Kimi Raikkonen at McLaren Mercedes - The Fastest Driver In F1

[@ROGINDIana23]

I would like to thank You for all your uploaded videos about and with Kimi. You created a perfect YT place for all Kimi's fans. I hope you won't stop doing it.

[@sangeetashevet7206]

Wow wow wow beautiful my dear friend

[@crystalracing4794]

I keep forgetting about the fact everyone carried race fuel in Qualifying, hence Kimi starting lower than he should have done (plus those pesky penalties for Mercedes engine failures). But I still believe Kimi's racecraft, tyre management and consistency is ultimately what made him the best driver in the world between 2003-2007. A true generational talent

[@tobyhall8048]

I understand that Kimi had grid penalties for some of the races because of engine penalties. But I don't understand why race fuel in qualifying meant Kimi was starting lower on the grid? Was there something about the McLaren that meant it's qualifying performance was affected more by the fuel than other cars on the grid?

[@ciaronsmith4995]

@@tobyhall8048 No. You qualified with your race fuel and back then, running longer (overcut) was advantageous in the race - they knew they were going to take the grid penalty before quali, and be stuck behind cars in the race (in a difficult era to pass cars). So they banked on running longer than the cars in front of them during the race and passing them in the pit stop phase. Hence why Kimi had to take crazy amounts of fuel (much more than the others at the front), onboard going into qualifying. Otherwise they would have all been dominant poles by huge margins with less fuel, as he would have been starting at the front and not have to worry about being stuck in traffic. In France 2005, Kimi had 8 laps more fuel than Alonso. That's a huge amount - basically means he was something like 6 tenths quicker, fuel adjusted. Nobody was on his level. Hope that helped.

[@tobyhall8048]

@@ciaronsmith4995 ahh, because of refueling, so most teams will run a light fuel load for the first stop of the strategy to have a better quali time? And Kimi just manhandled them any way lol. I grew up watching V8 supercars and Bathurst, only got into F1 recently. Finding your channel finally made me realise why people like F1 at all because the current championship is quite poor. Poor points format, too many customer/B teams who do nothing but fill spots. And of course the abysmal state of stewarding because Liberty decided that their no.1 priority is to make sure deranged social media crazies get what they want. Final nail in the coffin for me was the Austrian GP last year, where stewarding changes to track limits ruined what had always been an exciting track for me. How can the highlight of a race be Mick Schumacher crying for a DRS train from his teammate because he can't defend against Max in a broken car, what a yoke.

[@Mark-zk3gu]

​@@tobyhall8048 erm, that was Austria, and he was defending against Hamilton in a healthy car, not Verstappen in a broken car.

[@MrSkeleton131]

@@tobyhall8048 that was an interesting rant, thank you

[@rishabh3150]

To most of us, if not 3, he is at least a 2 time world champion.. he was robbed of so many points and race wins in 2003 and 2005.. and yet finished so close to the eventual champions.. if that McLaren was on par in terms of relaibilty, Kimi would have absolutely smashed the competition in both those seasons..

[@TrueCrazyLion]

Concrete evidence here that Kimi truly is one of the greatest F1 drivers! I actually remember watching most of these Quali laps and interviews live, and this brings back some wonderful memories 🙂 Awesome compilation video! 🙌🙌

[@AmanAli-dc1sy]

The Monaco 05 pole think is his greatest ever pole. Him and Alonso were at the top of thier game and for him to go 0.5 faster was very special.

[@ciaronsmith4995]

Cheers. But I actually think Magny Cours 2005 is his greatest qualifying lap ever. GB 2004, Monaco 2005 and Nurburgring 2003 up there too.

[@ajmalhussain3574]

Thank you so much for this! Always remember the guy wrenching feeling seeing Kimi DNF after demolishing the field coming back to see the results especially Nurburgring 05'.

[@DrAmithBhat]

Started watching F1 in 2004 with my uncle, with Kimi’s win at Spa, defending against Michael, especially after the safety car was called in that really got me interested. Thank you for these videos, precious childhood memories :)

[@alexton7009]

So precious vid about the fastest man on earth. With rare statements of so many f1 people about his unique pure talent and raw speed. Great job for once more Ciaron!!

[@jack9750]

Very nice! Yes, he put in some miraculous performances. The only true pole king since Senna.

[@detonator2112]

Kimi's Monaco qualifying lap in 2005 must be one of the grandest moments in all motorsports. It was just insane. Without McLaren's stupid decisions, bad tactics and bad reliability Kimi would have 2 WDC's more. And just imagine how many WDC's he would have if he just gave a s**t. 😅 I miss him from F1. Quite unique character.

[@upperhemisphere]

If Ferrari had given him the car and setup which suited his style, and actually listened to a master instead of playing the silly games with management and trying to please bureaucrats by focusing on Vettel, Kimi could have still won a title in 2017 or 2018. Kimi was always in his prime...just needed to be armed with the right car and engineers to unlock it.

[@TH2024WorldChamps]

Least delusional Kimi fanboy 😭

[@icntoantu7115]

those cars inherently did not fit his style atleast anywhere near close to the extent that older, shorter lighter and mechanically grippier cars did

[@archiesutherland6127]

insane delusion

[@ciaronsmith4995]

@@archiesutherland6127 Not really. It was primarily all setup related.

[@archiesutherland6127]

@@ciaronsmith4995 ,drivers can pick and test their own set-up

[@vomakaz]

By far the greatest driver to have ever lived. Most talented, a feel for pure speed. Kimi was let down by reliability and teams that loved understeer setups

[@daarom3472]

come on, you cant be by far the best driver and only having 21 wins, 1 WDC. Fernando completely demolished him in 2014 as badly as he is doing to Stroll. Still a great driver and character!

[@ESPHetfield]

​@@daarom3472 Kimi retired from a frightening amount of races whilst leading. The guy had the worst luck every. 03-07 Kimi was light years ahead. Even when he narrowly won in 2007, he had the worst luck through the year. Spa 2004 in a dogshit McLaren was one of the most impressive wins ever against Schumi in the all conquering F2004. Even the latter years were absolutely plagued with horrendous luck. Sure, maybe not the greatest driver ever, but specifically 03-05, he more than likely was the fastest ever.

[@umeshsurenthiran9205]

Absolute monster of a racer, in fact Kimi’s raw speed in his prime compares with that of Michael Schumacher in his prime which was around 94-02

[@littletweeter1327]

love your channel. awesome content from the golden age of f1

[@ciaronsmith4995]

Cheers.

[@george._mav]

Every sport has 1 genius. He may not have the best stats or most accolades but he's without doubt the best talent That was Kimi Raikkonen in Formula One

[@sheikhmubarak6612]

There is also another one - Gilles Villenueve.

[@george._mav]

@@sheikhmubarak6612 he was my dad's favorite driver growing up But I don't think he had kimis speed

[@ciaronsmith4995]

@@Beau_Rivage Kimi never lost to anyone at his peak during the tyre war. And was better overall than Gilles at his peak. Kimi is the fastest driver since Ayrton Senna. Kimi never lost to DC on merit either. He had 11 DNFs in 17 races in 2002. Alonso lost to Trulli though. Gilles lost to a nobody like Scheckter at his peak.

[@ciaronsmith4995]

@@Beau_Rivage Senna was faster than Gilles. So was Kimi. Pironi matched Gilles. Peak Raikkonen thrashes both Pironi and Gilles. Kiddo.

[@ciaronsmith4995]

@@Beau_Rivage Raikkonen had 11 DNFs in 17 races in 2002. Yes, DC finished ahead in points in 2002. But Kimi was much better/faster/unluckier. No driver in F1 history can beat a teammate with 11 DNFs in 17 races and the teammate has much better reliability. Cheers. I suggest you watch F1 intently, instead of Wikipedia. You clearly don't have a clue lad.

[@paulm3805]

A most excellent tribute to Kimi, thank you

[@paulbergin8756]

Agree should be three time champion

[@Xiphactinus]

Could've been four in all honesty.

[@paulbergin8756]

@Xiphactinus You could be Wright 👏

[@b17bomber]

awesome as usual, love hearing the Speed Coverage with Hobbs, Matchett and Varsha.

[@FpX2024]

Very very nice video! Greetings from Finland!

[@petel7418]

Thnx for all these vids 👊🏁 People seem to forget how good KR actually was in 2000's(when F1 was still F1(v10/v8 era) in my opinion)..well, 2010's was pretty good still.. .. And new fans see it too(instead of vids from official F1 channel about what he said or didn't say in fkin team radio..) Edit: 5:58 hockenheim 2005 he went drifting through the last corner and still .44 sec faster than the others.. 😅

[@adnanboranhz4790]

this is heaven for us. thank you.

[@91lifetime23]

10 fastest laps in 2008, should had also won that year.

[@5950ziel]

XDDD all he was capable of in 2008 was exactly that, meaningless fastest laps for which in those days you weren't even awarded a single point.

[@91lifetime23]

@@5950ziel Exactly my point dumb brother, he took those fastest laps when points were not awarded meaning he had the fastest laps among all drivers that season and won them fairly unlike Riccardo who won fastest lap in Singapore this year because he wants Max to win the title instead of being the fastest driver without using Soft tires, you must not be very bright are you?

[@ciaronsmith4995]

@@5950ziel Because the car wasn't suited to his style, the team ignored his development preferences, and Santander/Alonso and Ferrari politics favored the South American Massa for the upcoming IPO in Brazil for Ferrari.

[@mirkof2068]

If the 08 car was developed Kimis way 100% he was early on 9 points or so ahead in the Championship untouchable in Sepang and Barcelona

[@francescosalvato6612]

Hello , i think Kimi Is a Amazing driver It was a shame he only won 1 Championship i think he deserved more

[@nachferrari9153]

What a racer, 2003-2005 Kimi was unbeatable

[@franciscoantonio3297]

kimi GOAT

[@tigranes.]

Kimi defiantly a 3 time word champion.

[@chuckknowkarate]

Kimi got screwed by McLarens lack of reliability in this era! He was so much quicker than everyone!

[@nick_kovalsky]

I look and remember, I remember and cry, so many years have passed... Of course and naturally, sooner or later Kimi would have left... It's a pity - this guy deserved better. I'm glad I found a like-minded person and signed up.

[@billythekid-bestservant1]

GOAT kimi will always be GOAT🐐🐐🐐

[@streetfighter4006]

Wake tf up everyone! New Ciaron vid just dropped!

[@parkercrossland410]

You know what Ciaron, I was gonna give you some grief about making another Kimi video. You won me over with your use of the Batman intro music, so I'll leave you with a simple "well played".

[@ciaronsmith4995]

The Suzuka 2005 of Animated Series soundtracks.

[@parkercrossland410]

@@ciaronsmith4995 I've always been quite partial to the 90's Spiderman TAS intro and outro

[@ciaronsmith4995]

@@parkercrossland410 That's a good one too.

[@adamkhan5274]

Pedro de la Rosa knows his stuff. A great great driver.

[@justiccoolman1816]

@Monza 2005: You shouldn't forget a new engine (because you are getting grid penalty) gives same time more power because you can rev it higher.

[@ciaronsmith4995]

What are you talking about. He had to start 11th at a track that's very difficult to pass on in that era. And back then it didn't work like that. Engines were usually always at max capacity. They rarely turned them down. Especially in the heat of a title battle.

[@justiccoolman1816]

@@ciaronsmith4995 that is not true. The revs was always a compromise between power and endurance. So if an engine only need to hold a half weenkend, i am sure they will rev it higher then the engine of montoya for example that needs to hold the whole weekend ;-)

[@ciaronsmith4995]

Listen extra potential revs in Monza 2005 accounted for nothing especially since you have no proof and Kimi was running a high downforce setup. Kimi started 11th, when he should have started 1st without the penalty and dominated.@@justiccoolman1816

[@justiccoolman1816]

@@ciaronsmith4995 high downforce setup at monza from 11th? Can you proof that? So i am no ex team member of mclaren with insider information and it seems to you are also not. What you tell makes no sense in contrast to what i say... And the only want to admit with that is that kimi had most probably an power advantage at the monza qualy with his higer weight ;-). So just saying he had a weight disadvantage while doing 300 faster is a bit comparing apple with pears. But still was those time raikönne fan but, seems you are some how fact resitent.

[@justiccoolman1816]

And btw. a higher vs. a lower downforce setup in monza is also most probaly a trade off between fast round time and better capabilty of overtaking ;-) So if that what you say would be true the faster qualy time would also be consqeunce ;-)

[@RuanPaulino100]

3min3seg half a second, faster than alonso, and then monaco one more time, briatore didn't expected all of that!

[@JJfani]

That mclaren steering wheel was so sexy, even in Mika's times

[@timo3529]

Prime Kimi shloud of won 3 championships if Mclaren were reliable. He certainly had the raw speed.

[@Cabarkin]

The most stupid thing I've seen in my life regarding F1, was Ferrari signing Raikkonen only to then prioritize a fucking garbage midfielder in Felipe Massa due to politics and sponsors.

[@sheikhmubarak6612]

Ciaron: Makes a video praising Kimi. Toxic Fernando fans: And we took that personally.

[@crystalracing4794]

🤣

[@nando-ig6qo]

Nope.As an Alonso fan,Kimi is one of the drivers I always cheered for,don't know how you conclude that Alonso fans are full of toxicity. Maybe you haven't seen Hamilton or Vettel fans,especially the first ones are the worst

[@sheikhmubarak6612]

@@nando-ig6qo Most fans of Nando are also huge fans of Kimi. It's the ones that hate Kimi are the ones that I call "toxic".

[@nando-ig6qo]

@@sheikhmubarak6612 But you still mentioned only Alonso toxic fans. Believe it or not,you don't know what a toxic fan is if you never tried a conversation with a Hamilton/Verstappen and especially Leclerc fan. Those orcs should suffer because they are true hooligans who will even become life-threatening. Alonso fans are not this way,some of them are close-minded but not Hooligans or sth like that

[@nando-ig6qo]

@F1gilles They are total orcs,they can't praise their driver without hating Sainz.They are crying all the time that Leclerc should be ahead even when they are equal on speed. They also spread hate because Sainz brought Santander but no one even mentions that Leclerc has litterally THE WHOLE MONACO behind him in terms of sponsorships and money. They accuse Sainz of politic games with Santander but they don't even mention that a low tier team principal(Vasseur) came to Ferrari just to make their golden boi stop crying and have his so needed no1 status. Ferrari signed Vasseur just to make Leclerc happy,simple as that.Anyone who believes that Vasseur will bring championships to that team is just a fool. Their golden boi has only 5 wins yet they almost put him Senna-tier.

[@tonystewart7287]

Dam those cars sounded good back then! 😎😎👍

[@falconmanracer]

for me, kimi is number 1

[@gandalfthefool2410]

Kimi probably would've been on pole at Silverstone in 2006 if he didn't have to rush through his warmup lap and set the fastest final section time during his warmup lap lol.

[@ciaronsmith4995]

Very possibly. An amazing lap.

[@acexbox]

3:30 is that Roseberg?

[@syednoraidid]

Love it...the iceman

[@syednoraidid]

Please add more video about my legend...truly love it..since 2001 I follow the iceman...because of kimi I love f1...can u upload video full race kimi wins abu Dhabi 2012 really love it...can't find the full race..

[@dreadalex]

According to Kimi he loved the 2006 chassis but the engine was lacking power. In 2007 miraculously Mercedes engine worked better.

[@JJfani]

I remember when i was a teenager i played every session by session with my ps2 and racing wheel and always with Kimi cause im a FINN

[@haozhengyuan618]

2005, San Marino, German, Europe, he coulda~~~~be the champion

[@fairplaymaxx7576]

A qualifyng master gave +198 on spain GP with 2003 best car, can't beat a Reanult! :D

[@marvinblackheart623]

Hands down, Kimi was on Michaels, Lewis and Maxs Level if not better in 2005. Kimi Raikkonen was an unpredictable good driver. Could be multiple seconds faster than teammate Montoya during rainy conditions in Spa.

[@sheikhmubarak6612]

This is by far the most well edited video you have ever made, great job! How long did it took you to make this by the way? One more thing Ciaron, lap per lap - how much faster Kimi was than Fernando in their primes?

[@crystalracing4794]

Around 03-07, Alonso lost out in quali against Trulli and Hamilton. Fisichella was old and washed up, so I'd say Kimi was 2 tenths quicker on average than Alonso

[@crystalracing4794]

@windfall montoya missed two races with a shoulder injury which saw him unable to win until Silverstone. Montoya drove like a yo-yo: one race he would be ultra fast, the next he'd be complaining about low tyre pressure or no steering response

[@ciaronsmith4995]

@@crystalracing4794 He didn't win Silverstone on merit. Kimi had a grid penalty and was half a second a lap faster in the race.

[@crystalracing4794]

@Ciaron Smith I damn well know that. Only win on merit was Brazil and because Kimi was fed up and allowed Monty one final F1 career win. Funny how JPM thought he was living rent free in Kimi's head, when we all know GOAT Kimi was too busy thinking of new lap dance clubs to attend outside of the car 🤣

[@ciaronsmith4995]

@@crystalracing4794 Absolutely (even though Kimi was married). JPM was quite good at Brazil in his defense, but everywhere else, he was so outclassed. Montoya was obviously the one thinking about Kimi - I think JPM lost a lot of confidence when he realized where he stood next to Kimi. Don't think Kimi could care less.

[@culturedbrother]

Kimi's Era? Pffff, easily. Fastest Driver? No questions about it. He basically destroyed everybody on the grid.............when the car didnt blow up. Kimi at McLaren were essentially made for each other and it shows. If he had stayed with McLaren in 2007 and beyond, most likely he would have won the 2007 championship by far more than just one point, no matter if Hamilton was his teammate or not. And post 2007......................yeah, Ferrari just screwed Kimi over. But even taking the "what if...." out of this, anybody with a pair of eyes and a brain can see that Kimi simply was the GOAT. Hamilton might have given McLaren a lot of championships (and i am not taking those away from him at all) but for me, just like Kimi was the last Ferrari champion, Kimi was the last McLaren (and/or Mercedes) GOAT.

[@ivantuzlak9985]

SISOU KIMI!!!I sam still very angry,because he loose championship 2003 and 2005!But i am very happy,because F1 is give us such a great racer and personality!

[@willwas81]

The Kimi.

[@Strider_JM]

The American Speed commentary is so hard to listen to 😬

[@ciaronsmith4995]

Yeah ITV is obviously better but had to mix it up for various reasons...

[@zebekias3]

“Leave me to it”

[@kibi979]

Kimi is genius.

[@kibi979]

He deserved more than one title.

[@ВолодкоСерна]

Який він класний!!!

[@sundarthondaman208]

In hindsight, one would think he should have stayed with McLaren till they dropped off the grid, and then retire to other forms of motorsports..

[@Convict78]

The quality of these videoes are horrible... But we still love Kimi's run for McLaren. ❤

[@umeshsurenthiran9205]

It goes to show that the scuderia backed the wrong driver during their title campaigns. Had they seen sense and made Kimi their priority, they would have won almost every championship From 2008. They most likely would have won in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012 and possibly 2013. Then there’s a chance Mercedes would have snapped him up as they saw a multiple world champion who could take them to dominance-more so than Lewis.

[@alexnowis2468]

Mate, I'm not disagreeing with your overall view that Kimi was brilliant, but he absolutely WAS out qualified by his teammates. Nick in 2001 & I'm pretty sure Felipe out qualified him in 2007/2008 as well.

[@ciaronsmith4995]

2001 was the rookie season and 2007 he was faster fuel adjusted than Massa. In 2007/2008 he had to adapt to a new tyre and a new car, so Massa was flattered, as Felipe did not have to adapt to these things. The tyre war ended in 2007. These are important factors.

[@fairplaymaxx7576]

losing 2003 title was Kimi's own fault. With best car...

[@ciaronsmith4995]

He had the third best car that season, that wasn't being developed and was just a barely updated 2002 car because they never released their real one. Alonso couldn't even win a race in the 2004 Renault. Pathetic.

[@manuelgogeissl]

Fastest driver in 2002 to 2006? And Schumacher? He was on the podium every race. LOL. Kimi was quick back then, especially in 2005, but he was not as good as Schumacher.

[@Pahakyy]

Kuole pois.

[@jeffmattel7867]

Barely faster than Massa. Destroyed by Alonso and by a washed out Vettel.

[@ciaronsmith4995]

Leagues faster than Massa considering Kimi had to adapt to a new car/new tyre in 2007/2008 which Massa did not have to adapt to. Hated the car setup in 2014/2015/2017, post back-surgery, and was nearly 40 years old by the end of the 2nd Ferrari stint, (7 years older than Vettel), but still arguably matched/outperformed Seb in 2016/2018, including outqualifying him in 2016 at the age of 37. Fastest driver since Senna at his peak on the Michelin tyre at McLaren. A true genius. Cheers.