…The Iceman

It is difficult to feel sorry for Kimi Raikkonen, for he is the man who apparently has it all. The reigning Formula One world champion has had a glittering career. From his debut for Sauber after just 23 single seater races, to his defining moment in Brazil 2007, the Iceman has almost always shown blistering raw speed. Heading into the thirteenth race of the 2008 season in Belgium however, Kimi has found himself a long way off the pace and has now not won a race since late April in Spain. Has something got under the Iceman’s skin? Given his usual introverted relationship with Formula One’s media circus, it will always prove difficult to figure this one out.

If the various observers and commentators were to stop and look at this ‘crisis’ as Kimi himself is probably looking at it, I wonder if there would be much to write about at all. The man had a disasterous first half of the season last year before calmly storming through to take the drivers’ title at the final hurdle. This year he is blaming his dip in form on the effects of making minor mistakes in qualifying on the overall outcome of his race weekends. This has lead Stefano Domenicali to hold talks with the Finn in order to determine who is responsible for these errors, and I for one would suggest the Italian would not be blaming his own race car. After all if Massa can do it, why can’t Raikkonen?

If this was a move designed to question Raikkonen’s ‘flat-out’ attitude, made famous by his Finnish predecessors Hakkinen and Rosberg, then Domenicali may well have hit a nerve with the Iceman. Like all of the modern drivers, Kimi has devoted his entire life to winning the title of being the fastest man in the world, a goal which he has now acheived. Unlike other drivers however, Kimi has never tried to hide his genuine dislike of his life outside of the car. Endless interviews and sponsorship events, coupled with numerous intrusions of his private life in the off-season, must have left the man somewhat embittered at the poisoned chalice he lifted above his head in Brazil last year.

On top of this, Raikkonen’s team mate Fellipe Massa is having the season of his life. Sterling performances in Bahrain, Valencia and Hungary where he was so desperately unlucky, have left many at Ferrari and beyond questioning whether Kimi is really deserving of his salary, rumoured to be as much as five times that of the babyfaced Brazilian. The fact of the matter is that on more than one occasion this season, Kimi has simply been outclassed by his supposedly inferior team mate, an issue which has no doubt disgruntled the Finn even further.

Perhaps the Iceman’s time at the peak of the sport is already drawing to a close. He has already banked US$100m from Ferrari in the last two seasons alone, and he has signed countless other endorsement contracts. These financial rewards, combined with sealing his name in the history books last season, could well be telling Raikkonen that now is the time to go and enjoy life, away from the hectic atmosphere of the Formula One weekend, and the watchful eye of the world’s media.

Of course this does not mean that Kimi is going to give up and fade into obscurity, I would suggest that his pride would prevent him from doing that. He has a chance to prove himself this weekend at Spa, a race he enjoys and has won for the last two years. The Finn has shown he has it in him to block out the pressure and the media circus, but the question remains as to whether there is enough left for him to achieve in Formula One to provide the required hunger this sport demands.

One thing is for sure, if Raikkonen has lost his appetite for success, there is a Spaniard in the paddock who is more than willing to eat his leftovers at Ferrari.

…the small man at the bottom.

After two seasons, and four races of hard fought competition Aguri Suzuki has decided to throw in the racing towel and withdraw the Super Aguri F1 Team from the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship with immediate effect. With the rules changing and effectively forbidding the entry of teams running cars developed by their competitors, it seems that the days of the small time team drawing on the strengths of the world’s automotive industry are all but over. Does this mean that the Eddie Jordans, Paul Stoddarts and even Aguri Suzukis of the world will never again rise to the peak that is Formula One?

Honda certainly seem to think so.

After leaving team boss Suzuki with no other choice than to offer his withdrawal, the bosses in Japan maintained that the collapse of the team was inevitable if there was no private support to be found, and although they were willing to fund the team further, Suzuki appeared to capitulate. He admitted that the strain of trying to keep the team afloat had got to him, he wanted out and he would not be rejoining the Formula One circus again any time soon.

This for one was sad, to see a man who had embodied the underdog fighter spirit that had become the raison d’etre for his team simply lose his will to continue. Takuma Sato fought as ever to the last minute, releasing a press release late on Monday calling on Honda to provide the necessary support to let the team fight it’s corner in Turkey this weekend.

Upsetting it may have been, but no less so than the loss of the likes of Jordan, Minardi, Arrows, Stewart and Tyrell in the last 10 years. There is simply no room for the small team in the US$500 million a year world of Formula One. One could argue that Ron Dennis and Frank Williams have maintained stability in recent years, but their true success came from the late eighties and early nineties. They were already big teams by the time the major car manufacturers like Renault, Toyota, Honda and BMW all muscled in with their own teams in more recent years.

The next question for me is who is next? If this rule bans the existence of customer teams, then are there storms on the horizon for Scudeira Toro Rosso? Owner Dieter Mateschitz made a rare appearance at the Spanish Grand Prix just over a week ago, only to see Sebastian Vettel crash on the first lap, and Sebastien Bourdais be literally pushed out of the race by manufacturer Renault, in the form of Nelsinho Piquet on a charge. Team boss Gerhard Berger has a large stake in the Austro/Italian outfit, but without the use of last year’s Ferrari engines, and without the support of millionaire Red Bull magnate Mateschitz, there can not be a viable future for the team.

For now, Toro Rosso continue to stand and fight, unlike poor Super Aguri whose fate has now been decided. As sad as it is to see the likes of Aguri Suzuki disappear from the world of Formula One, if it means that Honda can make that long awaited rise up the grid, few will say they made the wrong decision. Will it be quality before quantity for the Japanese corporate machine? Only time will tell…