TBK-Light.com

This talk isn't that different from the one we used to have when Team Radios started to be aired and there was an obvious oversharing going on

Kimi's announced his retirement.

Expected news. I’ll miss him, though.

kimi quits

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I shagged a couple of loose balls for her in warmups.

RIP that meme

I'm hoping Ryan Newman's career lasts for many years to come....

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RIP Birmingham Wheels: here's some of the crash videos I recorded when it was there:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIaKIE ... 5t9d5PvoHA

Twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/paulhadsley

All the good things comes to an end at some point. How great it has been to follow his career for over 20 years. There will never be anyone like him ever again.

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"Indy doesn't give you a second chance. You have to earn it."

Yup, I'll miss him to. I do believe he overstayed his welcome a bit, but I'm not sorry he did. He was a character.

Kimi was that torch bearer I started to root for as a 10 year old kid after Mika Hakkinen took a break to think about stuff, and then completely ended his F1 career. This continued until 2008, that is, I witnessed his long-awaited championship, but in the same year he could not keep up with the title fight and his shining hero armor faded in my eyes. Still I was very happy when he won that Belgium GP in a duel against Fisi's Force India in a dreadful 2009 year for Ferrari, and wasn't surprised at all to learn that there were other forms of motorsport in his future plans because the racecraft and "killer instinct" were still there.

Today's media are very lucky with Kimi as a man-orchestra, all these memes, jokes about a sleeping grandfather, constant composure and a former shadow of greatness - all this allows journalists and F1 workers to create content on the fly. Whatever he imagines his "retirement", whether it be quiet serene years spent with his family or continuing a career in the motorsport business - all I can do in return is wish him good luck, long life and thank him for those meaningful seasons in 21st century F1.

Makes me feel old! I was still a teenager when Kimi made his debut.

Truly a unique character which we may not see in the sport again. It's too bad his last few seasons in Ferrari and Alfa were less than memorable but he had some sparkling performances with Ferrari in his 2nd stint like the 2017 Monaco pole and the 2018 US win. Will always remember him for that incredible 2005 season though. The low point was definitely 2014 where he got comprehensively destroyed by Alonso.

So does this open the door for Bottas (and thus Russell to Mercedes)? Or do they stay put, and Alfa go with Illott or Schumacher?

Monza pole position happened on this very same date in 1st of September 2017.

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"Indy doesn't give you a second chance. You have to earn it."

Last Ferrari World Drivers Champion... 13 years and counting.

So, Bottas to Alfa then? Gio out too, so Illot or De Vries in? Albon to Williams?

You mean 2018. But yeah I forgot about that, was an epic performance by Kimi to narrowly edge out Seb who looked to be the odds on favorite for pole.

toto commented that they've decided but won't say yet because of "other parties" involoved - suggests bottas is out and russell is in, just like the tweet outlaw posted on the prev page showed


https://jalopnik.com/im-pretty-sure-toto-wolff-just-announced-george-russell-1847598228

Interesting enough this could mean another power play by Toto Wolff. Hamilton wants Bottas there to keep his upper hand on the team, and a young fast driver could downplay, unless he crushes Russell from day 1

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Motorsports trend for 2024: everything is a bad taste joke now

End of an era.

I was still in the 5th grade when Kimi started his career. Only a child, you might say. As an avid Mika Häkkinen fan, I was first amused by this pimple-faced, sleepy-looking teenager who could only say "emmä ny tiiä" [I dunno] when put in front of the microphone. But there was something special in his laid-back and honest style. A unique personality that was not shared by his rivals. And even more special was his raw speed.

So when Mika retired, there was no question who was my new favorite driver. Kimi's McLaren years were as full of joy as frustration. But in his prime at McLaren, it was just magical to see Kimi race. The championship was just typical Kimi: it couldn't happen the usual way, but it had to come in a special way. And oh man, is it still one crazy story to be told.

I think once the goal was achieved, everything thereafter was just bonus for Kimi. He could have retired for good at the end of 2009, but it's obvious that WRC or any other racing category couldn't match the feeling Formula 1 gave to Kimi. So we got to enjoy his doings for another 10 seasons. Maybe he wasn't always pushing like in his heydays, but he truly enjoyed driving - even when he knew he couldn't fight for the wins or even podiums. Despite the fact his motivation to continue was frequently questioned over the years, in the end he showed that he was the most motivated of them all.

And finally, we come to the endpoint. So much has changed since 2001 that the whole world seems almost unrecognizable. And it's quite true. Yet Kimi has always been Kimi. He's been the epitome of F1 in these 20 years, and while there have been other prominent figures like Bernie, Charlie, Michael, Ron, or Jean, for F1 fans and F1 family Kimi has become a lovable older brother whom to trust. He will be missed.

Next year, then, Fernando Alonso will be the sole link to the early 2000s, days when drivers like Alesi, Irvine, Frentzen, Panis, Montoya and Villeneuve were still active. The days we used to play Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix 4 or EA's F1 games and were able to choose Kimi or Fernando. The days when exploring the Internet was an adventure, and you never knew what to find. Perhaps you ended up on some weird page called tbk.fameflame.dk...

It's very sad knowing that this retirement will be the final retirement. I've been a fan since the day I started to follow F1 so an era will end I guess. Even though I'm a die-hard fan, I think he overstayed slightly but I couldn't care less Gonna enjoy those last races with the Iceman think of the great races esp 2005 with the beast of MP4-20, and then we'll see. I read last night that the rumor is that he'll announce his retirement in Monza and then Bottas moves to Alfa, then you wake up a day later and part 1 of the puzzle already happened!

lewis preferred bottas because the relationship between them wasn't contentious (of course, he never really threatened hammy). i think its obvious russell will challenge hamilton more than bottas did, but lewis seems fine with mercedes' decision either way

I know it might not mean much for next season at the moment, but Illot is racing for Juncos Racing in the next Indycar race at Portland.