rpm.espn.com: Users: Raikkonen is the real deal

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Tuesday, January 22

Users: Raikkonen is the real deal

ESPN.com

Here's what users had to say about McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen and his future prospects:

Kimi Raikkonen showed great poise running in the middle of the pack with Sauber, and hardly put a wheel wrong all year. But he did this without the pressure of expected results. This year with McLaren will be a huge challenge, because they are falling off a tad, in developing the car, and Kimi has huge shoes to fill in place of Mika. I forsee DC taking over as the true No. 1 driver early in the season, and Kimi getting a taste of some lowlights in his career.

Jerry Olcsvary
Princeton, N.J.

Kimi has been breaking records ever since he was a baby in karting. He's shown speed, maturity and pure guts. I think Kimi, Montoya and Massa are the stars of the future. In 2005, we'll look back on the 2002 season and say "we actually saw Kimi, Juan and Massa on the same track as Schumacher, Villeneuve, and Coulthard."

Paul Fogel
Kansas City

I believe Raikkonen is the real deal. He has looked very sharp in his first two weeks in the Mclaren, staying close and even bettering his teammate, as well as the rest of the field, in practice. These practices of course were minus Ferrari, but impressive nonetheless. He will be a top six driver this year, where in the six is the question. As far as Sauber is concerned, Nick Heidfeld has proven to be a good driver, with his podium finish in 2001, so he is solid. Massa is the question mark.

Steven Sparfven
Providence, R.I.

Peter Sauber should have held on to Raikkonen like grim death. I still think Ron Dennis should have taken Heidfeld over Raikkonen. Nonetheless, Coulthard is going to have a real probelm with Raikkonen as his teammate. I'm sure Coulthard has regular nightmares of Finnish men driving circles around him. It's not a question of if Raikkonen will win this year, but how often. McLaren doesn't often have many bad seasons and I expect them to be more of a threat than Williams this year.

Todd Michaels
Sanford, Fla.

Raikkonen is a good driver with a lot of potential. I think he would have been better served to spend another year or so at a second tier team to hone his skills. The pressure that will be on him to post results immediately may stunt his growth as a driver.

Allen Quail
Birmingham, Miss.

Last year, facing severe criticism from F1 powers, drivers, and fans alike for his true lack of racing experience, Kimi cooly went out and scored a championship point in his first ever grand prix. Raikkonen is not phased by the high expectations. He proved himself in 2001 and he will do it again this year. Kimi and McLaren are currently dominating off-season testing. I expect nothing less than multiple podium finishes from Kimi this year, and look for him to grace the top step at least once. As for Sauber? They're going to be just fine. The slick and aggressive Felipe Massa could prove to be an exact replica of the young Finn.

Patrick Heber
East Lansing, Mich.

I see Kimi giving Coulthard a run for his career.

Paul
Chicago

It is difficult to say how Raikkonen will do this year. He knows that he has to perform and I think he certainly showed us last year that he can when he wants to. Sauber will definitely feel the effects of his departure. They will not finish fourth in the constructors championship as the did last year. Kimi will definitely run up front this year, but I wonder if he will be as quick on a consistent basis as everyone predicted.

Joe Whitener
St. Louis

Last year, Raikkonen had the talent that made him capable of winning, but not the car. This year, with McLaren horsepower, Kimi should win a couple races and make a charge at the title.

A.J. Bias
Hadley, Mass.

Kimi is going to be quick and surely put a few cars into disrepair, but he will also put an extreme amount of pressure on Coulthard. I wouldn't be suprised to see Kimi paired with a reinvigorated Mika in 2003 and DC on the outside looking for a ride. It would be a great pairing of the present and the future. Mika might have one more championship left in him and Kimi would be a great compliment and competitor for him as well as for Mclaren.

Mark Jalkanen
Hancock, Mich.

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