Kimi Raikkonen's McLaren return could be making of Lewis Hamilton

Then, with the racing over, the even hotter rumour that Ferrari will confirm Fernando Alonso’s long-anticipated move to the Scuderia on Thursday, clearing the way for Kimi Raikkonen’s return to McLaren.

It's an intriguing proposition and begs the question: what makes anyone think it would work this time? McLaren have a dreadful record of equal No 1s, Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost being perhaps the best example. Alonso’s spell alongside Lewis Hamilton two years ago was hardly a match made in heaven.

I lasted six years at McLaren but it was mainly because I never achieved full No1 status yet was fast enough to be an effective wing man for Mika Hakkinen and Raikkonen. Heikki Kovalainen, unfortunately for him, is not fulfilling that brief, hence the return of the Iceman to Woking.

So why will it work this time? Well, for a number of reasons. Firstly, Kimi is not in the Alonso mould. He will not be politicking with the engineers. In fact, he won’t be doing much communicating at all with anyone, if previous form is anything to go by.

It is no secret that Kimi’s major problem at McLaren during his five seasons there between 2002 and 2006 was Ron Dennis. Ron used to want to package him like he did Mika but it never worked. Kimi is unpackageable; he is an outsider in the F1 paddock. If McLaren allow him, he will turn up, drive the car and then go home, no questions asked. And this time, crucially, I think they will.

That is not to say Kimi won’t be quick. The Finn is one of the quickest guys around. He certainly doesn’t need the money so he is coming to race and to have fun.

Lewis will be behind him on occasions, just as he was with Fernando, and that is what makes the move so intriguing. How will Lewis react this time?

Will his bottom lip come out?

I think he now has the confidence and maturity to cope with another top team-mate and certainly over the course of the season I would expect him to emerge victorious; he is younger and hungrier.

Best of all, Kimi offers Lewis the chance to cement his reputation as a modern great. You can only really be judged against your team-mate and I don’t think Lewis has really been defined in that sense. All the greats have been: Prost v Senna, Nigel Mansell v Nelson Piquet. To be honest, it was the one thing lacking from Michael Schumacher’s CV.

So I think this is great news for Lewis. In his first season he had nothing to lose and was brilliant, no question. But he was raw. Now he will have to prove himself against a top driver and it should make great theatre.

Looking ahead to Japan, as much as Jenson Button must be hoping to wrap up the title on the night, the rest of us would love it to go down to the wire.

I sense a great weight has been lifted from his shoulders since his second place in Monza a fortnight ago. He knew then that he just had to keep plodding away and he would emerge as world champion. That’s exactly what he did in Singapore.

Yes, he has been lucky on occasions but it’s no coincidence that his rivals keep tripping up; they are having to push their cars beyond their natural limits to catch him.

When Jenson’s brake pads started smoking on Sunday he was able to back off. I expect much the same at Suzuka — he just needs to get the car home. He’s nearly there.

KIMI RAIKKONEN

KIMI MARTIAS RAIKKONEN
Kimi-Matias Räikkönen (pronounced [ˈkimi ˈmɑtiɑs ˈræikkønen]; born October 17, 1979 in Espoo), nicknamed Iceman, is a Finnish Formula One race car driver, currently driving for Scuderia Ferrari. He was the 2007 Formula One World Drivers' Champion.

Räikkönen entered Formula One as a regular driver for Sauber-Petronas in 2001. Having previously only raced in very junior open-wheel categories, he was given his Super Licence from the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) after a performance delivery promise from his team boss, Peter Sauber.[1] He joined McLaren Mercedes in 2002, and became a title contender by finishing runner-up in the 2003 and 2005 championships to Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso, respectively.

Switching to Ferrari in 2007, Räikkönen became the highest paid driver in motor sport with an estimated wage of $51 million per year,[2] in part because the previous highest paid driver Michael Schumacher had retired. In turn his move to Ferrari saw him secure his first Formula One World Drivers' Championship, beating McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso by one point.

Räikkönen is known to be very calm, cool, and calculating in his race strategy—prompting the nickname "Iceman", which is subtly written on the side of his current helmet design. His other nicknames include Kimppa, Räikkä and Kimster (used by his mechanics). In Finland Räikkönen is sometimes humorously nicknamed Räkä (bogey in English), a reference to Mika Häkkinen's moniker Häkä (carbon monoxide in English).

In 2008, Räikkönen is one among the two Formula One drivers who made it into the Forbes magazine's The Celebrity 100 list, the other being Fernando Alonso. He is 36th on Forbes magazine's The Celebrity 100 list of 2008, and 41st on the previous year. [3] On the same list, as of 2008, he is listed as the 26th highest paid celebrity overall and the 5th highest paid sportsman behind Tiger Woods, David Beckham, Michael Jordan and Phil Mickelson.

Kimi is very soft spoken guy.He wont talk much and would leave his ferrari do all the talking.That is the reason why he is the most popular f1 driver ever.The two of the most decorated fan of his are from India.Vasu and ksg are the best mates of kimi.Whatever kimi does he talks with his two friends and decides what to do.wanna be their friends?
just click the following,
ksg
http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#Profile.aspx?rl=fpn&uid=609235143084399761
sorry guys vasu is to busy with his works so u cannot be his friend.but ksg will answer ur questions.