The simplicity of Kimi Raikkonen makes him Sebastian Vettel’s best teammate during his Formula 1 career, according to the Ferrari driver.
While the Finn’s famous nonchalant attitude can sometimes be mistaken as a lack of care or motivation, in the crazy world of F1 it has made the 2007 world champion stand out throughout his career and earned him a lot of fans in the process.
The two drivers have always had a rapport since Vettel’s arrival a decade ago and that has continued even as teammates at the Scuderia, with the four-time champion moving from Red Bull in 2015.
While the German is known to have a more exuberant personality, at least at the racetrack, the pair do bare a lot of similarities, including being the only drivers on the grid not to have a Twitter account and that lack of noise is what appeals to the 30-year-old.
“Obviously it makes it a lot easier if you have somebody who you are working with that you feel the respect,” Vettel told Motorsport.com.
“You know, many times people tend to make things much more complicated than they are, especially in F1, so it’s good if you can work with somebody where there are no politics or no confusions or anything.
“In this regard, Kimi is probably the best teammate that I had. He is pretty straightforward, but I also got along well with Daniel [Ricciardo].”
Related Stories:
- Raikkonen and Vettel “great together” as teammates – Marchionne
- Ricciardo puts Verstappen ahead of Vettel as toughest Red Bull teammate
Certainly, his last two teammates haven’t had the intensity that long-time Red Bull partner Mark Webber had with the pair embroiled in a number of controversies during their five-year stint together, which saw Vettel win his four titles.
“With Mark, obviously at times we had our differences,” he admitted. “Also I have to say we were different generations, so we probably from the start were not that close. But that is how it is.”
