Whining Kimi crackles

24 April 2015 - 02:02 By Julia Beffon

In years to come, people might forget that Kimi Raikkonen was once the Formula 1 champion during his first stint with Ferrari in 2007 and remember him rather as the man who kicked off the radio craze. The Finn seldom has much to say, but he endeared himself to fans by telling his over-excited pit as he headed for a rare Lotus victory in Abu Dhabi in 2012: "Just leave me alone, I know what I'm doing."By the next year, when it was confirmed Raikkonen was returning to Ferrari, things had soured at Lotus to the extent that engineer Alan Permane told his driver, to the surprise of those listening, to "get out of the fucking way" of his teammate, Romain Grosjean (Raikkonen's pricelessly laconic response was: "Don't shout there, f***er.")Broadcasts of radio snippets are not new in F1, but either those who control what is heard are getting more relaxed, or the drivers and engineers are upping their game. Whatever the reason, fans can be thankful because this season - despite Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari win in Malaysia - is turning into another Mercedes procession.So what's the radio telling us? Mainly that Hamilton's teammate, Nico Rosberg, is a whining loser. From the exchanges we've heard so far, the German seems to believe the world is out to get him.He seems more concerned with what is happening with his rivals than getting on with racing. And sometimes the news is not good. In Malaysia, he bleated to engineer Tony Ross: "Say it to me simpler. So if he [Vettel] goes by me, he's won? He's beat me then?""A-ffirm, a-ffirm," said Ross, sounding a little tired of it all.Hamilton was at least still trying, sounding positively Kimi-esque in response to an engineer's comment: "Hey man don't talk to me through the corners! I nearly just went off!"Some retain their sense of humour at 300km/h. Jenson Button, struggling in the underperforming McLaren, saw the funny side when he said: "I'm a bit surprised, we seem to be catching cars - quite a few cars."..

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