Bottas: Raikkonen knew I was there

Valtteri Bottas believes Kimi Raikkonen was well aware his Williams was alongside when the pair collided in turn five during the Mexican Grand Prix.

The contact forced Raikkonen out of the race. It is the second time the pair have tangled in three races: in Russia Raikkonen was penalised after taking Bottas out on the final lap.

Afterwards Bottas told reporters he had not handled the situation different because the pair had collided before.

“No matter who there would have been I would have tried the same because I saw a real opportunity there,” he said, “and normally in this kind of situation there is space for two cars in that kind of corner.”

“Especially if the car outside knows that there’s one inside,” he added, “so it’s a shame it ended like that.”

“For sure he saw me,” said Bottas when asked if he though Raikkonen knew where he was. “We were side-by-side in turn four so I’m sure he knew I was there. I can’t fly over the car, so…”

“It’s just unlucky that it was me and him again,” Bottas added. “There’s nothing personal and it didn’t have to end up like this.”

Bottas went on to finish on the podium and neither driver was penalised for the collision. Raikkonen played it down afterwards: “We touched and I lost the wheel and I end the race but that’s life and it doesn’t change anything now,” he said.

“I haven’t seen the pictures but the end result wasn’t ideal for me.”

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Kimi Raikkonen’s Route to F1

Kimi Raikkonen was at the centre of controversy when he made his Formula One debut 15 years ago.

FIA president Max Mosley said it was “wrong” for the 20-year-old, who had started just 23 car races, to be granted a superlicence to join the world’s elite drivers in F1.

As was the case when Max Verstappen arrived in F1 last year, the FIA began planning changes to its superlicence. In a further similarity, Raikkonen’s arrival was taken by some as proof that the current generation of V10-engined F1 cars were too easy to drive.

Twelve months earlier, talent spotter Steve Robertson had caused a stir by guiding Jenson Button into F1 with Williams from British Formula Three. But Raikkonen had even less experience.

The eight-year-old from Espoo, just outside Helsinki, had originally dabbled in Motocross before switching to karts in 1987. Within two years he was winning domestic championships. But money was tight for the Raikkonen family, and for years he remained in the Finnish and Nordic ICA championships, unable to branch out into the more competitive European kart racing scene.

Raikkonen was 15 when he had the first chance to race abroad, but he swiftly began to make an impression. In an early appearance at the Monaco Kart Cup, an annual race held on a track using the Swimming Pool section and pit lane of the F1 circuit, he brought his car home despite the steering wheel suffering a breakage – he waved the offending part at his mechanic as he crossed the line.

He was back in 1998 to finish third despite having to drag his kart back onto the course following an early crash. He also won the Scandinavian and Finnish Championships that year. By now Raikkonen had been selected by Peter de Bruyn’s team – he and chassis maker Tim Gillard championed their young charge’s racing prospects as he took a strong second place in the 1999 European Kart Championship.

Raikkonen also had the backing of Peter Collins, who had previously championed British talents such as Nigel Mansell and Johnny Herbert. At Collins’ urging, Robertson began seeking a means to get the youngest into a proper racing car.

Raikkonen made a handful of appearances in the Formula Renault UK championship in 1999, but his Mygale chassis was not a competitive proposition and he returned to karting. However John Booth’s Manor team, which went on to run another future world champion in Lewis Hamilton before making their own arrival in the top flight, took a chance on Raikkonen for the 1999 winter series. He produced four wins from four starts.

Even better was to follow when he returned for them in the main championship the following year. While team mate Danny Watts won the season-opener at Brands Hatch, victory for Raikkonen in the second race at Donington gave him a four-point lead in the championship. He never looked back.

After the first ten races, all of which he finished on the podium and seven of which he won, Raikkonen already had the title in the bag. He’d also made successful forays into the European championship, winning at Donington Park and Spa-Francorchamps – the latter his first taste of a track where he has become an established master.

This brought him to the attention of Peter Sauber, whose team was running the established pairing of Mika Salo and Pedro Diniz in Formula One. Persuaded to give Raikkonen a test at Mugello in September, Sauber was impressed to see the youngster set a best time of 1’26.418 – within a second of Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari:


Sauber put their faith in Raikkonen for 2001The team planned to place Raikkonen alongside Nick Heidfeld in an all-new driver line-up for 2001. Sauber admitted he had lower expectations of the more junior driver, “but he has surprised us a lot with what he has said about the car and how methodically he worked,” he said. “He is amazingly precise about his impressions in the car.”

But there was a snag: although Raikkonen was able to qualify for a superlicence his lack of experience meant he faced opposition within the FIA. As 2000 drew to a close the F1 Commission prepared to meet to discuss whether he should be allowed to race in F1 the following year.

The driver himself completed his national service and the media was beginning to get the first taste of his undemonstrative style:

On December 7th the F1 Commission voted almost unanimously to approve Raikkonen’s bid for a superlicence. But that wasn’t the end of the matter. FIA president Max Mosley had cast the single dissenting vote, and he stipulated Raikkonen serve a four-race probation period before the superlicence was confirmed.

“I do not believe that they adopted a defensible position in giving an inexperienced driver like Raikkonen a licence,” Mosley fumed. “It is quite wrong given that we have strict criteria for graduation into F1.”

“When there is a major accident caused by the presence of very inexperienced drivers in F1, I’m the one who will have to explain it to the world’s media and television cameras.”
Raikkonen with fellow rookies Montoya, Alonso and BernoldiRaikkonen was the only one of the four new drivers on the grid at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix to be given this treatment. CART IndyCar champion Juan Pablo Montoya, Formula 3000 race-winner Fernando Alonso and British F3 runner-up Enrique Bernoldi joined him on the grid – but only Raikkonen made it to the chequered flag in the points.

He gained his full licence with ease and was soon signed up by McLaren as a replacement for outgoing champion Mika Hakkinen. Much as with Verstappen last year, the concerns over Raikkonen’s promotion had proved misplaced.

And when Mosley’s autobiography appeared last year, it avoided any mention of the time he tried to withhold a licence from a future F1 world champion.

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Halo made little difference to visibility – Raikkonen

The structure, which may be mandatory on F1 cars next year, is intended to offer better protection from flying debris. It features two curves bars above the driver’s head and one in front which is pinched at the bottom to minimise blockage to vision.

The Halo cockpit protection device. More pictures

“The difference to the usual driving was surprisingly small,” said Raikkonen after using the device for a single run at the beginning of today’s test.

“The visibility is just a little bit limited at the front but I don’t think this is the final version of the device, so it can be improved further.”

Today was Raikkonen’s final run in Ferrari’s SF16-H before the first race of the year in Australia. “It was one of our best days of testing,” he said after setting the quickest lap of the test so far.

“We could run without a single stop, except for the red flags on track. Maybe we could have been faster on some laps, but in general the feeling was fine and we are more or less happy with the way things are going.”

“Of course there’s always room to improve and work to do,” he added. “Like I said many times, I don’t like guessing so there’s no point in figuring out where we’ll be in Melbourne.”

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Top 10 photos of the week: 2015-11-11

Your weekly dose of top 10 photos from around the world, shot by the award-winning Motorsport.com photographers and contributors.

Welcome to this week's top 10 photos chosen by our own photo editors. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did selecting these photos.
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10. Ferrari Finali Mondiali family portrait with Scuderia F1 drivers Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen

The famous Finali Mondiali group Ferrari photo is the moment all of the Tifosi wait for as the season comes to an end. Passionate Ferrari fans from around the globe come together.

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Raikkonen runs with Halo system

Kimi Raikkonen has become the first Formula One driver to run with the Halo closed cockpit system.



Kimi Raikkonen has become the first Formula One driver to run with the Halo closed cockpit system.

Raikkonen tested the cockpit protection device during Thursday morning's testing in Spain - the first time the system has been seen on an F1 car during a public session.

The Halo, which features a single column down the centre, is designed to shield drivers from flying debris.

Raikkonen tested the Halo for two laps at the Circuit de Catalunya before his team removed the installation.

"The halo is currently the preferred solution among a number being considered by Formula One racing's governing body, the FIA, for potential introduction in 2017, in order to offer better protection for the driver's head," reported www.formula1.com after Raikkonen's test run.

The FIA believes the Halo - a concept originally developed by Mercedes - could stop certain types of debris from reaching the driver in incidents such as that which led to the death of Indy Car star Justin Wilson last August.

The governing body has explored a number of designs aimed at protecting drivers from flying debris after Felipe Massa was struck by a spring from Rubens Barrichello's Brawn during qualifying for the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Henry Surtees, the son of 1964 world champion John Surtees, was killed in the same summer after he was hit on the crash helmet by an errant tyre while competing in a Formula Two race at Brands Hatch.

Jules Bianchi also succumbed last July to the devastating injuries he sustained at the Japanese Grand in October 2014, although it is not believed improved head protection would have saved the Frenchman.

His father, Philippe, is behind new procedures but believes more must be done.

"I consider that this is a step forward in terms of security," Bianchi told French television channel Canal+.

"It is obvious that in the case of when a wheel comes off, this system would be effective.

"However, in the case of small debris, as Felipe Massa and Justin Wilson (the Indycar star who was killed last August) had, that wouldn't have changed anything.

"So this is a step forward, but it does not solve everything."

Bianchi says such a concept would not have helped his son in his accident at Suzuka in October 2014.

"For Jules, it would not have changed nothing, because it's the extremely violent deceleration that caused the damage that we know to his brain," Bianchi said.

"I think developments of the HANS system to better absorb big deceleration in a severe impact could help in this case.

"This is obviously not me who would raise myself against something that brings more security to drivers, but the version of this Halo system did not convince me and has yet to be perfected.

"Aesthetically, it's pretty bad, and I wonder what the driver gets to see behind the Halo.

"The FIA wished to act after Jules's and Justin's accidents, but it must go further."

F1 race director Charlie Whiting told teams earlier this year that the FIA was making sure the Halo was in place for next season.

The FIA says the proximity of the single, central strut to the driver is such that it should have minimal effect on visibility.

But while most drivers are for pushing for improved head protection, there are some concerns in the paddock over the halo-shaped loop.

Briton Jolyon Palmer, who will make his grand prix debut for Renault at the season-opener in Australia on March 20, said earlier this week that the introduction of driver head protection goes against the traditional values of Formula One.

"I think we need to be careful not to go away from what Formula One has always been, which is an open cockpit," Palmer said.

"It is important to being able to identify the driver, and I think that is a nice touch from the sporting side.

"Rather than just seeing a car go round you can at least see the driver in it, so we have to be careful on that. I am not unhappy with how it is at the moment."

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