Kimi Raikkonen: “F1 Hasn’t Changed”

Kimi Raikkonen has explained how Formula 1 has not changed much since he left the sport in 2009, after a highly uncompetitive season with Ferrari which saw the Finn’s motivation practically ebb away completely. However, after a competitive return to the sport this year with Lotus, Raikkonen seems reinvigorated as he strives to win again.

After miraculously becoming World Champion in 2007 for Ferrari, the Finn endured two rather frustrating seasons with the Scuderia. After winning six races in 2007 on his way to the title, Kimi Raikkonen was only able to win a combined three races throughout the next two seasons. This saw his motivation ebb away race after race, until he finally left the sport after the 2009 season to pursue a career in the FIA World Rally Championship.

However, after only two years away from the world of Formula 1, which also featured a stint in both the NASCAR Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series, the Finn decided to finally return to the sport with Lotus alongside Romain Grosjean. Unlike Michael Schumacher, Raikkonen immediately showed he had lost none of his competitiveness and by Bahrain was already finishing on the podium once again.

“It hasn’t really done anything.” Explained Kimi Raikkonen, when asked whether his break in Rallying had helped him. “I was pretty happy to go and do something else for a while, did some racing and I’m enjoying it again. It’s the same places – OK, there are some new circuits and places to come to this year and a new team, but apart from that, Formula One hasn’t changed and it’s exactly the same. For me, nothing’s really changed.”

One of the only changes to the sport during Kimi Raikkonen’s return this season has been the tyres, which have been a major talking point all year. During the 2009 season, Japanese tyre supplier Bridgestone were the sole tyre supplier up and down the grid. Refueling was also permitted, with pit stops occurring at what was then regarded as a traditional rate not entirely because the tyres were wearing out, but because more fuel was required.

With refueling now banned in Formula 1 during the races, tyre wear has become the major talking point up and down the paddock. However, the ‘Iceman’ has remained undeterred with the high wear rate of the Pirelli tyres throughout this season, which as certainly spiced up the action during the race weekends.

“I admit that I had some thoughts about the tyres before I did one private test – OK, it wasn’t the race tyres, it was some other even more worse tyres but I thought that they were fine.” Said Kimi Raikkonen, “When you come from rallying, they have much more grip and the tyres were OK for me so after that, I already knew that I would not have any issues, because there was a lot of talk that maybe it was not good, but when I came back, I didn’t really remember how it was two years earlier, so I thought that the tyres were completely fine and I still do so.”

Throughout the 2012 season, Kimi Raikkonen has successfully managed to finish every single racing lap, a feat achieved by no other driver on the grid. This alone shows just how competitive the Finn has been all season, despite not winning a single race so far. Raikkonen currently sits 3rd in the Drivers’ Championship with 167 points scored, and is still striving to take his first victory since the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix in the final four races.

Although the Finn has not been officially confirmed at Lotus for next season, the general belief within the paddock is that Kimi Raikkonen will once again partner Romain Grosjean at the Enstone-based outfit. Next season the ‘Iceman’ will most definitely be targeting races victories, if not his second Drivers’ Crown.

Picture Copyright © Getty Images

Pirelli Wish To Stay As F1 Tyre Supplier Beyond 2013

Formula 1’s current tyre supplier Pirelli have disclosed their aim to continue supplying the sport with tyres beyond 2013, when their current three-year contract expires. After undeniably contributing to some highly unpredictable and competitive racing over the last two years, Pirelli have certainly made a name for themselves in F1.

Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery has confirmed that the Italian company see Formula 1 as a ‘medium-to-long-term’ project, and look eager to continue supplying their highly unpredictable and somewhat controversial tyres to the teams up and down the grid. Pirelli took over as the sole tyre supplier to Formula 1 in 2011, after long-time Japanese supplier Bridgestone decided not to renew their contract towards the end of 2009.

“Our current contract runs until the end of 2013, but we always intended to be in F1 for the medium-to-long term,” explained Paul Hembery in an interview with AutoSport. “The deadline for the 2014 decision is next June. If the sport wants us to stay and we can convince the board to continue, in light of economic conditions, then our intention is to go forward.”

Throughout the majority of the 2012 season, Pirelli’s tyres have been at the centre of attention. Where some agree that they have assisted in making this season one of the most entertaining in years, some believe that they are becoming too much of a dominant factor over the course of a weekend. However, Paul Hembery has stressed how the drivers must always remain the centre of attention.

“We were asked to provide fun and entertainment with our F1 tyres, although it was not our intention to become the discussion point for the weekend,” continued Paul Hembery to AutoSport. “We still want the drivers to be the stars of the show. Attracting new people to follow our sport isn’t easy, so I’d like us to build-up our drivers, and grow their profile as major international sporting stars, and have more visible personalities.”

Either way, it looks as though the unpredictability created by Pirelli’s tyres is set to continue beyond 2013.

Picture Copyright © Pirelli

2012 Pirelli Tyres Receive New Markings

The Pirelli tyres for the coming 2012 season have received new markings to help make it clearer to fans which type of tyres the drivers are using throughout the season, with a new range of wet tyres also unveiled.

The colors which depict the different types of tyre have been slightly tweaked, with the writing becoming more bolder with the bands near the lettering becoming slightly larger. There has also been a slight change to help fans differentiate between the white (medium) tyres and the silver (hard) tyres with the writing on the silver variant becoming more darker.

Pirelli have also changed the range of wet tyres that will be on offer to the F1 teams throughout the season, with the P-Zero range being replaced by the Cinturato range which Pirelli made famous in the 1950s. The colors of the wet tyres have also been changed, with the full wets now in blue with the intermediate tyres in green.

In 2012, Pirelli also hope to help make F1 more exciting, with a more aggressive approach from Pirelli in its tyres compounds. Pirelli will also allow the Formula One Management (FOM) more access more data, with the idea that the data will then be able to be adopted in an on-screen graphic which will be able to show the fans how old a particular tyre is.

Pirelli have also slightly changed the construction of the tyre, with the end result being a slightly squarer variant which is aimed at helping improve grip and handling for the 2012 season.

Pirelli enter their second year as sole tyre supplier for the F1 teams after replacing Bridgestone, who were the sole supplier after Michelin ended their involvement in F1 after the 2006 season.

Russian driver Vitaly Petrov was today hinted at potentially joining Pirelli as their test driver, however both Petrov and Pirelli denied these rumors.

Ferrari Sign Former Bridgestone Chief

Ferrari have signed ex-Bridgestone Chief Hirohide Hamashima to join it’s technical department in a bid to try and help Ferrari drivers, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, get the most out of their Pirelli’s in 2012.

Throughout the 2011 season Alonso and Massa struggled with the Pirelli tyres, especially when running the harder option tyres. Now, with the guidance of Hirohide Hamashima, Ferrari are confident they can benefit more from the tyres in 2012.

Hamashima worked for the Japanese tyre manufacturer Bridgestone in Formula 1 up until 2010 when the outfit left the sport and was replaced by the Italian company Pirelli. Last season Hamashima worked with Bridgestone in MotoGP, but has returned to F1 with Ferrari, a team that Bridgestone worked closely with throughout the Schumacher/Ferrari dominance that reigned from 2000-2004.

Hirohide Hamashima is one of many new faces joining Ferrari for 2012 as they embark on a reshuffle of its organisation with Pat Fry which includes Steve Clark from Mercedes GP, with rumours circulating that Ferrari have also signed Jonathan Heal and Lawrence Hodge from McLaren. Ferrari are confident that they can pick up on what was a disastrous 2011 season that saw only Fernando Alonso win one race at the 2011 British Grand Prix whilst Massa failed to even reach the podium all season.

Ferrari have also announced they will release their 2012 car on February 3rd, two days after rivals McLaren who are hopeful on also closing the gap to Red Bull in 2012.