Paris: Kimi Raikkonen continues to be an enigma. The 2007 world champion had a forgettable qualifying in Melbourne on Saturday as he could only manage an embarrassing 17th place on the starting grid for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
The reason it was embarrassing was because his teammate - and near rookie - Romain Grosjean produced an outstanding performance to clinch third place, trailing the two McLarens by just 0.4 seconds and ahead of all his other fancied rivals from Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes. Just imagine if Raikkonen had managed to complete the flying lap in Q1.
It is unimaginable that a vastly experienced and successful driver like Raikonnen could commit such an error (he spun on his flying lap, which he couldn't complete before the end of Q1). Top teams generally don't leave the business of getting into Q2 in the final moments. The frenetic activity at the end of Q1 is normally the domain of back-runners or one of the lower midfield teams. To see Raikkonen, who is renowned for his speed and a no-nonsense approach, in this place was a bit unusual. Of course, he may be forgiven considering that this is his first F1 outing in two years. As he himself admitted post-qualifying, it was a driving error and things will be better in the race.
This episode just confirms the mystique that surrounds Raikkonen. It was evident when he decided to leave F1 after 2009. In 2007, he was driving for Ferrari, the sport's most successful and glamorous team. That year he won his first championship after having missed out on number of chances earlier due to bad luck. Having finally tasted championship success, someone as gifted as Raikkonen, who was driving in a Ferrari, should have been more confident and determined to win more, aka Michael Schumacher. Instead, in the next two years, one could feel he wasn't as fired up to win more titles.
Ferrari decided to rope in Fernando Alonso from 2010, the result of which was that Raikkonen started afresh in a form of motorsport that is completely different to F1 - the World Rally Championship. There are very few examples of drivers doing a successful switchover between WRC and Formula One. (There were rumours a couple of years ago about eight-time WRC champion Sebastien Loeb joining F1, but that deal never happened.)
Raikkonen's career never really took off in WRC. In two years, his best result was a fifth-place finish. Overall, this career move was a disappointment. On the other hand, the fact that Raikkonen took a risk in switching to a sport which required different skill set must have endeared him even more to his fans.
Following his two unsuccessful seasons in WRC, F1 fans were eagerly awaiting his return because frankly speaking, that's where he belongs. He has found a right team in the form of Lotus F1. The Enstone-based unit has been making the right moves for the past two years, during which time they have managed to establish themselves as the best team after the big four.
The enigma that Raikkonen is, the error in qualifying may not mean much. Since his car is performing well, the 'Iceman' may just blaze into the top five or even better in the race on Sunday. The fact that he has qualified so low could turn out to be an added motivation to do well in the race and make his comeback even more spectacular.
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