Raikkonen “will race whatever happens”

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In the round-up: Kimi Raikkonen says he will participate in the German Grand Prix even if the tyre failures recur.

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Raikkonen ‘will race whatever happens’ (ESPN)

“I was once involved I think in 2005 and funnily enough there was some guys that didn’t stop and they drove so for sure I will race whatever happens.”

Pirelli insist they will not quit F1 despite drivers’ threat to boycott German Grand Prix (The Independent)

Motorsport director Paul Hembery: “We are a professional company. We are very passionate about what we do and very good at what we do. You don’t walk away in difficult times. That’s the time to work harder and make sure you do a better job.”

Boycott fears for the German Grand Prix have all but faded away (The Guardian)

“Vettel, 26 this week, said: ‘We didn’t say that we won’t race. We said that first of all we trust that the steps that Pirelli made are working and in practice I think they were. We came together but the point was not to threaten.’ Given that the GPDA statement said that the drivers would ‘immediately withdraw from the event’ should there be a repeat of Silverstone, the comments left his fellow members open to ridicule.”

I don’t have to be in union to strike, says Sutil (Reuters)

“I don’t need to be a GPDA member to decide if I drive or not, that’s my decision that I’m here in Formula One, no one is pushing me to that. I decide if I drive qualifying tomorrow or not. It’s simple. I was in GPDA a few years, I was out of it, maybe I’ll come in again. I think it’s a good thing though.”

De La Rosa: We won’t take risks (Sporting Life)

Pedro de la Rosa: “It was the first time in a GPDA meeting I have ever been to in my life where absolutely all – not one – showed any doubt.”

FIA eases young driver test restrictions (Autosport)

FIA spokesperson: “As only one specification of tyre will be available for the test, it will not be necessary for the teams to satisfy us that race drivers are taking part for the sole purpose of testing tyres for the appointed tyre supplier.”

Whitmarsh Q&A (Sky)

“Partway through Silverstone had there been another failure – and indeed there was, it was on our car – but had that failure appeared on another car earlier we would have had to consider coming in because I think it was serious situation.”

Nico Rosberg Q&A: Mercedes looking good for qualifying (Formula One)

“What is unfortunate for us is that we are not allowed to swap the rear tyres anymore, as this did help us. In Silverstone it was maybe only Red Bull that had the edge on us, and now things have changed from the last race to this race, as we were just getting to be really good at managing the tyres.”

Keeping cool after a high-speed blowout (BBC)

Lewis Hamilton: “[The Nurburgring Nordschleife is] considered too dangerous for modern F1 but I think it would be incredible to take a current car around there. I would love to do it and I’ve already told the team that next time they have an event there I want to drive it. I’d be flat out the whole lap.”

Nico and Lewis – Onboard with radio @ Nordschleife (W196/W154) (Mercedes via YouTube)

Singtel extends partnership with Formula One for 2013 Formula One Singapore Grand Prix (Singapore Grand Prix)

“SingTel has extended its partnership with Formula One to be the title sponsor for the 2013 Formula One Singapore Grand Prix.”

Tweets

Comment of the day

@AdrianMorse’s thoughts on the pecking order:

It’s a bit hard to read the long-run performance from the session, but Webber’s medium-tyre run was very impressive. It’s difficult to judge how far away Mercedes are, both on the long runs and on the short, because Hamilton was complaining of choosing a wrong setup direction for second practice, and Rosberg did two long-ish runs, split over soft and medium compounds.

I followed the session and got the impression that Mercedes was quite a bit slower than Red Bull over the long run, though. However, this was also the case in Silverstone, and on Sunday there was little to choose between the two teams.

Strategy is going to be interesting on Sunday. With the soft tyre good for no more than four laps, and perhaps usable for six, it will be interesting to see who uses mediums in Q2 tomorrow. It could be worth a gamble for Alonso, if he doesn’t anticipate doing better than fifth anyway.

Equally, perhaps for Red Bull and Mercedes it will be tempting to run mediums and still qualify around fifth, though I suspect those two teams will use the softs to fight for pole. Still, if all other teams qualify on the mediums, they can too.
@AdrianMorse

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On this day in F1

Ten years ago today Ralf Schumacher won the French Grand Prix, leading all 70 laps. Team mate Juan Pablo Montoya was second, giving Williams a one-two finish for the second race in a row.

But Montoya fumed at what he believed was a preferential radio call given to his team mate, and later decided to sign for McLaren in 2005. Michael Schumacher was third for Ferrari.

Behind them Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard were fourth and fifth for McLaren, the top five finishing in the order they started.

Here’s the younger Schumacher heading to his sixth and final F1 victory:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2D4H6jXHnRg

Image © Lotus/LAT

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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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40 comments on “Raikkonen “will race whatever happens””

  1. Raikkonen’s forgetting that in the Indy 05 race, Michelin had the unsafe tyres, yet those that raced were exclusively on Bridgestones.

    1. I think he meant that even after the drivers knew about the problem with the tyre on the banking at Indy, they still pushed in the following practice sessions and qualifying. It was the teams decision not to run on race day.

    2. Kimi ‘s ex mechanic tweeted about the indy incident

      Marc Priestley ‏@f1elvis 11h
      @willbuxton When I strapped Kimi into the car that day in Indy, I genuinely had no idea if he’d stop or race, despite firm orders from Ron.

      I remember Ron had two people watching over Kimi as he fear he might continue anyway.

      He skipped booze and come a long way here to race, not to boycott the race. ROFL

      1. No wonder Kimi left Mclaren to join Ferrari in 2007. IF he had raced and won the 2005 Indianapolis, for all you know he might have won the WDC that year !!!!!

        1. Seeing as he lost by more than 10 points, he wouldn’t have.

          1. And he lost to someone who also didn’t race there.

            But on a side note @matt90, a retirement or non-participation costs more than the points you don’t get, it also costs the extra points your opponent gets (which today can total up to 32 points if you add 25 points to the 7 points extra you get from moving up from 2nd to 1st))

    3. Anthony Davidson was on Sky Sports News yesterday talking about Kimi having to pull out of a karting race when they were juniors, saying Kimi was livid and he could never imagine it happening again !

  2. Dammit, if the tyres had blown out today, I’d surely have gotten the winner right in the Prediction Championship LOL

  3. Wow, I first posted in 2008. I never knew the site existed back in 2005 (from the Indianapolis article above)! When did F1Fanatic start?

    1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
      6th July 2013, 2:34

      probably not the answer, but if you g oto the last page of posts, it says “Jan 1, 2005”.Or probably before, if the server capacity has made KC delete previous posts

  4. Behind them Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard were fourth and fifth for Ferrari

    @keithcollantine Little typo there, Kimi and DC drove for McLaren in 2003! ;)

    1. Ah let DC has his moment in the prancing horse lol

    2. keith needs a vacation

  5. Chris (@tophercheese21)
    6th July 2013, 1:42

    The Sky Sports guys brought up a really interesting point yesterday about the potential boycott.

    Would the drivers actually want to boycott the race? Because if they did, then other drivers that felt safe to drive would continue on and score more points.

    Ex. 1:
    If Marussia were to continue racing while others dropped out; they could get some serious points, and therefore finish higher in the constructors; therefore getting more money for next year.

    1. Chris (@tophercheese21)
      6th July 2013, 1:59

      Obviously safety is paramount, but I wonder if any of the drivers would change their decision not to race if it meant that a rival team/driver would score most points than them.

    2. Jules Bianchi for the win.

    3. OmarR-Pepper (@)
      6th July 2013, 3:10

      That would be hard to revert for teams struggling for a single point, such as Williams, and recently, Sauber. But make sure that if the Marussias or Catherhams decide to take a run, the other “small” teams would try it too.
      You know F1 is divided in “2 leagues”: Lotus can be a menace for Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren and even Force India.
      On the “other league” you have Toro Rosso, Williams, Sauber, Marussia and Catherham.
      Everybody competes, of course, but the direct rivals are separated. If you want to prove me wrong, remember how Valteri Bottas faded from 3rd to bye-my-dreams in seconds.

  6. OmarR-Pepper (@)
    6th July 2013, 2:37

    Kimi can survive the boycott not giving a … about what the world thinks about him. That doesn’t mean I agree with him if he races alone or with some advantage (let’s say, the drivers go to pits, he keeps running for a lap totally alone and then the rest decide to resume, but not being able to unlap).

    1. The boycott just wouldn’t happen. it is nothing more then an empty threat. Drivers have contracts, and the teams has a contract with the race organizers, and the tyres have actually changed to make them safer. In Indy 2005 the big story was that Michelin did not have time to change the tyres.

      The GPDA is just doing some posturing. Good for Kimi if he just doesn’t want to play along with that.

      1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
        6th July 2013, 3:54

        @angelia +1… these are just bigs “what ifs” (it’s funny to wonder!)

  7. The idea of seeing kimi all alone on the grid is hilarious.
    Kimi may have a race on his terms when he can even have ICE CREAM during his pit stops.
    LOL ;)

    1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
      6th July 2013, 3:56

      @svarun that would be against the rules because that is putting weight on the car :P. Imagine the headlines next day: “KIMI DSQ FOR ICECREAM”

      1. Even better. Kimmi races himself, DNF on tires.

  8. That is so cool of Takuma Sato to retweet us!

  9. “What is unfortunate for us is that we are not allowed to swap the rear tyres anymore, as this did help us. In Silverstone it was maybe only Red Bull that had the edge on us, and now things have changed from the last race to this race, as we were just getting to be really good at managing the tyres.”

    wow ! was that the merc secret after all ? or is there more to it . We shall see in the ring (nurburgring not boxing ring) tomorrow ;)

    1. it was no secret, and it was not just Mercedes doing it either

  10. Chiz (@a-flying-toilet)
    6th July 2013, 4:24

    This is random and unlikely to ever happen but what if every driver retired/pulled out?

    Say there was only 4 drivers racing and they all retired before 75% distance, would they be classified and get half points? or would they still get full points when the 2 hour time limit runs out?

    1. Like if all 6 drivers at Indy ’05 would have retired for unrelated reasons? I would think that the race would simply end with no points awarded.

  11. I see Mercedes testing with race drivers again. At least they are not using 2013 car.

  12. With regard to lap times, I’m surprised Renault are claiming they will be faster. Perhaps only over a single lap, and even then not taking the reduction of downforce into account. With regard to Keith’s tweet, at least this year the pole should be comfortably quicker than the 2011 pole.

    As for a driver boycott, would they have to do the formation lap, as in Indy 2005 to fulfill contractual obligations? I think the danger to a boycott would be that Kimi says he will race, and if I understand the Sutil article correctly, I think he would too. As for the other drivers, if they say they won’t race, I don’t think they will go back on their word and sneakily join the grid after the formation lap.

    On the one hand, it would be funny to see only Kimi and Adrian line up on the grid, possibly joined by non-GPDA member Lewis, but on the other hand, we’ve seen that once already in Indy 2005, and the sport doesn’t need a repeat of that.

    1. I’m surprised Renault are claiming they will be faster

      Don’t believe anything you read on twitter, is probably just some PR guy in charge of that, definitely not an engineer!

    2. I read somewhere that they can get 900HP out of the new engines at qualifying and “few” tens of HP more than current engines at the race.

  13. This headline made me chuckle.

    Tyre issues? Kimi will race.
    Hurricane? Kimi will race.
    Dragon attack? Kimi will race.
    Ecclestone cancels the GP? Kimi will race, whatever happens.

    1. and….. “He knows what he is doing ” :-P

  14. I think what Raikkonen is saying that he doesn’t trust everyone in the GPDA to boycott, considering what happened in Indy’05, when Schumacher, who was at that time a GPDA director, refused to believe it was a safety issue and insisted it was a technical issue. Raikkonen and Montoya quit the GPDA after the race.

    1. Of course it was a technical issue. Schumacher as well as the other cars that joined the grid were all on Bridgestones. The Bridgestone tyres were perfectly safe.

      1. YEs, they were ok, because Bridgestone was warned off previously when all their (Firestones) tyres had gotten damaged during the pre-indy IRL training a couple of months earlier. Had they informed the FIA (who would have warned Michelin too), the whole sham whouldn’t have happened

  15. No stories about Bernie’s trial in Germany? The “news” is about something else that’ll never happen? There’s a surprise.

    1. Thankfully we have real journalists like Dieter Rencken for that.

  16. Ah the unmistakable sound of traction control. Thank God that’s gone.

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