselves to be different towards the media.

    2. I completely agree @prisoner-monkeys: I don’t think he has a very endearing personality (or indeed a personality at all) unless it appears you give him copious amounts of alcohol.

      Neither do I imagine I’d like Hamilton particularly – I don’t admire his seemingly forced gangsta image and nor do I care much for heart-on-sleeve characters.

      Alonso to me just always looks strangely smug. He has a definite look of sheer content with himself persistently, and his samurai persona is something I’m not a fan of either.

      Jenson I think I would get along with; a bit of a whinger at times over the team radio but nor do I blame him for that in such a high-stress environment. He seems a genuinely nice bloke.

      Then to the last remaining world champion, Sebastian Vettel. He is a funny German, which is a rarity. He likes Monty Python, one of my favourite shows. He is usually very honest, something I admire greatly in a man. And he doesn’t follow trends, something I also like to see – a bit of variety.

      I genuinely admire him more for the fact he comes across as a great character rather than his also imperious racing ability.

    3. if you met raikonnen he’d probably ignore you… or hit you! and thats exactly the reason why we all think he is the coolest! he does whatever he wants!!!!! he says whatever he wants and to hell with everything else!
      besides, i dont think many of the drivers would become friends with fans (if, its just PR)

      1. I’m not sure I’d describe a person who would hit me as cool, unless we’re in an 80s high school musical.

        1. its not like i would want to be hit! but thats what i would expect from kimmi! and the fact that that is not your typical F1-driver behavior makes it cool for me.

          1. It’s ‘Kimi’.

    4. I’ll be honest: I don’t understand the appeal of Raikkonen. I never have. He has always struck me as a closed book; unapproachable and difficult to get him to open up.

      I personally don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. Raikkonen seems to be the kind of person who comes out of his shell in certain environments, whilst being very quiet in others. If Raikkonen isn’t fully comfortable in the F1 paddock, then that’s just how he is, it doesn’t mean that he is unfriendly.

    5. Maybe in 20 years we will have another James Hunt movie and its all about Kimi inside-out, the mysterious attitude to be revealed. Just like why Lauda stopping by his own will in the 1976 final race, thats emphatic.

    6. I think it is just plain hilarious if people are looking at F1 drivers in interviews and use that info to decide whether the person is likable, fun or good company. Just hilarious. It is so hilarious because it is so gullible approach. You don’t learn to know a person when he is parroting sponsor messages in front of half a billion people in tv.

      Many people seem to assign all kinds of crazy adjectives on F1 drivers simply based on how they appear in adverts or meaningless interviews. And most of the time that is not even driver persona talking there. It is just his pr persona giving his opinions about things based on what the team or the sponsors want him to say.

      I’m sure if any of you got to actually spend some time with these drivers you would say he was not at all like I thought he was. F1 is a show. F1 drivers in front of cameras are actors. Their opinions are not actually their opinions because they have strict guidelines what they can say.

      Kimi doesn’t seem to like doing interviews. He doesn’t hide it. He is not interested getting mixed up in the politics. So he ignores it. He wants to drive the car. And he is very good at it. People take all this and you have the image of super fast racing driver who is ice cold persona. In reality he is not any more ice cold than kovalainen or button. The fact is he could be the whingiest and most spoilt little kid outside F1 ever known to man. But when cameras are rolling the only image we see is what image kimi and his team and sponsors want to show. And it is the same for everybody else.

      There are also cultural differences. Italian people are generally expected to voice their opinions loud and clear while in finnish culture you are expected to say your piece and people are expected to listen. In japanese culture you only speak if asked to. In american culture silence in conversation is thought to be rude while in finnish discussion it is normal part of discussion. When people stand talking to each other in certain cultures people stand closer to each other than in others. In other cultures there is more touching. Anything that differs from your own culture is seen differently. Maybe in negative way. Not to mention when the F1 drivers are meeting people from other cultures we can see them being outside of their comfort zone in real time tv.

  19. Paul di Resta – 7th! Each to their own I suppose. But 7th!?

  20. Well as 1 of the Webber fans I am yet to decide on a new favourite. For some people Kimi is rude, to me he is just not an obsequious attention grabber, I admire that. Alonso has some history of demanding status and behaving badly when it hasn’t been totally his, but I am warming to him. Lewis is a great driver but seems unsure of his place in the world. And so it goes, it’s not the man in the fight……it’s the fight in the man that will ultimately decide my next favourite driver. Always assuming that F1 itself will remain a favourite of mine, which is somewhat doubtful at the moment.

    1. @hohum Kinda got the same problem. I’ve always been a Williams/Webber fan. Bottas now is my favourite on the grid together with Hülkenberg. Of the big-biys I think I like Kimi and/or Alonso the best. F1 still keeps me intereseted though, no lack of commitment there.

  21. I’ve never been much of a fan of Kimi’s public persona, and I’m a bit surprised to see him at the top of this popularity survey. That said, I do like to watch the guy drive an F1 machine. I admire his skills, and he is surely one of the top drivers in the sport today. I’m really hoping that his pairing with Alonso will provide us with some much needed fireworks. Ferrari isn’t exactly famous for allowing that sort of thing, and it would be way fun to see their intra-team battle for top dog at the red car company become a big story next year. Kimi has his work cut out for him.

  22. Call me crazy but I expect Pastor Maldonado to go up in many people’s list next year, if the Lotus proves to be competitive. The man is not charismatic, but he feels like one of the few drivers on the field “on a mission” to prove something. Vettel is the absolute king right now in terms of a complete package, closely followed by Alonso- However, Alonso feels like he lost his competitive edge. Kimi loves racing, but not to be champion. The others on the field are either playboys or kids having fun. We are missing someone with that will to be Champion like Vettel. The closest one for me is… Pastor Maldonado. Would love to see Da Costa get a chance, another one with a “dream” and committed to it, but also looking forward to Alex Lynn- Remember this name. I interviewed him, very intelligent fellow, confident, and very talented. Lets see if he has the will to be champion. The talent is there. Has the Jenson charm when talking, but that extra “fire” and confidence of a youngster looking to “conquer the world”.

    1. Pastor won’t win people back very easy, even if he beats Grosjean and the Lotus is a good car. He might be on a mission, but that also turns him blind to the details and makes him lack some empathy. Lauda, Senna, Schumacher and Vettel are relentless, but know what friends to keep and that’s something Maldonado will have to learn. The way he talked about Williams would probably lead to getting fired from Ferrari or McLaren. He needs to learn that mission also has non-racing elements.

      Alonso didn’t have the amazing season he had in 2012, but come race day he still got the best out of his car. He might not have been on the podium as much in the final races, but people are quick to forget he scored 3 consecutive 2nd places when Vettel won the first of his 3 races in a row. It could be Alonso peaked in 2012, but personally I felt Schumacher peaked in 2002, dropped off a little in 2003 but managed an amazing 2004 and nearly won the title in 2006, where he made a ton of un-Schumacher-like errors. Alonso probably has a few years left in him.

      Raikkonen only shows up to win, so I wouldn’t say he doesn’t love to be champion. Kimi Raikkonen the character seems to be impeding the driver from maximizing his performance, though.

      The sweeping generalization the rest are playboys or kids having fun; take it easy, scrooge. Never rule out Hamilton and not every driver will have a Hamilton/Vettel-like winning curve. Hulkenberg is taking his time, Grosjean is talented, Button is no slouch and Bianchi is an interesting prospect.

      Personally, I can’t wait to see what happens with Rafaello Marciello. The guy is quick, no doubt, but I wonder how soon Ferrari will let him in F1 and if he can keep up his winning ways before then.

  23. I am really staggered that Kimi has so much support, personally i accept he is really fast, not top three but amongst the best of the rest, but boy he is arrogant moody and damn well rude to lots of people just trying to do their job…no thanks.

    1. mybloodyvalentine
      29th December 2013, 15:15

      best of the rest? he has top driving skill, to me even more talented than vettel. and he is not slower than alonso. vettel is the fastest today, but being fast and being talented are two different things. you may loose some speed as you age, but you can’t loose natural talent. raikkonen was in order talent, speed and race craft in his first career. in his second career he is race craft, talent and speed in order.

  24. So guys, how would you describe Alonsos personality? And what’s really his sort of ‘samurai personality’?

    1. Spanish. Guarded and intoverted in public but conscious that he must watch what people think of him. This can lead to him coming across very friendly sometimes but also to many expressions of the exact opposite at other times.

      Maybe he is most honest when he is frustrated or happy. I don’t think arrogance is the right word to describe him but you could definitely say that he floats on a cushion of self-confidence. That is a useful strategy to stay focused if you ever doubt yourself.

      He likes to be liked. He is afraid of having his words twisted. He employs certain facades to keep control of the discourse.

      I think if he could relax he would come across a lot more naturally. Maybe something to watch out for as he gets older.

  25. Is Jenson Button second? This is very strange…

  26. Like the best writers know, and successful bachelors:
    Mystery keeps an audeince and captivated.

    Kimi doesn’t say much, but this feeds imaginations. In the modern F1 circus with endless chains of interviewing journalists, often those who talk too much are considered boring. It is the things that Kimi doesn’t say that let’s people’s imaginations pontificate and postulate what they think that the Iceman is really up to on and off the track.
    This fact plus how he is different from most other drivers, who seek success by doing all the right things, makes him a unique characther that is seen as more honest and breath of fresh, smoky, air.

    1. excuse the misspellings in the second line. I am not one much for proofreading…

  27. mybloodyvalentine
    29th December 2013, 15:31

    who cares what one says, how he behaves and so on…personally I judge drivers for skills, talent and speed and I’m not interested in their pr work, public profile, social life. I just watch races and even don’t care how they look like. I can’t stand drivers who keep on whining or thing like “do we need to change tyres?” “do we need to change strategy?” since a driver should know what to do and drivers in the past didn’t receive help from team radios.
    I’m impressed that a driver’s popularity is decided because of his attitude outside the track.
    That’s another reason why surveys regarding “best driver” are totally sensible. do we consider their talent or their popularity? Do we consider ho much did they win or how much did they show on track?
    I read some month ago a survey which rated alonso as the best driver of all time…every time I think about it, I simply laugh because people confuse popularity and media appeal with talent.

  28. I must admit, I used to loathe Kimi. I thought he was totally lacking in personality and what little of it there was, was rude and arrogant. Then one day I just got it. Its an act he puts on, the whole ‘iceman’ persona. But its a persona of his choosing rather than a PR stunt, and that’s what is so honest about it and what appeals to so many people. Plus, on the rare occasions he lets us see the ‘real Kimi’, it is just such a treat.

  29. Di Resta out of F1 and I have yet to meet a person who really finds that a shame. Hope he does well in Indy or DTM once more. Maybe he finds a personality there and somehow learns he can be of fault too.

  30. I only got to read this one today, and off course I grabbed the opportunity to add the new drivers.

    But really, what I did was add back in Michael Schumacher, because he needs all the support he can get right now.

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