Raikkonen- driver of 2004?

[Utopian]

Compare Raikkonen's relative inexperience to Coulthard's decade in F1.

And he is comprehensively the more impressive McLaren driver this season- I knew he was skilled, but the level to which he has handled the problematic car compared to Coulthard has given me even more faith in his abilties.

[Mr V]

Driver of 2004? Are you joking? Kimi's a good driver, but he lets things get to him too much when they are not going right.

[Utopian]

he lets things get to him too much when they are not going right.

I disagree. Despite setback after setback for him this year he's kept his chin up and beaten Coulthard.

If you are referring to the time he shoved that marshall, I don't blame him too much. Marshalls seem to have an annoying habit of wanting to hold drivers' hands when they retire from a race.

[Kicking-back]

I don't think Kimi has "let things get to him" at all.

He's given it 100% at all times this season, and stayed calm.

[darcym]

he looked clam when he pushed that marshal off.

I don't think he's been exceptional this year, and I don't think he's demolished Coulthard. In fact I think Coulthard has actually made more of HIS situation than Kimi has.

[darcym]

clam ??? calm

[Snrub]

I don't agree that he's the driver of 2004, but kudos to you for breaking from the pack and trying to evaluate a driver's performance based on their abilities rather than their car's speed. I'd say that while performance relative to Coulthard is important, it's easy to forget that Coulthard stinks.

[Dani Filth]

he is beating DC at the momment . but isn't quite beating any other top teams drivers . so it's not an exceptional drive ..

[Adam43]

I think Kimi is driving very well this year. He has little chance to show it (in terms of car performance and also time on track ). The car doesn't have as much set-up time as most out their and it inherently slow, but Kimi pops up the time sheets and race positions occasionally and more than that car should do.

DC developed a phrase for when he lower than the car showed be - he was 'out of position'. Welll I think kimi is quite often out of position this year, but the other way!

However driver, of the year. For all we know he could be, but its too difficult to say and there are other top performances going on too.

I'm also impressed with the way DC is carrying himself. He is committed to the team, despite not driving for them next year. A decent chap.

[Kicking-back]

Coulthard's done a decent job too, but Kimi's been better.

Lets not have this descend into a DC bash.

[Gt_R]

If Kimi handled this year properly, he could come off far stronger...it's really a good period for him to hone his skills in maximising a weak car and developement skill.

DC, good as a developement driver, struggles badly and looked worse than his teammate. So while Kimi looked better, DC looked worse.

Frankly, for a driver of DC's calibre (not bashing...) he's doing quite poorly and there's little excuse for him to even be that far behind Kimi. IMO, he's dropped out of the top 8 drivers long ago.

Kimi's doing well..but driver of 2004? There are quite a few more candidates. But he's doing brilliantly taking into consideration the equipment.

[Super Tourer]

You don't lose talent like Kimi's overnight and he has shown great resiliance in a very difficult year that should have delivered much more, plenty of F1 pundits were pencilling Kimi's name onto the 2004 WDC - so to go from a title challenger to struggling mid-field is a culture shock.

Both Kimi and DC have carried themselves well in what must be an extremely frustrating set of races so far, even more so for DC who is looking for a drive in 2005 and really needs some decent results to strengthen his position.

[Led ZeppF1]

Utopian, you are wrong.

Driver of 2004 is Sato-san.

Raikkonen WAS driver of 2003.

[f1manoz]

I wouldn't say he's been driver of the year, but this has certainly been character-building for the young lad. Good to see that he hasn't given up despite being saddled with a car worse than a BAR, Renault, Ferrari, Williams and even Toyota half the time.

[BootsOntheSide]

This season could prove to be positive for him in the long term, ebcause every driver has to deal with tougher moments and have the strength of character to not let it faze him. Button's 2001 was a similar case.

Considering how far ahead of DC he's generally been, and that he's made virtually no mistakes all year, and fought hard despite knowing he had little chance of finsihing, I think he's been as good as anyone (except Michael) this year. I'd rate him slightly higher now than I did 6 months ago.

[BertMk2]

Kimi has done a good job with the machinery he's got at his disposal. The same however can also be said of Fisi and Heidfeld - they're driving just as well as Kimi if not better. So is Kimi driver of the year so far? Nope.

[N I Tram]

Neither of those have really ran above where the car is capable - and we ahven't sene them hold off a queue of faster cars the way Kimi did at the Nurburgring. So I'm not sure either has been in quite the same league as Kimi, especially as both have inexperienced team-mates.

[freud]

Originally posted by darcym
he looked clam when he pushed that marshal off.

I don't think he's been exceptional this year, and I don't think he's demolished Coulthard. In fact I think Coulthard has actually made more of HIS situation than Kimi has.

Rightly so. Considering the fact that David has no incentive left to push for McLaren, Imho David has done quite well. Effort-wise he's given 100% whether testing or GP weekends.

As for Kimi, McLaren is completely focused on him technically and I believe that gives him a huge advantage for next year. This year he's just kept the car on track. If McLaren raises its game next year, Kimi will be way ahead of JPM in terms of knowing the car and the engineers as McLaren is building the next car around him...and I believe he will have the upper hand next year.

[shiny side up!]

Neither of those have really ran above where the car is capable - and we ahven't sene them hold off a queue of faster cars the way Kimi did at the Nurburgring.

I watched Heidfeld hold off a queue of faster cars, including this wonderful Kimi guy, for quite a few laps this weekend at Indianapolis...

Heidfeld doesn't have an experienced teammate(s), that is true, but Massa I wouldn't call a newbie after 1.5 years racing in F1 and a year of testing for the red guys. And both Fisi and Heidfeld have indeed run above where they really should in races, but they haven't really finshed there... nor has Kimi. Kimi is driving very well this year, I don't want to take that away from him. And maybe he is outdriving Fisi and Heidfeld, but it is very difficult to tell. I don't think it is plausible to say Kimi is the driver of 2004 at this moment...

[BertMk2]

Originally posted by N I Tram
Neither of those have really ran above where the car is capable - and we ahven't sene them hold off a queue of faster cars the way Kimi did at the Nurburgring. So I'm not sure either has been in quite the same league as Kimi, especially as both have inexperienced team-mates.

As shiny says Heidfeld kept faster cars behind him this weekend (one of which was Kimi )

As far as their team mates go that has no bearing on Heidfelds and Fisi achievements - yes they're beating their team mates but they should given the experience advantage, that's not what has impressed me this year. The impressive bit is just how far up the field they've dragged their cars - the Jordan simply isn't a top 10 car but Heidfeld is often popping up there during the races and Fisi seems to be constantly sniffing around the points now.

[Kicking-back]

Heidfeld's impressed me more than Fisichella.

Nick has got the car further up than it should be, Giancarlo has merely got his car in its expected position.

[climb]

I think that it depends on what perspective you choose to evaluate.
If we agree that a driver's basic quality is patience, certainly Kimi is the driver of the Year, just like Alesi was many times in the 90's!

[Kicking-back]

Alesi? Patience? Surely not!

[z2252314]

Kimi has spanked DC this year, and he'll give Montoya a good spanking next year. Kimi is clearly the second best driver on the grid. Give him a competitive car, and he's the only driver that can come close to Schui.

[Mr V]

You crack me up Z, i like your style