Should Ferrari have stuck with Kimi Raikkonen?

Should Ferrari Have Stuck With Raikkonen?

Fernando Alonso's debut in a Ferrari delivered the perfect result with a resounding victory in the Bahrain Grand Prix. Although Sebastian Vettel dropped out of the race lead with mechanical gremlins, Alonso’s win was commanding as he set a fastest lap that was over a full second quicker than the best anyone else could manage.

Since then Fernando’s season has not been particularly strong. Had it not been for that early win he would now be under enormous pressure to start delivering. He was signed by Ferrari this year in place of Kimi Raikkonen, at great expense to the Scuderia, but has probably fared worse than his predecessor would have.

It raises an interesting question. Although Alonso seems to be a much better fit for Ferrari than Raikkonen and is likely to be more consistent and committed in the future, would the team be better off right now had they stuck with Kimi?

So far in 2010 Fernando has made five significant mistakes.

Australia – Spun at the first corner and dropped to the back after pitting for repairs.

Malaysia – Missed the dry running in Q1 and started the race in 19th. Although this wasn’t strictly a driving error, Alonso admitted the choice to delay his qualifying run was his own.

China – Jumped the start and earned a drive through penalty.

Monaco – Crashed during practice and was forced to miss qualifying.

Turkey – Overcooked his braking during one of his final Q2 laps and missed the top ten.

Contrary to popular belief Kimi Raikkonen actually performed quite well in 2009. It’s often said that Felipe Massa embarrassed Raikkonen last year but that simply isn’t true because the Ferrari duo were very close. In the nine races Kimi started alongside Massa last year, he outqualfiied the Brazilian five times (occasionally doing so with more fuel on board) and there were only two Grands Prix where Raikkonen was notably outraced by his teammate.

Whenever the car was capable of scoring a good result, as it was in Monaco and Spa, Raikkonen rose to the challenge and extracted the best possible finish. He also thrashed Luca Badoer and Giancarlo Fisichella later in the year, which showed how well he was performing in a very difficult machine.

Most importantly, Kimi only made one significant driving error all season. On lap 45 of the Australian Grand Prix he looped his car at turn 13 and grazed the inside wall.

Ferrari first thought about cutting Raikkonen’s contract short at the end of 2008 as it had been a fairly dismal year for the Fin. He did not mount a serious title defence, made numerous mistakes, and seemed to lack the speed that won him the championship in the late stages of 2007.

Although Kimi recovered well in 2009, the process that eventually saw him replaced by Alonso had already begun.

Had Ferrari stuck with Kimi this year it is likely that his motivation would have been restored by a more competitive car, and with Massa’s problems on the harder tyres he might even have become outright team leader.

Alonso will almost certainly prove to a better long-term option for Ferrari, but the team might be in better shape right now had they waited to see the end of Raikkonen’s contract.

Posted by Martin Porter. - Follow him on twitter @mpondaweb.

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• Yes, i think you make a very good point. And i have said this all along. Raikkonen was blasted during his time at Ferrari but last season i thought...
  by Ray West
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