Steve Robertson and Mika Hakkinen comment on Kimi Raikkonen and "Radiogate"

Steve Robertson with Kimi Raikkonen

Thanks again to my anonymous translator. No, it’s not google translate, smarta**. Have you tried? It stinks at doing Finnish! Anyway, here they are. Enjoy.

Manager dumbstruck over the way Räikkönen was treated.

Steve Robertson sighed deeply on the phone on Tuesday. You could hear his sigh from Dubai to Turku when he was asked how he felt about Alan Permane’s public cursing on the team radio when the drivers battled for positions in the overtaking incident.

– I have never heard any person from any team management shout at Kimi like that, Robertson pondered.

– Grosjean squeezed Kimi the same way three weeks earlier in Korea. Of course his tyres were now worn out, but Kimi always tries to fight as long as his machinery allows him to do that, Robertson said.

Some reporter colleagues asked me after India if Räikkönen only drives for himself without listening to anyone. I asked his manager the same question.

– Just like all top drivers Kimi drives first and foremost for himself – otherwise none of them would win championships. But of course Kimi knows how to play for the team. If his teammate drives for the championship when he himself is out of it already, then he doesn’t make his WDC-battle difficult.

– Grosjean is not driving for the WDC, so in that situation he was just like any other competitor to Kimi who threathens his position, Robertson said to TS.

Mika Hakkinen

Häkkinen has a clear-cut opinion about Räikkönen’s driving – Did Kimi do the right thing?

- Lotus-team’s operation in India looked quite stupid. The incident where Romain Grosjean tried to overtake Kimi should have been handled better, writes Häkkinen.

Räikkönen didn’t let Grosjean by immediately since his tyres were pretty much worn out. After that there was a heated discussion containing swear words between Räikkönen and Alan Permane.

- I understand Kimi. If he had made room for Grosjean in the fast corner then his tyres would had been in an even worse condition. Kimi would’ve easily lost 3-4 seconds before getting back on his pace again.

- Kimi was thinking just like every experienced driver thinks. If he had let Grosjean by in the wrong place, then someone else could’ve also passed him – and Felipe Massa was very close.

- Why was the team’s language exceptionally harsh towards Kimi and why didn’t the team give him earlier information about how close Grosjean was? One could also ask why Grosjean had to go so greedily for the overtake that their tyres clashed, writes Häkkinen.