Rossi: Raikkonen is not fast enough burning rubber

Valentino Rossi's voice was familiarly squeaky and high-pitched with the usual rushed eccentric delivery that suggests he wants to stress his opinion before he forgets what he is talking about.
This time the biker, who is fast becoming a legend on two wheels, was opining not about his beloved

MotoGp but about Formula One, Ferrari and the Prancing Horse outfit's puzzlingly faded force, Kimi Raikkonen.

The Finn, as gloomy a personality as you would hope never to find yourself alone with if you were trapped in an elevator, has been turfed out by Ferrari after hitting a series of low spots following his 2007 season.
One win in Belgium in August was not enough to save the 29 year old who has fallen short of any justification for a £30m-a-year salary — and he has been hoofed out to make way for double-champ Fernando Alonso on the same wage.

Rossi, who rumour has it has been earmarked to link up with Ferrari when he eventually quits motorbike racing, though in what capacity is not clear, reckons Raikkonen is simply not quick enough.

Coming from a daredevil biker whose blistering speed, ability and bravery at 200-plus mph on two wheels, that is indeed conditioned criticism.

It is not as if Rossi doesn't know what he is talking about: He has been tested by Ferrari and earned plaudits from the team for his performance in the unfamiliar surroundings of a 220-mph flyer of an F1 missile.

Ferrari kingpin Luca Montezemolo would dearly love to have Rossi in his team's red livery — and I am told that could happen, but as a test driver with only an outside chance of his being frontline in Formula One.

Whatever… he certainly would not have the long-gone Raikkonen as his teammate and he said: "After Michael Schumacher left, Ferrari put everything on Kimi — but he is not very fast."

Rossi, hunting down his seventh premier classs championship as MotoGp's top-paid rider on £15 million, pondering seriously on Montezemolo's keeness to have him and bolstered by F1 ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone's pleas to do it, reveals: "I really enjoyed the test runs I had. And they gave me a good feeling for Ferrari and Formula One — but at the moment I am happy in MotoGp. Who knows what the future holds?"

I don't know him personally — but maybe I'll get the chance in the future.

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