Kimi Raikkonen needs to stop making excuses or retire from Formula 1 – again – according to a hard-talking Jacques Villeneuve.
The 1997 F1 champion says he would never have imagined that Raikkonen would return to the sport, and despite an impressive return to form with Lotus, he’s failed to do the same at Ferrari where he’s struggled to match Fernando Alonso.
“Who would have imagined he would even come back to F1 in the first place?” the 43-year-old told Omnicorse. “Who would have thought he would return to Ferrari? No one!”
The Canadian blasted Raikkonen’s current form and says he can’t blame the F14T for his woes. “For him, the gas is either fully open or nothing,” he said. “He is having a series of spins as though he is in Formula 3.
In his last season in Formula One, Villeneuve got only seven points and was quietly replaced by talented Robert Kubica. Did he admit that he was not fast enough? – No, he was trying to get back in 2009. In 2004 he drove three races for Renault with zero points. His NASCAR career was terrible: three seasons with zero results.
When Raikkonen came to Lotus, he got results: he was third and fifth in the end. In Ferrari, he – indeed – has been slower than Alonso, but that is not entirely Kimi’s fault. The car has been build for Alonso’s taste: beign tend to understeer and Kimi likes just the opposite: tendency to oversteer. And guess what? – Kimi is just 0,1 seconds behind Alonso with that car that does not suit him!
I believe that Villeneuve haven’t got a chance to talk enough with somebody about his problems. He still has to carry the pain of his father’s death after all these years. Jacques Villeneuve really needs somebody’s help. Anger and beign blind for his own errors will not get him further.