Jimmy Croul A 16 Year-olds View On Formula One

1

3/6/2014
Today Kimi Raikkonen has come out attributing his poor showings this year to bad luck. Now I
can very much relate to this, Id be quite thrilled if I was hit by Max Chilton while minding my own
business too. I mean, it should be common sense that when youre trying to un-lap yourself you stay
well out of the way. For one to even be in this position they must have either got caught up in a kafuffle
or driven like a grandma. The second one refers exactly to Max Chilton. Think back to Interlagos 2001, of
course I didnt get to see this live, or maybe I did. I was only three. Ive seen the footage though and Id
rather chew my foot off than to have been Juan Pablo Montoya in this instance. The hard work was
already done, he put Michael Schumacher in his place with an insane move at Turn 1. Everything was
going swimmingly, looking for a first F1 victory and also (a point that most people may forget) the first
Williams BMW win. He comes up to lap Jos Verstappen (a driver who was never really here nor there to
be frankly honest) and gets taken out from behind. Now as a man of Latin descent I would have
expected him to have knocked The Bosss head back to Amsterdam but he didnt. His moment would
come but I would have been absolutely incensed. So much pain and sorrow because of one braking
misjudgment. Now back on topic, I have always been a fan of Kimi Raikkonen. The fact that hes so
unlike everyone else makes him a superstar. He could talk to the press every race and say yeah, Id like
to thank the team. Everyone did a great job today, I couldnt have done it without them. I love the boys,
the tifosi blah blah blah. But he doesnt do any of that, he minds his own business and usually gets on
with the job. Apart from the two years that he spent trying to drive fast through a forest hes been spot
on. He wasnt even that shabby at driving off road, I mean when he wasnt upside down. But he hasnt
just been out of luck just recently, no no. He has never really had the greatest of luck, apart from that
race in Brazil six years after the Montoya incident. I would have felt so vindicated having won that
championship. He would have probably won the championship in 2003 if Mercedes could build engines
that didnt break down whenever they were going fast. If it werent for the two German races he would
have definitely won. I find it quite ironic that the German engine failed in Germany, the only other
retirement he had that year was also in Germany. His biggest title rival, I bet you could have guessed,
was a German. Any hint of a conspiracy theory? No. In 2005 he was in what would turn out to be the
fastest car. If the 10 place grid penalty hadnt have existed he would have surely got the sufficient points
to beat Alonso, it was not as much a matter of having too many cars in front. His main issue was that by
the time these cars were cleared Alonso was sipping the champagne. For these reasons I feel very sorry
for Kimi, German build quality was not at a premium in the days of the West McLaren. He could have
been a triple world champion by now. Now here he is, trying to do his best on his return to the prancing
horse. All he got for his efforts, twelfth. Thats what you get for being hit by a blonde haired kid from a
rich family. Kimi said it himself, his race was ruined. Now skimming over that late race fiasco, which was
probably Kimis fault considering they dont make formula one cars with the turning circle of a delivery
van. Kimi deserves better, we can see that the car is hard to drive but he still pushes on. In a way only he
can. Ill be very upset when he finally hangs up the boots. He could do it right now if he wanted to,
returning to Finland to live in a mansion with 12 Scandinavian goddesses. But the hunger still remains in
the belly, I dont think hes ready to stop just yet. Formula One needs characters like Kimi, the rest are
just bread and butter. Each driver is as equally boring as each other, repeating the same generic
Jimmy Croul A 16 Year-olds View On Formula One

2

comments to the press. Just imagine Seb Vettel jumping out of the car and just telling everyone it was
good. For me personally I would be much happier, the finger pointing would stop and with it the
overzealous little grin. After four years the fact that he was still winning was bad enough but the way he
went about it was even worse. You would have thought that even he would get bored, but he didnt.
The fans got more reaction from Seb when the car broke than we got from Kimi at the of 07. You may
say that it is just natural for someone to be chuffed after some success. Kimi may seem a little robotic
for everyones tastes, but Vettel carries on like hes sipped a little too much Red Bull. We need more
characters like Kimi and perhaps a new James Hunt for that added measure.