Ferrari has signed on Kimi Raikkonen for two seasons to partner Fernando Alonso in the hope that their partnership will bring the constructors’ title that has eluded the team since 2009.
The pairing of two world champions in the same team is a double-edged sword of sorts; it could work either in favour of, or against the most iconic team in Formula One. It was hard for McLaren to keep its top drivers, Senna/Prost and then Alonso/Hamilton, on the track, without them taking each other out of the race. However, it will be different with Alonso/Raikkonen in Ferrari. The ego clashes will be minimised by a mutual respect and maturity that has come with age and experience.
Ferrari’s philosophy has always been to put the team’s interest above that of any individual — if any of their drivers is not in top form, even if he is a world champion, he is shown the door. However, that door need not be shut forever. Niki Lauda returned, as will Raikkonen.
It will be six years since their last drivers’ championship, and five since their constructors’ title, and Ferrari is desperate for a world title.
With new regulations in force from next year, it had to bring in someone who will consistently score points and push its star driver, Alonso, to the limit — and the only available top-level driver without a contract for 2014 was Raikkonen.
Both men debuted in 2001, Raikkonen with Sauber and Alonso with Minardi. Statistically, Alonso edges Raikkonen, but in race craft, there’s no difference at all. Personality-wise, they are poles apart (hot-headed Spaniard versus cold-blooded Finn). Alonso likes leading from the front, with a talent for drama as well as politics. When a teammate starts ruffle his feathers, he throws his toys out of the pram. In his one year at McLaren when the rookie in the team, Lewis Hamilton, gave him a tough fight for the drivers’ title, we all know how things ended. Alonso is a top driver who doesn’t like his position in the team threatened.
On the other hand, Raikkonen is a cool character who usually likes to be left alone. His persona defies that of an athlete’s. Smoking, drinking, late-night partying — the list goes on. But on a grand prix weekend, he is on the track doing what he does best, working his way through traffic, and if the car is set-up according to his style, few on the track can stay ahead of him. Raikkonen was aptly named Iceman by Ron Dennis, his former boss at McLaren, due to the driver’s cool persona.
Ferrari has brought veterans Rory Byrne and James Allison back into the fold and with Raikkonen, they have a team with a history of delivering. If it can build an engine that’s fast and able to run a race distance, Ferrari would pose a serious threat to the established order of the last four years, and dominate the sport the same way McLaren-Honda did in 1988 and 1989.
