Kimi Raikkonen Only “Puts in Minimum Effort” Compared to Lewis Hamilton Claims Renault Chief

Kimi Raikkonen has been quite pacy over the course of this season, and through most of his career in Formula 1 too. But what’s shocking to hear is that Alan Permane claimed that the Finn never showed his actual potential during his stint behind the wheel.

Former Lotus F1’s Sporting Director opened up about his views on Kimi being one of the best Formula 1 drivers. During a podcast, the interviewer asked Alan if Kimi is the “real deal“. “Yes, definitely,” he replied while featuring on F1’s Beyond the Grid.

However, apparently, Alan sounded convinced that the Finn never showed his true pace while driving for Lotus. “What’s frustrating with Kimi, and I don’t wanna pretend I’m any sort of great driver guru, you can see that he puts in minimum effort.

“That’s for sure, and I’m sure others will tell you the same,” Alan said. “But what a talent. What a huge, huge talent.”

Alan even wondered how fast Kimi could have turned out had he been as “intense” as Lewis Hamilton on the track. Alan and Kimi worked together in the Lotus F1 for 2 years between 2012 and 2013 before the latter moved to the Maranello-based team, Ferrari.

Kimi Raikkonen drove “as slow as he could“: Renault Sporting Director

The 41-year-old had a decent 2 seasons with the Lotus F1 team and managed to secure a couple of race wins. However, Alan opined that during both his race wins, Kimi limped to the finish line despite having an incredibly fast car.

“The two races he won for us, he won by driving as slow as he could, I think. You know, there weren’t fights. They were quite easy wins,” he said.

Kimi scored his first race win with Lotus at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2012, where he had Fernando Alonso in his rear-view mirror through most part of the race. His next race win came later in the 2013 season-opener, the Australian Grand Prix.

Similar to his previous win, in Australia, too, it was Alonso’s Ferrari behind him. However, unlike in Abu Dhabi, the Finn had a healthy 12-second lead over Alonso when he saw the chequered flag.

Now, assuming Alan is correct, how many World Championship titles could Kimi have won until now if he had pushed his cars to the limit?