Kimi mad after crashing in singapore 2008 "Let's not forget that in his first year at Ferrari he was world champion. He will be back for sure.", Ferrari team president Luca di Montezemolo said to autosport a few days ago.
After the end of the last season and Kimi finishing in third position , a lot have questioned his performance defending his title . Kimi suffered during the season of several DNFs because of several accidents and also a less competitive driving. People said that he might be no longer motivated . But He told Ferrari this week that he will fix all of the chaos that happened in this season as he puts his eyes on becoming a double world champion this year.The 2007 champion hasn't scored any points in six races in the 2008 season .
Di Montezemelo said about Kimi :"I joke that we had Kimi until Magny Cours, then he was busy and he asked a friend of his to drive," di Montezemolo told selected media including autosport.com at Maranello.
"This friend was a very good driver. He put on Kimi's helmet, but now we finally have the proper Kimi back again.
"For a while he looked like a centre forward who wasn't scoring goals, but as soon as he did you knew he will be okay again. We have spoken recently and I think he is very, very determined and in good form."Let's not forget that in his first year at Ferrari he was world champion. He will be back for sure."
Michael Schumacher also said - during the end of the season - about Kimi's unstable performance , that the team has introduced new components to the car which didn't match Kimi's style ,or in other words Kimi couldn't take all out of them, unlike his team mate Massa who could really profit the best of them.
After the Italian GP , Ferrari has extended Kimi's contract for 2009 and 2010 . Many have questioned this decision ,given that Fernando Alonso was likely to sign for Ferrari . But Ferrari have real confidence in there drivers . And Kimi is not a normal driver , Kimi is a champion and Ferrari are very aware of his skills and what he can do . Definetly this doesn't mean that Alonso is not a good candidate for Ferrari. But what makes Ferrari what they are is that they are one solid team , gives great confidence to his members , even if they fail in some stage. A that is what a driver needs to come back , the support of a team that values his skills and capabilities.
"In Japan he drove a great race. He's a champion and a great leader, but for the moment we don't have any problem with our current drivers.
"That is why we confirmed officially Massa and Kimi until the end of 2010. Life is long and in the future we will see. But for the moment we don't have any grey areas regarding drivers for the next two years.
Kimi realy is a fantastic driver , no one can deny his skill , just last season wasnt this good , but at least he didn't walk home with empty , he was awarded the DHL fastest lap award for scoring the highest number of fastest lap during the season , finishiing with 10 fastest laps in 18 grand prix . This is a personal record for Kimi for the second time in his F1 career . Although Michael Schumacher still has this record under his name for scoring it before Raikkonen did for the first time. Of course being the fastest man on the track for 10 races is not something a random driver can do. But lets say it was the bad luck chasing him down like in the old days . And we will see him back, that's a sure thing.
