Giancarlo Minardi considers Kimi Raikkonen biggest threat for Fernando Alonso – Formula 1 news
Former Managing Director of Minardi F1 team, Giancarlo Minardi considers Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus biggest threat for Fernando Alonso of Ferrari in the remaining nine races of the current season.
Alonso is presently leading the drivers’ championship with 164 points ahead of Red Bull Racing pair of drivers, Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel.
On the other hand, Raikkonen has also performed tremendously well in the season so far and is standing at fifth place in the drivers’ standings with 116 points. Although, he is 48 points behind the Spaniard in the rankings, however, Minardi insisted that
the competition is on and he believes the Finn is still in the championship fight.
Furthermore, he said that the Belgian Grand Prix which will be held at Spa after the August break will play an important in deciding how the season will end.
“Spa [the next race on schedule] will be the real turning point to one of the most beautiful championships in recent years. To date we have not a real leader in terms of driver and car and despite the fact Alonso is 40 points ahead, I think, it is premature
to say the title is his,” Minardi said.
“There are five drivers' who could win the title still and the greatest danger could come from Raikkonen. Unfortunately, some results haven't gone his way and he needs to improve in qualifying too. But he is aggressive and consistent in his performance,”
he added.
In addition, he said that it is very crucial for all the contenders to make the best use of the time they are getting during the mid-season break to make the considerable developments in their cars.
Besides, he said that if Ferrari want to maintain its lead in the drivers’ standings, they must make the essential step-ups so that the two-time world champion may perform well in the second half of the season.
It has been extremely difficult to make any kind of projections about the current season. Nevertheless, it will be a great thrill to see how all the rivals show up in the upcoming races after the ongoing summer smash.
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