I bought the Kimi-magazine yesterday with lots of articles. I haven't read the magazine, only here and there. Some snippets:
quoteUffe Tägström - you probably remember the dude who designs and makes Kimi's helmets - was interviewed:
"Usually I have to make about ten designs for drivers before they accept one. But this year I made one design for Kimi and he said 'that's good'. We are very close and like the same things and have the same style."
"Fernando Alonso was my client for 3-4 years and he was the complete opposite. Every square inch had to be checked, one by one, and things got worse and worse as time went on."
"For Kimi's helmet in Alfa Romeo Racing one design was sufficient. However I have wrestled 15 days with people from the team, who are in charge of the visual outlook and branding"
"Kimi has a big say, unlike a rookie has. Kimi only says 'this is good, lets concentrate on something else'. Kimi has helped me a lot, for example when someone from Ferrari asked something stupid, Kimi got angry and called Ferrari."
"Once Kimi put one of my design on Instagram and it created a song and dance in Ferrari. We laughed at them, but they accused me of it. I told them, that I can't monitor what Kimi puts on Instagram."
quoteKalle Jokinen, Kimi's mechanic:
"Kimi knows how to do things. He is at the top when it comes to technics. He can tell about the car, but he also has a rare understanding. He knows what kind of car is fast."
"No matter which team Kimi goes to - even Lotus, who used to race for 15 + positions - fucking hell, Kimi comes and wins races. Even that Romain Grosjean swagger was on podiums, after Kimi got his car also to go fast. Even if Kimi wouldn't drive one meter he should be paid 20 million."
"In 1997 Monaco Cart Cup there was a F1-simulator. Four years older Ralf Schumacher had a bucket full of coins, that he put in the machine. Ralf got probably ten fastest laps. We Finns stood and waited for our turn. When it was Kimi's turn I put one coin in the machine. BAM! Kimi was 1st! "
"In 1998 Kimi was in a karting race. They also invited F1-drivers like Jacques Villeneuve, Johnny Herbert, Mika Salo and Jarno Trulli. Kimi took over the whole scene. He cut out Trulli, who cried that he is a F1-driver. Kimi told him, that if he can't take racing then he should not participate in these races."
"The only one I can compare to Räikkönen is Lewis Hamilton. In karting Lewis was an ace, just like Kimi was. It is fun to watch their mutual respect in Formula One. Both know that the other one is damn good."
"In 1998 the local karting-ceasar Huisman contacted Räikkönen and invited him to visit his own karting track. I asked if Huisman wanted a new track record and he talked about a dusty track. So I asked him again. He said yes. Kimi made a new track record in fifteen minutes. Huisman was like "WTF, you made a track record on a dusty track, although all local talents have raced here for years?!" When I have Kimi I know it's irrelevant where we race. We had hardly took off the racing outfits when Huisman was already on the phone with David Robertson, telling him that he now has something very special. "
"When a sportsman retires it really is a tough place.The worst example is skier Mika Myllylä. He got all the shit thrown at him and the dude couldn't take it (he committed suicide). It was a horrid trick. I know from experience how it feels to wake up to nothing. No profession, no money - no nothing."
"But my friendship with Kimi is doing well. I am so happy, that Kimi now has a wife who travels with him. Now they have children and Kimi has always loved children."
"I think Minttu, Robin and Rianna are Kimi's assets, who will considerabbly soften his life after he has no career. The only thing I fear - and it even comes in my dreams - is that something bad happens. Kimi is a legend afterall and legends are always stapled."
****
quoteThousand stories from Monaco
1995. Kimi was racing for the first time in Monaco Kart Cup. He was 15-years old. Kalle Jokinen was his mechanic for the first time.
Kalle Jokinen:
"Kimi drove in an insane style to the finish line."
Räikkönen managed to bring his car to the finish line, which enabled his continuance. Many have told legends about Räikkönen, who waved a loose steering wheel at the finish line. It had to do with a crash.
"Everything was shit: everything - including the steering wheel.
Jokinen and Kimi's brother Rami had to hurry. The car had to be fixed in fifteen minutes.
"Rami ran like a deer bringing stuff to me. I screwed everything and saw that the gas pedal was skewed. I tuned it back and remember how Kimi turned around and looked at me, saying 'Kalle, are you sure everything is fastened?' I replied that everyhting is fine, let's go."
He didn't get to the finish line this time. Jokinen is sure, that his tunings had failed.
"Then I saw Kimi in a scrap car where he cried bitterly. 'I hit the hay bale.' He went wide in the chicane and thought the hay bale would get the hell out of his way, but it had rained the last night so it weighed about a thousand kilos."
Three years later Kimi was beside Fernando Alonso on the starting grid.Kimi 1st and Alonso 2nd.
"Every time they raced against each other Alonso got silver. Once a gear wheel made a noise. 99,99 percent of drivers would had scared and stopped the race. Kimi shouted to me: "Jokinen, fucking push. If you have never pushed, then now is the time to push'. I pushed and the car went forward. I never saw what happened next, but people have told me several times about it. Kimi and Alonso go side by side to the first chicane. Neither one surrendered. Alonso drove straight in a tyre wall and stayed there. Alonso touched Kimi's car and it went off the track. Kimi continued driving and people lifted their feet from the chairs, the dude banged the car like a million. When Kimi reached the track he pushed the car over the tyre wall and pushed it until it was going again. I was in the Rascasse-curve and couldn't see Kimi or Alonso.So I started walking away. Then someone shouted 'Kimi is on his way'. He was about 100 meters behind the last car and overtook three cars in the next lap and finished 3rd".
You probably know already, that Gino from Ferrari is Robin's godfather.
quoteRobin Ace Matias Räikkönen
29.5.2015 by minttuvirtanen
During Easter we had our son’s christening in Finland. The name was already out in the open, because in Switzerland babies get their names before they are born. We thought about the name for several months and had quite a few options. Naturally the name has to go well with the surname, but we also wanted a name that would be easy to pronounce abroad.
In the end we decided on Robin, or rather I did, and luckily Kimi also thought this would be a good name for our boy. Our good friend, and Robin’s godfather, Gino, came up with the second name Ace.
Gino also works at Ferrari and he makes sure everybody there calls the boy Ace. I like names that have a story behind them, and Ace definitely has that.
This is the message I got from Gino while we were thinking of names:
quote”Ace is for sure with the make up on one of the most recognized guitarists ever !! Everybody know Kiss faces !!
So Gino says Iceman is one of the coolest sportmen ever , could he have a child with a normal name ??? No !!
Aceman is the son of Iceman, making sure that the cool DNA continues with the Raikkonen name :-)”
Hi Ja and mclarenplayer! Long time, no see. Wolfie your pure gold with your translations! I have been sinking into my armchair with my dna test results..just wow, how many new cousin I found. Its a long story but anyways its going to be gp time next weekend! Any predictions about pecking order? Your right Wolfie about Bottas. He just isnt convincing me dunno why? Maybe we see a different kind of beast this year?
Very nice and sweet interview. Mintu seems to be exactly the right kind of girl for Kimi. Strange enough my mum died when I was 19, studying in high commercial school and this amount of trouble as well as studies did help me a lot in my future flife. Now I'm old but still think to these happy old days of study friends and so on.
Quote: mclarenplayer wrote in post #18Thanks wolfie! Nice to see you again!
Oiii, mclarenplayer, so great to see you again
No need to thank for translations, because there will be many of them in the near future. I have a lot to catch up with.
Here is one from Heikki Kulta:
quoteRäikkönen's charm still bites
Turun Sanomat 28.8.2018
Heikki Kulta
Canadian veteran reporter Gerard Donaldson follows closely Räikkönen's situation.
– Hopefully Kimi continues his career. He represtents a totally unique persona in this sport and he is the last one of the top drivers who has such a huge personality, Donaldson sigs.
– F1 have turned more and more into a yonger men's world. A long time ago the drivers were much olders. Juan Manuel Fangio was the oldest of the top gang and he retired when he was 47 yrs old. And he won races.
– In a way Kimi is the last representant of Fangio's driver personality.
– At the moment F1 is more and more a sport for heavily spornsored young men. That is why Kimi is a totally unique case, he goes on like before and he doesn't create problems around him, something other drivers have regressed to when they get older.
Quote: jpp47 wrote in post #21Very nice and sweet interview. Mintu seems to be exactly the right kind of girl for Kimi. Strange enough my mum died when I was 19, studying in high commercial school and this amount of trouble as well as studies did help me a lot in my future flife. Now I'm old but still think to these happy old days of study friends and so on.
Aaw, sorry to hear about your mother passing away when you where so young, jpp47
Minttu really seems to be the exactly right kind of girl for Kimi. What happened to Jenni's horses? Weren't they her biggest passion in life?
She moved to Finland right after they got divorced, was a no-show at Helsinki International Horse Show and tried to get publicity by playing golf. Not one word about her horses. Not one.
But hey, now Kimi has the team factory right around the corner!!!
quoteThe love for racing took Kimi back to Sauber
Turun Sanomat 11.9.2018
Heikki Kulta, Singapore
Steve Robertson is still Kimi's manager, although we haven't seen him on the F1-paddock in years, only now and then.
And he still knows how to do his job. Proof of that is Kimi's two year contract with Sauber team.
– Kimi loves racing. He doesn't have to do that anymore, but this contract was made for one reason only; Kimi's love for racing as still genuine, manager Steve Robertson told to Turun Sanomat.
Robertson signed the deal with Sauber's team manager Frédéric Vasseur.
– It is very nostalgic, Kimi returning to the same team where it all started from in 2001.
– Now Kimi's challenge to go to Sauber is completely different than it was 17 years ago.
Sauber got their economy in place when the team became Swedish-owned and when Alfa Romeo became the team's biggest sponsor.
– The team trusts in Kimi's solid experience as a car developer. 'Everybody trusts that next year the car will be better. Kimi wanted a two year contract, so that he gets to experience the development for season 2020.
Team manager Vasseur:
- Getting Räikkönen as our driver is an important pillar to our whole project and it will take us closer to our goal in the near future where our team will significantly progress.
– Kimi has an indisputable skill and a huge experience from F1, which will help our car's development work and boost our team's growth and progression. In 2019 we start with a strong foundation and we will fight with determination in order to get significant results.
Ferrari team manager Maurizio Arrivabene gave out a newsletter, where he thanked Räikkönen's dedication to the team as a driver and his human touch.
– Kimi was in a crucial role when our team was growing, and at the same time he has always been a wonderful team player. We thank him and wish him and his family a great future.
Sami Visa, who takes care of Kimi's matters, said that Räikkönen is really happy now that his career continues.
– When Kimi went to Lotus the team started to succeed. Who knows, the same thing could happen to Sauber also.
– Kimi got several offers - maybe more than he has ever had during his career.
– With a two year contract Kimi makes sure, that he isn't thrown into a similar rumour mill as he was thrown this summer.
Quote: Jalumi wrote in post #19Yes, many thanks for the translation Wolfie. Nice to read Our emojis don´t work propper.
Jalumi, great to see you
Hopefully you have missed Heikki Kulta:
quoteRäikkönen: "It's useless to speculate"
Turun Sanomat 19.2.2019
Heikki Kulta
Barcelona
Räikkönen revealed to Turun Sanomat, that his decision to switch teams was not based upon the short distance between his home and Hinwil factory.
What was the decisive reason?
– When you see that the team is genuinely investing and goes all out when they try to become better in everything they do. I wanted to jump in and be with them.
Of course Kimi is happy now that he can take his son Robin to work.
– Sometimes I take him with me if I have some short business to do. It is much easier when you get to the factory in 30 minutes by car. The boy has always wanted to come with me, although at the factory it takes half an hour before he gets excited about strange people.
Seven years ago Lotus was on fire.
- Sure, back then there was excitment within the team, but then it stopped. Or maybe not the excitement, but the money transfers. It's difficult to compare this to them. Everything is now so different. In some way one could say, that there is something similar.
Räikkönen has now a Finnish sponsor.
– I have had some Finns before too. It's great when you find a sponsor who has the same interests. I get a lot of proposals, but they have often been so difficult to work with. The whole PR-business seems to have stopped to the 1980's, they expect a sportsman to stand at their parties with a suit on. I am not interested in that and have never wanted anything like that.
Quote: Appletree wrote in post #20Hi Ja and mclarenplayer! Long time, no see. Wolfie your pure gold with your translations! I have been sinking into my armchair with my dna test results..just wow, how many new cousin I found. Its a long story but anyways its going to be gp time next weekend! Any predictions about pecking order? Your right Wolfie about Bottas. He just isnt convincing me dunno why? Maybe we see a different kind of beast this year?
Oi Apple, have I been thinking about you after Australia GP.... Now we saw what Bottas turns into the moment he wins. Absolutely disgusting to scold the team members. He will be out before he has time to say Kimi Räikkönen!!
quoteFerrari owes two victories to Räikkönen
Turun Sanomat 14.9.2018
Heikki Kulta
The experienced international F1-reporters got quickly over Kimi's surprising switch from Ferrari to Sauber.
quoteItalian Roberto Chinchero:
– The surprise is first of all that Kimi will continue for at least two years. I never expected that kind of solution, I was 50 % sure, that he would drive for at least one year.
– Alfa Romeo will surely invest in Räikkönen and they will get for certain the PR-lift they have been looking for. Sauber as a team will invest to make sure, that Kimi gets a car he can fight with in the middle group. Simone Resta knows Kimi's demands and he is the right man to lead the new car's design and development.
– All and all it's a great thing for F1, that Kimi continues. Italy loves Kimi. It will certainly not be easy for Charles Leclerc to take his place in Ferrari.
quoteSwiss Blick-magazine's reporter Roger Benoit was suprised, that Räikkönen went back to Sauber:
– Kimi will surely lift up the team. Everything depends on next years C38-car. If it is good, then Kimi will win points and at a good day even fight for the podium. If it isn't good, then even Lewis Hamilton could win one single race with it.
– Swiss fans are very happy, that Sauber got Kimi. I am very surprised that Ferrari didn't keep him, although everybody in the team seemed to want it. Kimi is third in the WDC-serie and he got the podium in the last race. I think that Ferrari owes two victories to Kimi.
quoteBritish Mark Hughes said, that he was only slightly surprised over Kimi's switch:
– I heard about it during the season, that there was a possibility for it. It was on everyone's lips in Hockenheim GP, but disappeared until it resurfaced in Monza GP.
- Due to Räikkönen the middle group will be even more interesting.
– Kimi will attract a lot of attention. It is good that he is in F1, although I don't expect any miracles.
– It's natural, that when driving in Ferrari only winning is interesting. He can't expect the same in Sauber. Kimi wants to race and it's good that he found a team. He has a long contract and the role, that Ferrari didn't give to him.
quoteRäikkönen tells directly what went wrong at Ferrari - "shit car", wrong engineer, no problems with motivation
Turun Sanomat 27.11.2018
Heikki Kulta
Räikkönen was not available for the media gang during Sauber's testing day, but the 39 yrs old Finnish war horse gave an exclusive interview to Turun Sanomat beforehand.
We went through Räikkönen's Ferrari-seasons:
– Of course the WDC tops all those years.
– Still it wasn't any glorious season. I never got a good feeling when testing the car. It took quite a long time before we got everything in place. It was a good car for the rest of the season.
Then it was season 2008.
– The very beginning of the season went quite well, we took a lead in the race. It went downhill after Turkey GP. That's when the claims about my motivation problems - which were false - started.
– I don't know what it was, but I just couldn't get the car to work after that. Something changed and I couldn't get anywhere. At times I could, at times I couldn't. Everything was not like it should have been.
Season 2009:
- That season we had a totally shit car.
Season 2014:
– The car was even worse than it was five years ago. That was my worst season and the engineer was not a proper one.
Season 2015:
Sebastian Vettel replaced Fernando Alonso. Dave Greenwood was race engineer.
– Greenwood was like Mark Slade's brother. They have been my two best race engineers. The relationship with Vettel has been good. We even got the car better little by little and it started to go faster again.
Season 2015:
- My qualis went well. We were heading in a better direction.
Räikkönen had to protect his team mate's leading position.
Sorry, I have been totally wrapped up in U.S. politics. I also lost contact with Jinxie, because facebook started to demand my social security number AND my credit card number. So I told them to delete my profile, but I will NOT give them the information they wanted.
So Jinxie dearest, if you read this pleeeeeease make a noise *praying*
One more Heikki Kulta's article where he interviews Kimi after Australia GP.
Hey jpp47, how are the Swiss papers reacting to Australia GP?
quoteRäikkönen's visor layer ended up in the brake pipe and messed up the pitstop strategies
Turun Sanomat 17.3.2019
Heikki Kulta, Melbourne
Kimi Räikkönen was 18 years ago 6th in Australia GP opening race. Now Sauber's Alfa Romeo was 8th.
Overtaking proved to be difficult on Albert Park's circuit, although the opening DRS-wings give 25 % more power.
– I mean this was a boring race when it comes to overtakes. Overtaking is just as difficult as it was before the rules changed. It may be easier to get closer to another car, but the actual overtaking is just as difficult as it was earlier. Here the circuit itself makes it difficult, Räikkönen pondered.
- The car felt good, although the start went awry. I lost one position in the start, although I got one position back.
Räikkönen surprised everyone by coming to the pitstop after only 12 laps. According to the original plan he was supposed to drive at least ten laps longer. But he took a layer from his visor and accidentally threw it in the left tyre's brake pipe, which got stuck and overheated.
– It was the only problem throughout the whole race, when a small piece jumped into the brakes. That is why we had to stop much earlier than we planned.
Did you get a feeling of Alfa Romeo's competitiveness?
– We will see that in the next races. The car feels faster and faster, but when you can't overtake here the speed is useless. It turns into driving around.
– I was pretty satisfied with the car during the whole weekend, but we could have got a better position than 8. Well, we got this result now. Let's continue from there.
Team manager Frederic Vasseur:
– We had our small problems. Both our drivers fought well. We got 4 points and that is positive.
– Being in the top 10 is a good way to start the season. We will work hard, so that we will get more points from Bahrain.
Ferrari's winning streak stopped. Vettel suffered so much headache over the lack of speed, that he even cancelled a dinner with Bob Geldof.
Norbert Haug admits to Iltalehti, that the unreliable Mercedes-engines possibly cost Räikkönen two WDCs.
During Kimi's time the McLaren team was a battlefield for two headstrong individuals. Ron Dennis demanded his team to live in Spartan discipline and he demanded every single dust particle or fingerprints wiped from McLaren's headquarter, which looked like a space ship.
The difference between Dennis and Räikkönen couldn't have been bigger when Räikkönen partied in a gorilla suit in Tampere or sat in the bar.
According to British newspapers, the duo clashed in January 2005 after Räikkönen was spotted stripping in a nightclub in London. The club had strippers, but normaly local strippers stand for the show.
Apparently Ron wanted to reprimand Kimi and demanded him to "shape up". Ron's "zero tolerance" went on the rocks, because Kimi refused to take Ron seriously.
Kimi Räikkönen to The Telegraph in 2008:
- It was Ron's way of doing things. Maybe he tried to get people to work harder, but it didn't work at all with me.I don't need anybody to babysit me. I know perfectly well if I can do better or not.
Ron Dennis, who was ousted out from his beloved team in 2017, got so many enemies during his career, that practically nobody cried after him. Räikkönen didn't even call Ron after he went to Ferrari in 2007.
But Kimi's relationship with Norbert Haug is much warmer. Haug is not a cosy joker either, but he understood Kimi's need to relax better than Ron did.
Haug in an e-mail to Iltalehti:
- I appreciate Kimi very highly. He was always an extremely good workmate.
- We were not worried at all about Mercedes public image.
- Kimi enjoyed his life outside the tracks, which is a good thing, as long as he can focus on F1 during GPs. And he could do that every time.
- We didn't have the slightest problem with Kimi in that sense. Every time Mercedes needed Kimi, he was there and he did an excellent job.
- Kimi has definitely won too few WDCs.
- The reason why he didn't win WDCs was mostly our fault, not Kimi's. In 2007 Kimi snatched the title, although our drivers Hamilton and Alonso had dominated the whole season.
Haug is not surprised, that Kimi changed from a party boy to a loving father and husband.
- Not at all. Kimi has always enjoyed his private life. He has had and still has very close friends. We are both extremely happy when we run into each other in F1-happenings.
The Swiss papers were very positive with Kimi already bringing point to the Sauber Alfa team. But many also did not understand why Ferrari did not keep Kimi one or two years more. He did a very good job with Sebastian and still could have. But on the other hand Swiss papers expect him to dos same kind of job with Sauber, which for sure he will. Lets's hope he develops the car as fast as possible in order to start fighting for podiums. How sweet it would be. So lest's keep fingers crossed for Kimi
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Sun Mar 10, 2019 12:47 am (Last edited: Sun Mar 10, 2019 12:59 am)
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