Marchionne puts pressure on Raikkonen by labelling him a "laggard"
- Published on 10 Jul 2017 12:22
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- By: Fergal Walsh
Kimi Raikkonen has been placed under pressure by Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne. At the Austrian Grand Prix, Marchionne called Finn Raikkonen a "laggard" meaning 'a person who makes slow progress and falls behind others'.
Raikkonen crossed the line at the Red Bull Ring in fifth place after starting from third on the grid. He was overtaken by Daniel Ricciardo at the start, before falling behind Lewis Hamilton in the pit-stop phase of the race. The 37-year-old sits 88 points behind teammate Sebastian Vettel in the standings.
"I think Kimi has got to show a higher level of commitment to the process," Marchionne said. "There are days when I think he's a bit of a laggard, but we'll see. I am going to talk to him, we'll see what happens."
Both Vettel and Raikkonen are out of contract for 2018 and it is not yet clear who will fill the seats. While it is expected that Vettel will retain his seat, the future of Raikkonen is uncertain. Marchionne stated that if Vettel wishes to stay, Ferrari will extend his contract: "I made it very clear that if he wants to stay then we’ll just renew it. It's up to him."
With almost a decade since Ferrari last won the constructor title, Marchionne feels that there is a real chance this year, as the Italian team has sprung out of the gates challenging Mercedes, taking three wins so far this season.
"It was very close," he added. "We are there and our German friends [Mercedes] know it. They can feel us breathing down their necks, but we will cut this little gap [in the constructors]. I am much happier than I was in the past. The boys know we have started the job and we must carry it through to the end."
Fergal Walsh
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Replies (10)
Login to replyBarron
Posts: 625
That's the stick, now where's the carrot? ?
F1racefan97
Posts: 113
To be honest to be beaten so convincingly by ricciardo, and put up pretty much no fight against bottas shows that it was not a great race from him at all
mbmwe36
Posts: 533
I tend to agree here. Every now and then he seems to turn back the clock, and be the Kimi of old. However, it generally seems like he lacks his edge, and gives up if things aren't going his way. There is definitely something to be said for team harmony, but the fact that Hamilton got by him could be costly by the end of the season. I think it perhaps is time to send him out to pasture.
renaultFanF1
Posts: 80
Looks like Kimi will be looking at his options more closely after the summer break. If he still wants to drive, that is...
Renault will probably have an open seat, but not sure he will want to go back. Also, there is Kubica who is very motivated and dying to get back in the F1 car, there is Sirotkin and perhaps even Alonso
yellowfly81
Posts: 79
Kimi's results speak for themselves and he's been great, but I think he might like to consider retirement soon. I always wonder what Ricciardo, Perez, Verstappen, Sainz etc might be able to do in that seat...
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
Kimi has been a second tier driver for 3 or 4 years already. A laggard if you compare him against F1's top talent. The results speak for themselves as you said.
dr002
Posts: 141
I reckon one of the main reasons Kimi is still at Ferrari is because Vettel wants him there....
Kurosawa
Posts: 112
Marchionne should to his talking inside his team instead of spreading trash talk in the press, the guy seems to like press attention a lot, not a boss I would like to work for
Patentprutser
Posts: 388
Ferrari makes Raikkonen second driver and let him feel that way. His race strategy makes it impossible to perform much better and is not very supporting to do so. Everything is tuned at Vettel and Raikkonen has to fit in. It's not fair of Ferrari to put Raikkonen away like this. They make him feel everytime, second driver.
Wolfgang
Posts: 313
but let´s be honest: he isn´t performing as he should do. Take Bottas and Hamilton for example in the qualifyings i think it´s 5:4 for hamilton. Vettel vs Raikkonen is i think 7:2...
So his lack of speed brought him in this situation..