Kimi Raikkonen can be as good as Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton but suffers from one key flaw, Pedro de la Rosa claims.
The Finn burst onto the scene at the same time as Alonso back in 2001 with Sauber and impressed, earning a seat with McLaren for just his second season.
Ferrari then chose him as the successor to Michael Schumacher in 2007, winning the championship that year, however, after that point, Raikkonen’s career never really kicked on and his accomplishments are some way off the other top drivers during his 18 years on the grid.
“Kimi is very fast, he is a World Champion, but he needs certain cars with a stable front for his style of driving, otherwise he will not adapt,” De la Rosa said in his Beyond the Grid F1 podcast.
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“That is his difference between Hamilton and Alonso. Give Fernando any car, and he will show speed.
“Those drivers are able to adapt, Kimi does not know how to adapt.”
De la Rosa did partner Raikkonen during the 2006 season at a time when the ‘Iceman’ was at the peak of his powers.
“In 2005 and 2006 at McLaren we worked with Michelin and [Juan Pablo] Montoya and I were having problems but Kimi was very fast,” the Spaniard said.
“Under certain conditions, Kimi is as strong as Alonso and Hamilton but they are higher up because not every car behaves the way that Kimi needs it to.”