Formula One news
Villeneuve: Raikkonen is overrated
20 February 20071997 Formula One world champion Jacques Villeneuve believes that new Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen is not as good everyone thinks. The Canadian focuses his criticism on the belief that he is not the finished product and lacks the all round nous and dedication to lead the team like his predecessor Michael Schumacher did so convincingly.
"Kimi's overrated as a driver package, because apart from jumping in a car and going fast, he really doesn't care about the rest," he told F1 Racing magazine.
"A complete driver will spend time with the engineers, setting up the car and pushing the team. In a way it's good for F1 to have a driver like that - you can't just have robots. But you never know how dedicated he is. He'll look good, then have the odd race where he's somewhere else. You can imagine him saying, 'Okay, I'm done with F1, bye' for no reason," he added.
Villeneuve feels that the vacuum left by team-motivator Schumacher would be best filled by his 2005 Sauber teammate Felipe Massa, whom he rates highly.
"If there are no fireworks with Raikkonen and Ferrari then it'll be fine, but only if Felipe manages to drive the team," Villeneuve said.
"Then Kimi can do a few quick races. But he cannot drive the team. Massa will probably take over as team leader. He did a really strong job last year, made a few mistakes, but didn't look too shabby next to Michael. He's intelligent, talented, quick. With the right equipment, he can be a title contender. Then we'll see if he's really a great, or just a good driver. But he could be great," he added.
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