The Unknown Kimi Räikkönen, written by a Finnish top writer Kari Hotakainen, was released on August 16, 2018. The book is published by Siltala, and it is the first non-fiction book written by Hotakainen. The English version of the book will come out on October 18. I can assure to Kimi's English-speaking fans, that the book is definitely worth waiting for!
Who is Kimi Räikkönen? He's a famous Finnish F1 driver, who has won the world championship for Ferrari in 2007. He is known as "the Iceman" in the Formula 1 world. He doesn't talk much. He hates to be in front of media. His team radio messages are legendary. One of the most famous ones is the comment "Leave me alone, I know what to do", which Kimi let out of his mouth in the victorious 2012 Abu Dhabi GP. Kimi is married to Minttu Räikkönen and has two kids. But what else do we actually know about this personal man, who stands out of the crowd in the strictly controlled F1 world? Over the years there have been many stories in the media about Kimi's drinking habits and his sometimes reckless private life. Never before Kimi has revealed so much that he does in this spellbinding book.
What makes the book even more interesting, is the fact, that the writer didn't know anything about Formula 1 racing. Fans, including me, tend to see Kimi through Formula 1 glasses. That is very natural, as the F1 world has been the only environment, where we have seen this ice cool Finn, as Kimi has been extremely protective about his personal life off-track. But in the book Kimi is not defined as a racing driver but as a man. You don't need to know anything about Formula 1 to find this book interesting. However, since last summer Kimi has offered his fans a glimpse into his personal life, as he joined Instagram. I was absolutely flabbergasted that he did! What is absolutely charming about the book, is the way Kari Hotakainen writes Kimi's story. It has been written with unconventional style and with great sense of humour.
Kimi is a celebrity and a star, which is everything Kimi wouldn't like to be. Unknown - Kimi Räikkönen is a story of a man, who has gone out of humble conditions and broke into the top of an unusual profession. In Kimi's opinion the greatest thing would be if you could drive Formula 1 unknowingly. Unfortunately such a world doesn't exist. Unknowingly, you can shave or drive a lawnmover, not a seven million-euro racing car. The book draws a picture of a man, who is a star just because he doesn't want to be one. Honesty is a word, which describes the content of the book perfectly. Kimi doesn't try to please other people and doesn't care what other people think of him. Having this kind of attitude, it's no problem for him to tell about his 16-day drinking streak, including partying with the Prince of Bahrain and parties in Switzerland, Italy and Finland. After 16 days of drinking, Kimi travelled to Barcelona for the Spanish GP and finished the race in P3! Honestly, I always thought, that Kimi's drinking habits were massively exaggerated and sort of an urban legend. So I can't help but wonder, how Kimi has achieved such success when leading such a reckless life! The story about Kimi's first press conference as a Ferrari driver in 2007 seemed quite unbelievable as well; I read open-mouthed how Kimi almost missed the event due to heavy drinking in the previous night! Kimi could have left all these stories untold, had he wanted to. Kimi definitely hasn't been a good role model for younger drivers, in terms of his drinking habits. But Kimi has never seen himself as a role model. He sees himself as an ordinary man, who loves to drive cars as fast as possible and have fun every once in a while (sometimes even for 16 days in a row). I admire such honesty.
The book tells a story, how everything is possible, when you have the passion and devotion for what you do. Kimi doesn't come from a rich family, but his parents took every effort to offer Kimi and his big brother Rami a chance to drive, in Finland and abroad. As money couldn't be taken for granted, Kimi learned to do many things by himself. This is something that many young drivers can't do nowadays, as they have mechanics of their own from a very early age. Kimi's story shows, that when you have the talent and the passion and the support from your family, it can lead to amazing things, like a success story in the pinnacle of the motorsport. Family still means everything to Kimi. And having a family of his own has had a very positive and healthy influence on the Iceman; it's absolutely touching to see how devoted Kimi is to his wife and kids.
In the regulated world of Formula 1 Kimi doesn't show his emotions. There're many jokes about Kimi's facial expressions, how they look all the same no matter which emotion is in question. The book shows a glimpse of Kimi's emotional side, which has been well-hidden. Kimi's father Matti passed away at Christmas 2010. Kimi had had a quarrel with his father, and Matti passed away before they managed to settle the dispute... I was touched to read Kimi's thoughts about his father and get to know this side of Kimi.
The book was so entertaining and compelling, that it was very difficult to let it off my hands. On one hand I hoped to read it as fast as I could, but on the other hand I wished, that I would never reach the end. It has been written in such vivid and descriptive way, that reading the text made me feel I was actually there, at the Ferrari garage, at Kimi's home or partying with Kimi. An excellent sense of humour spiced up the book; from time to time I couldn't help but laugh out loud! This book is worth reading, no matter if you are a Formula 1 fan or not! Absolutely a masterpiece!
Kimi Räikkönen & Sebastian Vettel
tiistai 28. elokuuta 2018
sunnuntai 26. elokuuta 2018
Belgian GP: Sebastian took a dominant and mesmerising victory!
Lights out offered plenty of action at Spa Francorchamps, where the weather was cloudy, with only 20 % risk of rain. The start of the top six was clean, and pole-setter Hamilton was the first driver to go into tricky Turn 1. Further down in the pack there was a fateful chain reaction caused by Renault's Hulkenberg. The German missed the braking point into Turn 1 and locked his tyres, which made him hit the rear of Alonso's McLaren. Alonso's orange McLaren got air-born and flew over Leclerc's Sauber, and all three were out of the race. Thanks to the new halo system, Leclerc got away from the shunt unharmed. The collision had also an effect on Red Bull's Ricciardo, who ended up hitting the rear of Kimi's SF71-H. Ricciardo got severe damage to both his front and rear wings, and Kimi suffered a rear-right puncture. Safety car was deployed due to the massive collision, and both Ricciardo and Kimi limped into the pits. In addition to the puncture, the end plate of Kimi's rear wing and the DRS system had taken severe damage. Kimi switched to the white-marked medium rubber, and the team sent him back out. Ricciardo had a massively delayed pit stop, and the Australian was already one lap down when re-joining the track. Mercedes' Bottas, who had started to the race from P17, had an incident with Williams' Sirotkin, as the Finn hit the rear of the Russian's FW41. Bottas broke his front wing as well and had to pit for a new nose. What an action-packed opening lap!
Sebastian was determined to snatch the lead from Hamilton. Before the safety car came out after the first-corner collision, Sebastian challenged the Briton at Turn 5 and made it past Hamilton! At the same time Force India's Ocon was very close to challenge both of them for the lead. However, Ocon's move proved costly, and teammate Perez managed to pass the Frenchman. Meanwhile Red Bull's Verstappen was lurking behind the pink cars already.
Safety car came in on lap 5, and the battle was on. Sebastian managed to defend his lead perfectly, and Hamilton had to settle for playing the second fiddle to the German. Right from the beginning it was obvious, that Ferrari's race pace was in a class of their own. The pink cars were unable to match the top two's pace, and on lap 7 Verstappen attacked Ocon, moving fourth. On lap 8 Kimi drove into the pits, and the team had a closer look at the Iceman's rear wing. Kimi was sent back out again, but he returned into the pits a lap later. There was nothing the team could do to fix the Iceman's car. What a shame! Kimi had been absolutely flying in the free practice sessions and in the qualifying (before he ran out of fuel), so he would have deserved so much better! It was a truly frustrating moment to see him retire his SF71-H.
Verstappen had chased down Perez and attacked the Mexican on lap 10. Verstappen's driving was impressive, bold overtaking moves without foolish mistakes! Meanwhile, Bottas was offering an overtaking show of his own. On lap 18 the Finn swept past Toro Rosso's Gasly, snatching P8 already. Mercedes decided to try an undercut by calling Hamilton in on lap 22. The Briton's pit stop was close to perfection, and he re-joined the track in P3, behind Verstappen. Ferrari reacted right away and called Sebastian in on the following lap. Both drivers opted for a fresh set of the yellow-walled middle compound, and Sebastian maintained his lead. Verstappen had no chance to hold back Hamilton, and the Briton made a successful overtaking move, snatching back P2.
Lapped Ricciardo joined the group of retired drivers, as he was called in to retire the car on lap 31. With ten laps to go, Sebastian had the race perfectly under his control. The gap to Hamilton was already over five seconds. Verstappen in P3 was unable to match the top two's pace. Perez was fourth, but Bottas had begun his chase. With five laps to go, the Finn was right at Perez's tail, hungry for getting past. Bottas' overtaking move proved successful, and the Finn had climbed up to P4 already. Very remarkable driving from the Finnish Mercedes ace, who had started to the race from P17.
Sebastian took his fifth win of the season, which made me feel over the moon. More importantly, he decreased the gap to Hamilton into 17 points in the drivers' championship standings. After the race Hamilton seemed a bit confused about how fast Ferrari proved in the race. Verstappen completed the podium for Red Bull, which I was also very happy about. Bottas finished excellent fourth, followed by the pink duo of Perez and Ocon. Haas drove an impressive race as well, as Grosjean finished 7th and teammate Magnussen 8th. Toro Rosso's Gasly and Sauber's Ericsson completed the top ten. After the race the stewards gave Hulkenberg a 10-place grid penalty for Monza and three penalty points for causing the first-corner collision. Bottas was handed a 5-second time penalty (which didn't affect the race result) and two penalty points for his incident with Sirotkin on the opening lap.
It's time for back-to-back races, as the F1 circus moves to the legendary Monza, the home soil of the Red Team, already next week! Looking forward to another red victory! Forza Ferrari!
Sebastian was determined to snatch the lead from Hamilton. Before the safety car came out after the first-corner collision, Sebastian challenged the Briton at Turn 5 and made it past Hamilton! At the same time Force India's Ocon was very close to challenge both of them for the lead. However, Ocon's move proved costly, and teammate Perez managed to pass the Frenchman. Meanwhile Red Bull's Verstappen was lurking behind the pink cars already.
Safety car came in on lap 5, and the battle was on. Sebastian managed to defend his lead perfectly, and Hamilton had to settle for playing the second fiddle to the German. Right from the beginning it was obvious, that Ferrari's race pace was in a class of their own. The pink cars were unable to match the top two's pace, and on lap 7 Verstappen attacked Ocon, moving fourth. On lap 8 Kimi drove into the pits, and the team had a closer look at the Iceman's rear wing. Kimi was sent back out again, but he returned into the pits a lap later. There was nothing the team could do to fix the Iceman's car. What a shame! Kimi had been absolutely flying in the free practice sessions and in the qualifying (before he ran out of fuel), so he would have deserved so much better! It was a truly frustrating moment to see him retire his SF71-H.
Verstappen had chased down Perez and attacked the Mexican on lap 10. Verstappen's driving was impressive, bold overtaking moves without foolish mistakes! Meanwhile, Bottas was offering an overtaking show of his own. On lap 18 the Finn swept past Toro Rosso's Gasly, snatching P8 already. Mercedes decided to try an undercut by calling Hamilton in on lap 22. The Briton's pit stop was close to perfection, and he re-joined the track in P3, behind Verstappen. Ferrari reacted right away and called Sebastian in on the following lap. Both drivers opted for a fresh set of the yellow-walled middle compound, and Sebastian maintained his lead. Verstappen had no chance to hold back Hamilton, and the Briton made a successful overtaking move, snatching back P2.
Lapped Ricciardo joined the group of retired drivers, as he was called in to retire the car on lap 31. With ten laps to go, Sebastian had the race perfectly under his control. The gap to Hamilton was already over five seconds. Verstappen in P3 was unable to match the top two's pace. Perez was fourth, but Bottas had begun his chase. With five laps to go, the Finn was right at Perez's tail, hungry for getting past. Bottas' overtaking move proved successful, and the Finn had climbed up to P4 already. Very remarkable driving from the Finnish Mercedes ace, who had started to the race from P17.
Sebastian took his fifth win of the season, which made me feel over the moon. More importantly, he decreased the gap to Hamilton into 17 points in the drivers' championship standings. After the race Hamilton seemed a bit confused about how fast Ferrari proved in the race. Verstappen completed the podium for Red Bull, which I was also very happy about. Bottas finished excellent fourth, followed by the pink duo of Perez and Ocon. Haas drove an impressive race as well, as Grosjean finished 7th and teammate Magnussen 8th. Toro Rosso's Gasly and Sauber's Ericsson completed the top ten. After the race the stewards gave Hulkenberg a 10-place grid penalty for Monza and three penalty points for causing the first-corner collision. Bottas was handed a 5-second time penalty (which didn't affect the race result) and two penalty points for his incident with Sirotkin on the opening lap.
It's time for back-to-back races, as the F1 circus moves to the legendary Monza, the home soil of the Red Team, already next week! Looking forward to another red victory! Forza Ferrari!
Belgian GP / Qualifying: Strategic mistakes ruined Ferrari´s chances for a front-row lockout!
I was so happy, that Formula 1 was back from its four-week summer break! I was made even happier by the fact, that my son´s cancer treatments are now finally over! For the past 10 months Formula 1 has been my escape from the hospital world. I assume, that if you ask people, who have had to cope with cancer in their lives, what has helped them get through the difficult time, most of them won't probably mention Formula 1... But for me it has been the F1 action, that has helped me keep my head together even in the moments of despair.
Risk of rain was called at 90 % ahead of the qualifying. Both Ferraris headed out on the yellow-marked middle compound, and so did Hamilton in his W09. The legendary Spa Francorchamps seemed to suit the red cars perfectly, and Kimi "The King of Spa" Räikkönen went fastest. Hamilton was able to challenge the Ferraris in the first sector, but the Briton was struggling with his pace in the final sector. Teammate Bottas came out on the red-walled super-soft Pirellis not until at the end of the session. The Finn is to start to the race from the back of the grid, due to multiple power unit element changes. The Finn showed excellent form and went second fastest. Ricciardo was struggling heavily with the performance of his RB14. The Australian had to make two attempts on the super-softs to make it through into Q2. Teammate Verstappen had even more of a low-drag set-up on his RB14 and was matching the pace of the top two teams slightly better. The timesheets were topped by the two Finns, Kimi and Bottas, followed by their teammates Hamilton and Sebastian. Renault's Sainz, who is to move to McLaren for the 2019 season, was the first faller in Q1, which caught me by a surprise. Out with the Spaniard were the McLaren duo of Alonso and Vandoorne and the Williams duo of Sirotkin and Stroll.
Q2 saw everyone out on the softest rubber. With clouds beginning to darken but the rain holding off, Sebastian was the paceman in the second session. To my surprise, Mercedes opted to send out Bottas on the soft Pirellis at the end of the session. The team's call was based on the strategy to use the Finn as a tow for his teammate in the decisive last segment, if necessary. It was extremely tight between the top three. Sebastian was only three hundredths of a second faster than his teammate Kimi, and the Mercedes ace Hamilton was only five hundredths of a second off the Iceman. Red Bull had no chance to match the top two teams' pace, as Verstappen was almost a second, and teammate Ricciardo almost one-and-a-half seconds off the pace. Toro Rosso's Gasly, who is to be promoted to Red Bull next year, was the first driver to be eliminated from Q3. Out with the Frenchman were his teammate Hartley, the Sauber duo of Leclerc and Ericsson and Renault's Hulkenberg, who didn't set a time, as he,too is set to start from the back of the grid due to an engine penalty.
As Q3 kicked off, the drivers all headed out on dry tyres, but as the rain began to fall on their out laps, Bottas had a terrifying moment, losing his W09 at the fearsomely fast Blanchimont. Luckily it turned out to be a scary-but-harmless spin, and the Finn managed to avoid hitting anything. As the rain intensified lap by lap, all drivers had to pit for intermediate tyres. When there were about three minutes in the clock, Sebastian had his hands on the provisional pole, pipping his teammate Kimi by two tenths only. Red Bull's Verstappen is known as a wet-weather specialist, and the flying Dutchman had put his RB14 third. As the rain suddenly stopped, the track kept continually improving towards the end of the session. Sebastian managed to improve his lap time by 1.2 seconds, but the Red Team didn't get their timing right. Hamilton, who made his second attempt on the dying moments of Q3, set a mighty time, pipping second-placed Sebastian by massive 7 tenths! Kimi suffered from an even more fateful strategic mistake by his team. Unbelievable but true, the Red Team failed to fuel Kimi sufficiently to allow the Iceman more than one run after he had initially set the pace in the segment! At first I thought, that Kimi's SF71-H had been hit with a technical failure, as I saw Kimi at the garage, shaking his head frustrated. However, Ferrari wasn't the only team to make such a mistake, as Red Bull's Verstappen had run out of fuel as well, and had to settle for tame P7. On the other hand, Force India timed their runs to perfection, and the team in the pink cars were outstanding P3 and P4, Ocon heading teammate Perez. Haas' Grosjean made it impressive 5th, as the fuel-lacking Kimi dropped down to P6 at the end of the session. The Red Bull teammates had to be content with the fourth row, and Magnussen and Bottas rounded out the top ten. Hamilton's pole marked already the 7th straight pole position for a Mercedes-powered car at Spa.
The weather forecast predicts a dry race for tomorrow. Spa offers plenty of opportunities for overtaking, so the battle for victory will be wide open. With a possible safety car episode, even Bottas may have a chance to fight for the victory, even though he will start from the very back of the pack. Force India's or Haas' race pace is expected to be quite modest, so I'm sure Kimi will make his way past these midfield teams right at the start or soon after it. There's something magical about the combination of Kimi and Spa, so I would love to see Kimi win tomorrow! Maybe the victory would finally make the Red Team announce their renewed contract with the Iceman! ;) Forza Ferrari!
Risk of rain was called at 90 % ahead of the qualifying. Both Ferraris headed out on the yellow-marked middle compound, and so did Hamilton in his W09. The legendary Spa Francorchamps seemed to suit the red cars perfectly, and Kimi "The King of Spa" Räikkönen went fastest. Hamilton was able to challenge the Ferraris in the first sector, but the Briton was struggling with his pace in the final sector. Teammate Bottas came out on the red-walled super-soft Pirellis not until at the end of the session. The Finn is to start to the race from the back of the grid, due to multiple power unit element changes. The Finn showed excellent form and went second fastest. Ricciardo was struggling heavily with the performance of his RB14. The Australian had to make two attempts on the super-softs to make it through into Q2. Teammate Verstappen had even more of a low-drag set-up on his RB14 and was matching the pace of the top two teams slightly better. The timesheets were topped by the two Finns, Kimi and Bottas, followed by their teammates Hamilton and Sebastian. Renault's Sainz, who is to move to McLaren for the 2019 season, was the first faller in Q1, which caught me by a surprise. Out with the Spaniard were the McLaren duo of Alonso and Vandoorne and the Williams duo of Sirotkin and Stroll.
Q2 saw everyone out on the softest rubber. With clouds beginning to darken but the rain holding off, Sebastian was the paceman in the second session. To my surprise, Mercedes opted to send out Bottas on the soft Pirellis at the end of the session. The team's call was based on the strategy to use the Finn as a tow for his teammate in the decisive last segment, if necessary. It was extremely tight between the top three. Sebastian was only three hundredths of a second faster than his teammate Kimi, and the Mercedes ace Hamilton was only five hundredths of a second off the Iceman. Red Bull had no chance to match the top two teams' pace, as Verstappen was almost a second, and teammate Ricciardo almost one-and-a-half seconds off the pace. Toro Rosso's Gasly, who is to be promoted to Red Bull next year, was the first driver to be eliminated from Q3. Out with the Frenchman were his teammate Hartley, the Sauber duo of Leclerc and Ericsson and Renault's Hulkenberg, who didn't set a time, as he,too is set to start from the back of the grid due to an engine penalty.
As Q3 kicked off, the drivers all headed out on dry tyres, but as the rain began to fall on their out laps, Bottas had a terrifying moment, losing his W09 at the fearsomely fast Blanchimont. Luckily it turned out to be a scary-but-harmless spin, and the Finn managed to avoid hitting anything. As the rain intensified lap by lap, all drivers had to pit for intermediate tyres. When there were about three minutes in the clock, Sebastian had his hands on the provisional pole, pipping his teammate Kimi by two tenths only. Red Bull's Verstappen is known as a wet-weather specialist, and the flying Dutchman had put his RB14 third. As the rain suddenly stopped, the track kept continually improving towards the end of the session. Sebastian managed to improve his lap time by 1.2 seconds, but the Red Team didn't get their timing right. Hamilton, who made his second attempt on the dying moments of Q3, set a mighty time, pipping second-placed Sebastian by massive 7 tenths! Kimi suffered from an even more fateful strategic mistake by his team. Unbelievable but true, the Red Team failed to fuel Kimi sufficiently to allow the Iceman more than one run after he had initially set the pace in the segment! At first I thought, that Kimi's SF71-H had been hit with a technical failure, as I saw Kimi at the garage, shaking his head frustrated. However, Ferrari wasn't the only team to make such a mistake, as Red Bull's Verstappen had run out of fuel as well, and had to settle for tame P7. On the other hand, Force India timed their runs to perfection, and the team in the pink cars were outstanding P3 and P4, Ocon heading teammate Perez. Haas' Grosjean made it impressive 5th, as the fuel-lacking Kimi dropped down to P6 at the end of the session. The Red Bull teammates had to be content with the fourth row, and Magnussen and Bottas rounded out the top ten. Hamilton's pole marked already the 7th straight pole position for a Mercedes-powered car at Spa.
The weather forecast predicts a dry race for tomorrow. Spa offers plenty of opportunities for overtaking, so the battle for victory will be wide open. With a possible safety car episode, even Bottas may have a chance to fight for the victory, even though he will start from the very back of the pack. Force India's or Haas' race pace is expected to be quite modest, so I'm sure Kimi will make his way past these midfield teams right at the start or soon after it. There's something magical about the combination of Kimi and Spa, so I would love to see Kimi win tomorrow! Maybe the victory would finally make the Red Team announce their renewed contract with the Iceman! ;) Forza Ferrari!
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