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How Kimi almost bankrupted Lotus & his other F1 tales

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John S:
Is Kimi's racing ability 'Superstellar' - or did Genii's Lopéz just get his sums badly wrong on contract?   :D

You decide, I favour 'Superstellar'  :yahoo:

https://www.planetf1.com/news/kimi-raikkonen-almost-bankrupted-lotus

Jericoke:
Kimi is absolutely everything we want from our F1 drivers, our athletes, and our role models.

He's naturally talented, and let's his talent speak for itself.  He doesn't just rest on his talent either.  He put in the effort to grow as a competitor.  All of us wish we could tap into that kind of natural talent.

He was also, as the article puts it, blunt.  He was his authentic self at every turn.  Never trying to be something he wasn't.  It's a difficult skill for any of us, but F1's world of 'glitz and glamour' is made out of fake visages and he just made it look ridiculous.  All of us wish we could speak our mind like does.

Lastly he loves racing.  When things went sour at Ferrari he could've hung on to another F1 team and challenged for championships (for a long time I'd assumed Ferrari was paying him not to race F1, I was surprised to learn that Kimi's exile was voluntary!).  Instead he went on to pursue other racing opportunities before coming back to where racing is the biggest challenge in F1.  So many drivers are drivers first, and racers second.  Drivers being team employees who work for the team, hob nobbing with sponsors, exchanging pleasantries with the press before finally hopping in the car to actually race.  Kimi was a racer, he loved to go out there and do what he could, and the rest, he didn't do, which ironically made him great at it.

As much as I'd love a grid full of Kimis, the sport would never survive it.  We need the Hamiltons and Vettels who pushing an agenda.  We need the Alonsos and Russells who are just as happy in front of the camera as they are in the cockpit.  We need the Yukis and Ricciardos who are excited to be there.  We even need the Verstappens who really really want to be the Kimis, but are just trying to force it.

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