Kimi Raikkonen appears to be the least harassed “old boy” in this discussion, but his findings also suggest that it may be an appropriate time to pull the curtain on an ultimately successful F1 tenure.
‘The Iceman’ claims he’s only doing F1 as a hobby now – and that’s how he drives too.
The Finn was known for being incredibly fast in his early years, especially in a golden era in 2005 when he won seven Grand Prix but failed to win the title due to the unreliability of his McLaren.
However, his career has achieved the longevity gained by being considered a safe pair of hands and bringing the car home for the safe points.
But that hasn’t been the case lately. Although Raikkonen defeated Giovinazzi in 2019, the two Alfa Romeo boys scored 4 points each in 2020.
Vettel has had problems keeping up with Stroll since he switched to Aston
Peter Fox / Getty Images
On the way to 2021, they looked equally good again. There are two in qualifying, but the older statesman has beaten his Italian team-mate in three of the four races so far, but not by much. Both are currently at zero points.
In addition, Giovinazzi had a lot of bad luck in the first 21 races. A bad pit stop dropped him to 11th place in Bahrain, a torn visor got stuck in a brake duct in Imola and one of his tires had a puncture just before it was fitted in the middle of the race in Spain. In Portugal, it was his own team-mate who contributed to the Italian’s misfortune.
Raikkonen sped down the Portimão pit lane and suffered from the embarrassment of getting into Giovinazzi ‘s back at high speed when he looked at his bike display.
As Martin Brundle pointed out at the time, it was more of a rookie mistake for a winner of 21 Grand Prix. Combined with its slowing pace, this could be a sign of the times for Raikkonen.
It is typical of most top athletes, however talented they may be, to revert to beginner habits over the years. The hands and feet will not do quite what the brain tells them to do at the rate it once did as the errors increase.
If the performance and with it the results of Alonso, Vettel and Raikkonen slide off, is it really time for all of them to call it a day?
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