Raikkonen 'is deeply frustrating'

Kimi Raikkonen "is deeply frustrating" and will never realise his full potential, according to one of his former F1 bosses.

The Finn has been handed a new contract at Ferrari for 2016 and says he will stop racing in F1 when his time at Maranello comes to an end. Martin Whitmarsh was McLaren F1 managing director and CEO during Raikkonen's spell at the team from 2002-6, and he told Motor Sport magazine the 2007 world champion should have had much more success than he has achieved in his F1 career.

"Kimi is deeply frustrating, in that he's as smart as he is, and has all that pace - and it just pisses you off that he compromises it," Whitmarsh said. "He hasn't realised his potential - and he isn't going to now, which is a great shame."

However, Whitmarsh says the decision to keep Raikkonen at Ferrari is the right one.

"Kimi hasn't surprised me. I think perhaps the ultimate edge has gone - he had days with us that bordered on genius, as well as others best forgotten - but he can still do a bloody good job, and he's not making mistakes.

"Kimi's quite a misunderstood individual, I have to say ... He does like to party and drink, but he's actually much more disciplined about training than most people realise, and he's also very intelligent - one of the sharpest drivers out there, in fact.

"Because he doesn't say very much, and has a generally flippant demeanour, people wouldn't necessarily think that. Another thing is that, in my opinion, he's one of the best drivers when it comes to understanding the car, and communicating that."

Click here for a look back at the 1971 Italian Grand Prix from Monza, when the top five cars were covered by just 0.61s.

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