#and yet people are saying Charles doesn’t have the right champion mindset | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

crystalracing · 6 years ago

Link

https://twitter.com/JOC__1991

Kimi Raikkonen's return to Sauber in 2019 is one of the most extraordinary stories of a busy and unpredictable Formula 1 silly season. Most observers took the view that if and when Charles Leclerc was confirmed at Ferrari, the ousted Raikkonen - who turns 39 next month - would slip away into retirement. Why would he want to take a few steps down the grid when he's spent most of his career in cars that at least had a shot of winning races? But he has never been one to conform to expectations, and instead he has taken on the challenge of helping to reboot the team where he started his F1 career back in 2001. The arrangement may have seemed a strange one at first, but the more you look into it the more it makes sense for both parties. And not just because Kimi lives so close to the Sauber factory that he's even planning to commute by bicycle... Few people know Raikkonen better than Steve Robertson, who, with his late father David, managed to persuade Peter Sauber to take a driver straight from Formula Renault to F1 all those years ago. Robertson no longer manages Raikkonen's career on a day-to-day basis - Kimi completed his own negotiations with current Sauber boss Frederic Vasseur - but he still steps in to finalise contracts. "Kimi wants to drive F1 cars, he loves it," says Robertson. "People are surprised because having driven for Ferrari for so many years most people expected him to retire, sit on his yacht, and enjoy the rest of his life. "But he loves driving F1 cars, he gets a buzz from that. Kimi loves being on the edge. If he's not doing this he wants to ride motocross - but this is the pinnacle for him. "Once we knew that it wasn't going to happen at Ferrari, he wanted to do a deal. You have to look at the situation of Sauber as well. They have some backers now - two years ago, would he have gone there when the team was hanging on? Firstly, they couldn't even have afforded him, and secondly, it was a ship that was sinking. "Now they've taken on Kimi, an A-lister in F1, a world champion, and it shows their intent, where they want to be. They could have taken a driver that brings in money. At the end of the day two parties want the same thing - he wants to help them." The idea of Raikkonen returning to Sauber first surfaced in paddock gossip during the summer, but Robertson denies that it was a real prospect at the time. There has been speculation that Ferrari brokered Raikkonen's Sauber deal - but Vasseur says that it all happened without Maranello's help "I read the stories," he says. "But I never discussed it with him, because while you had Ferrari open, you're not even going to talk about that." Vasseur confirms that the early rumours were just that, and says Raikkonen joining only became a serious possibility after Ferrari finally established on the Monza weekend - albeit not yet in public - that it was taking Leclerc. "There was absolutely no discussion at this stage, it was much more speculation in the paddock," says Vasseur. "We started discussions straight after the decision from Ferrari, and it was clear that Charles will go, and Kimi was on the market." So why Sauber? One of the key triggers was team manager Beat Zehnder, who has been with the Hinwil outfit since its Mercedes sportscar days. Back in 2001 he and Raikkonen quickly formed a bond, and they have remained close friends away from the track ever since. If Raikkonen ever wanted to know which way the wind was blowing in Hinwil, he just had to call Zehnder, someone whose word he trusted. Once the Leclerc decision became clear, things moved to the next stage. "He was in touch with Beat," says Vasseur. "But like I'm in touch with Cyril Abiteboul or some other guys in the paddock, because we've known each other for years. "But we didn't start the discussion any earlier because it was unclear for me if he would stay or not at Ferrari, and I didn't want to create a mess. Honestly, I knew perfectly that it was up to Ferrari to decide the line-up first." Inevitably, there has been speculation that Ferrari brokered the deal in some way, to make it easier for the works team to drop Raikkonen. But Vasseur says that it all happened without Maranello's help. "They were not involved at all," he insists. "I think, honestly, they are happy with the situation because they have a good relationship with Kimi - as Maurizio [Arrivabene] said, they still consider Kimi as part of the family. "They are also happy that Kimi could find something else, and that he's happy with the next project. But they were not at all involved in the discussion between us." When Vasseur and Zehnder met with Raikkonen to talk about a possible reunion, things moved very quickly due to the latter's typical no-nonsense style. "I don't want to go into details of the negotiations, but it was a very straightforward discussion," says Vasseur. "We met two times, and it was done. We had a coffee together, [I asked] 'What do you want to do?' [and he replied] 'I want to race', 'Me too, let's do it!'" Vasseur was impressed that Raikkonen's focus was not on remuneration, but on how competitive the 2019 Sauber is likely to be. "I think he got some offers much bigger than us," he says. "For sure it's an effort on our side on money, but I think it's a much bigger effort on his side. It's the best proof of the motivation. "He convinced me at the first meeting on his motivation, because he was just focussed on the good questions: 'What is the simulator position?', 'What is the relationship with Ferrari?', 'How is the team running?', 'Who will be the chief engineer?', 'Where are we with the next car?' "If Kimi is fully committed, he will understand the process, and we will fix a target together. If you enjoy achieving the target, it doesn't matter where the target is" Frederic Vasseur "He was just focused on this, the questions were just on performance. I loved the approach, and I know that if he has this kind of approach, he will be very supportive with us. "I told him we are not established, that we are restructuring - building the team - and that we need to be attractive for a sponsor, for everybody. We need a full commitment from the top to the bottom - including drivers. He told me, 'I don't want to do something if it's useless'. "He loves racing, and I think he will enjoy it like this - he will be able to spend more time with the team [and] come to the factory. The first time we talked, he said 'I can come to the workshop'. He wants to be part of the project, and this is probably much easier with us than someone else. "For us it is a huge opportunity. He's more than motivated for racing, and he showed it in the last couple of events. And on top of this, in terms of development of the company, I think it's another push." The presence of former Ferrari man Simone Resta as Sauber's technical director was another key factor, as Raikkonen knows and trusts him. "We have now been focused on next year's car for a month," says Vasseur. "The car will be fully under the responsibility of Simone. It's something that also convinced Kimi - he knows that Simone is with us, he knows that we started the 2019 car quite early, much earlier than everybody else." At Ferrari, the prospect of winning races was always there, even if it has gone unrealised for Raikkonen, but from 2019 his racing life will be all about getting Sauber into Q3 and taking points here and there. Isn't there a risk that he'll get bored with that? "I don't know where we will be next year," says Vasseur. "But I would enjoy being in the top five [in the championship] much more than to win a race. You can find the motivation where you are looking for the motivation. "For us last year, it was to do Q2, now it's to do Q3, and we are happier when we are in Q3 than Ferrari or Mercedes when they are on pole position. If he is fully committed and fully involved, he will understand the process, and we will fix the target together. And if you enjoy achieving the target, it doesn't matter where the target is." Robertson insists that Raikkonen won't become bored in 2019, because he will find new motivation in helping Sauber to grow. "Personally I don't think that will happen," he says. "Because at the end of the day he will work with the team to try and improve things. He knows realistically what he's going into. He doesn't have to do it, he does it because he feels he can help them. "You have a different mindset. I would say now that the gulf to the bigger teams has widened. If, right now, you could take seventh places for the next two years - I'd take it. Because that would be the absolute best. "You've got to be realistic as well, and he'd take pride in that - helping them grow. He realises that wins, unless it's an absolutely freaky race, are not going to happen. But in terms of development, he's got a lot to offer them. "The announcement of Kimi was a huge push in terms of marketing - we will discover the impact of the situation week after week" Frederic Vasseur "He knows it's a different role from Ferrari. Kimi's know-how, his focus on development - he can really help them to get to where they want to be in a much quicker way." Raikkonen can play a big part in the development of the team in several areas. His technical input is one of the reasons why he was valued and kept on by Ferrari for so many years, and now all that knowledge can be downloaded by Sauber. "I spoke a bit about this with Beat," says Vasseur. "And with some guys that were in the team when Kimi was there [first]. There are not many now, but everybody has the same feeling on Kimi. "He has the reputation [of] a very good technician, with very strong feedback. When you are 450 people it's more important to have this kind of guy than when you are two or three times bigger. We need to have a strong leader on the driver side. He has very strong feedback, and he's probably one of the best, or the best." Having such a respected name on board will also be massively motivating for all concerned. "The reaction in the factory was huge," adds Vasseur. "It's a huge push to consider that someone like Kimi could join the project - that he trusts the team. "It's giving you self-confidence. The guy in front of me, who is a world champion, considers that I can do a good job - so full push. I was in the design office when we issued the email internally saying that Kimi will join and the reaction was: 'Wow!'" Raikkonen will not only have an impact on the current staff members at Sauber. The team has always struggled to convince foreign engineers to move their lives to Switzerland, while its recent financial struggles - and the squad's slide down the field - didn't help. But that story is now very different. "We already had the same push when Alfa [Romeo] joined," says Vasseur. "Before this we were chasing CVs like hell, and then we received tons of CVs. I think it will be the same with Kimi. This is important, recruiting. It's not a matter of numbers, you need to find the right one. "If the paddock is convinced that we have a strong project we will receive many more CVs, and Kimi is part of the motivation. He will convince the guys in the paddock. If Kimi is able to join Sauber, he trusts the project, then everybody will do the same." There's another obvious bonus to Vasseur: "The announcement of Kimi was a huge push in terms of marketing. "We will discover the impact week after week. On the grid, he'll be one of the three world champions next year, with Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton, and he has a huge impact. "We are receiving offers from every single area, from sponsors - it's a very strange feeling. I probably even underestimated the impact. I'm not a big fan of social media, but I think it's a huge thing. "Kimi [joining Sauber] was unexpected 12 months ago, but 12 months ago we were absolutely nowhere. I couldn't imagine that I would convince Kimi to join the team, but [it was] thanks to everybody in the company, because we made good improvements. I think Kimi will enjoy racing with us." "Enjoy" - that, in a word, sums up why Raikkonen is joining Sauber. "I don't want to say we are taking it easy, that's not the word, but for sure he will have less pressure with us than with Ferrari - from the media, on the marketing side," concludes Vasseur. "He will have to do this part of the job, but he will probably be able to spend more time on racing, the technical side, the relationship with the engineers."

#Kimi Raikkonen #raikkonen

40 notes · View notes

thisdaynews · 5 years ago

Text

Patrick Day death: You can say 'it's boxing' but it is so hard to justify, says Eddie Hearn

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/patrick-day-death-you-can-say-its-boxing-but-it-is-so-hard-to-justify-says-eddie-hearn/

Patrick Day death: You can say 'it's boxing' but it is so hard to justify, says Eddie Hearn

Media playback is not supported on this device

Eddie Hearn in tears over death of boxer Patrick Day

Promoter Eddie Hearn has broken down in tears in paying tribute to American fighter Patrick Day and says boxing must unite to make the sport safer.

Day died at the age of 27 on Wednesday, four days after suffering a brain injury in a 10th-round stoppage defeat by Charles Conwell in Chicago.

The bout took place on a bill promoted by Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing USA.

After becoming upset, Hearn told IFL TV:“You can say ‘it’s boxing’ but it is so hard to justify.”

He added: “It has been a rough year for the sport. We need to make sure we get together as a community, we keep trying to evolve, we keep trying to make the sport safer.

“There are so many things we can look at as a community, particularly [brain] scans. One of the issues is the frequency of scans in my opinion. You can have a yearly scan but sometimes it doesn’t take into account the fights you have had since that scan.”

BBC Radio 5 Live Boxing’s Steve Bunce and Mike Costello, and American boxer Regis Prograis have all had their say on how boxing can be made safer.

‘Indefensible’ boxing saves lives too

Day’s is the fourth death in boxing in recent months, following the passing of Russian Maxim Dadashev, Argentina’s Hugo Santillan and Bulgaria’s Boris Stanchov.

Bunce said: “I have been ringside in the last 30 years for half a dozen deaths and maybe 12 or 15 other fights where boxers have been rushed to emergency procedures.

“I have been in waiting rooms, I’ve been there when doctors have told loved ones that their son, husband and father has died. I have been there when guys have been given no chance and pulled through after six or seven weeks in a coma.

“I have studied it, its an odd business and I love it, it’s what I do for a living but at the same time it is a sport that is indefensible. But, at the same time, boxing and boxers make perfect sense to me.

“I genuinely cannot see, I have wracked my brains, to come up with anything that can make boxing safer. In Britain, the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) have the worlds’s finest safety measures yet we still have deaths. It is that simple, there is nothing that can be done.

“It’s when you go and meet people at a gym in the worst part of a city and you take their testimony of how this sport has saved their life. That may sound like cliche rubbish and I understand how it looks but that is the bottom line. Unless you are in the business, you can’t understand it. But I am not defending it, it is impossible to do so.”

‘The sport cannot be 100% safe’

Bunce questions whether the idea of scanning fighters before each fight is viable given the costs involved in doing so but says clamping down on white collar boxing events – where competitors pay to fight – would be a step forward.

His 5 Live colleague – BBC boxing correspondent Costello – also said the cost of head scans at every fight night would prove an issue and that fighters policing their own health can be key.

Costello said: “If they feel rough, have headaches, then don’t fight. Unfortunately they get this buzz, this addiction and this opportunity they have to change their life, sometimes it can be the ending of a life.”

Day’s fatal bout was sanctioned by the State of Illinois commission and Hearn praised the speed with which oxygen was administered and how Day was treated before being rushed to hospital.

The BBBofC – who sanction the majority of fights in the UK – has stringent rules in place stating a fighter must pass an annual medical – which includes an MRI scan – and also ensures fight nights meet rules.

The organisation’s chairman Robert Smith told BBC Radio 5 Live: “We work very hard to make the sport as safe as possible but as I have always said, we cannot make the sport 100% safe.

“The medial provisions changed over the last number of years have been immense. But when a boxer gets in the ring he understands the risk and that doesn’t make it right when things go wrong.

“Every boxer will have an annual medical which will cover your brain scans, MRI, bloods, physical examinations, eye tests, etc. Before every bout you are medically examined to make sure you are fit. After the bout you are examined again and if a doctor has any doubts he can put conditions on you boxing again in the future, so it’s very strict.

“Ultimately, it is very difficult to stop these things happening. If you think about the amount of contests and tournaments that take place throughout the world, the number of incidents is relatively small. That doesn’t make it right.”

‘You become a different person in ring’

Patrick Day won 17 of his 22 fights, with four defeats and one draw

Day – who had a university degree – started boxing at the age of 14 and had lost three of his 21 fights before facing the unbeaten Conwell.

The New York-born fighter was knocked down in the fourth, eighth and 10th rounds in Chicago and suffered seizures on his way to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he underwent brain surgery.

Those closest to him – including promoter Lou DiBella – said his fighter “didn’t need to box”, but did so for the love of it.

YouTube videos of Day speaking before his debut in 2013 capture him stating he took up the sport because he wanted to “have something to do” and that he was a “kid who wanted to be part of something”.

American fighter Prograis, who is in the UK to face Scotland’s Josh Taylor in a super-lightweight world-title contest on 26 October, said he met Day on numerous occasions and claimed the late fighter was “always happy”.

Prograis, 30, said Day’s death underlined the dangers faced in the ring, and he gave 5 Live Boxing an insight into the mentality many competitors in the sport adopt in the face of danger.

“As fighters you feel like nothing can stop you,” said Prograis.

“Sometimes you really feel like that, that you’d rather die in the ring. Hearing myself say it right now, it sounds crazy but when you’re in there you feel like ‘I’m not going to stop, you have to almost kill me to stop me’. That is the mindset of a fighter where in your heart you have that.

“I have kids, a family, people who love and depend on me but when you’re in there it really does feel like none of that matters.

“This is not the person who will walk to the ring. The words I say now sound crazy but I know how I feel when I get in the ring. A lot of fighters bring that same mindset to the ring. But you do become a different person.”

Calls for bans and a Day legacy

Brain injury charity Headway reiterated its stance on wanting boxing banned following Day’s death, citing the cases of other fighters who have died in the ring in 2019.

After offering condolences and support to Day’s family, the charity’s chief executive Peter McCabe said: “How many more lives have to be needlessly damaged or lost before this senseless sport is banned?”

Countless fighters – past and present – have paid tribute to Day, including the likes of former world cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew, who urged fighters not to “prolong your stay in the business”, adding: “Get in and get out.”

In confirming Day’s death, his promoter DiBella said the tragedy can be a “call to action” to improve safety.

Hearn concluded: “Knowing what these guys give, we have to make sure as a sport we do better. We need to respect these fighters. There is no one to blame, it is a tragedy of the sport. We have to make sure the positive effect Patrick had on the community remains.

“The outpouring of love shows you the special person he was. He loved the sport, we love the sport but we must never take it, or the fighters, for granted.”

#Eddie #Hearn

0 notes