Many insiders are wondering whether Kimi Raikkonen will struggle to shine at Ferrari. Mario Illien, the ex-designer of Mercedes’ Formula One engines, has said that during Raikkonen’s time at McLaren, he only showed interest in driving the car – and nothing else.
The Swiss designer also said that unlike Schumacher or Alonso, Raikkonen is not a “thinking man’s racer.”
Illien, speaking to the newspaper Sport Bild, said “Kimi only wants to go full power. He is not interested in anything else.” He then went on to hint that he felt Raikkonen’s style of driving may have contributed to some of McLaren’s technicial failures over the years. “Lap after lap after lap, no driver is harder on his equipment,” he explained.
Illien also claimed that the only way Raikkonen would succeed at Ferrari would be if Ferrari built a tank for him. Reliability has always been at the back of Ferrari engineers’ minds after Schumacher broke down at a crucial moment in the 2006 season.
