David Coulthard believes Kimi Räikkönen could have won more world titles if he had a better work ethic. According to the former McLaren F1 driver, the Finn would have benefited from being inspired by the seriousness of Michael Schumacher. He believes he is one of the rare champions to have relied so heavily on his natural talent.
“He is the exception in all of this. He was a great natural talent” Coulthard said on The Red Flags podcast. “He went from Formula Renault to driving a Sauber at Mugello. Mugello is one of the scariest circuits you can drive a Grand Prix car on.”
“He had so much talent. But can you imagine how much? He won a world championship and you could talk about McLaren’s reliability and everything else. If he had had Michael’s work ethic , I think he would have won more.”
The Scotsman recounts Schumacher’s constant presence within the Ferrari premises during the victorious period: “Michael was on the test track, he was at the factory. If you stand with the engineers and mechanics, they feel it, it gives them power.”
“You are the fuel that keeps them going. That’s why I say this: I’m all for work ethic. That’s what makes the difference between the humility of a single title world champion and what he could have been, a multiple world champion.”
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