The unexpected motivation behind Raikkonen's 'hobby'

Word has it that before Kimi Raikkonen surprised everyone by referring to Formula 1 as a "hobby" ahead of last weekend's Chinese Grand Prix, the 2007 world champion struck fear into a senior member of his Alfa Romeo team by saying the same thing.

It was not that they felt Raikkonen was not taking his post-Ferrari F1 career seriously, it was the image it would project: 'You can't say that, it seems like you're saying you're on holiday!'

So why did Raikkonen go on to say exactly that in the official F1 press conference? Partly because the 39-year-old never considers what people think about him, or what he says, when he is being honest. But mainly because Raikkonen sees F1 like a "hobby" because he is enjoying himself, and he is at his best when he enjoys himself.

Not that he cares, but Raikkonen's performances at the start of his second stint at Sauber, which operates the Alfa-badged team, prove F1 is far from just a diversion from everyday life. He has three points finishes in three races, is best-of-the-rest in the drivers' championship and is single-handedly putting his team level for fourth in the constructors' contest.

Yes, when Raikkonen says F1 has "become more of a hobby for me lately than anything else, and probably that's why it's more fun again", it does make it sound like his high-paying job is just a passing interest. But look deeper, and is that the case?

Now team boss Frederic Vasseur has seen what Raikkonen's "hobby" is doing for him, he's been surprised by his driver's levels of motivation

"Honestly not, when you are in the briefing, or when he is in the car," says Alfa team principal Frederic Vasseur.

"When he is outside of the atmosphere of the weekend, perhaps. But I think, honestly, that it is a great approach, to be fully committed when he is at work, and to release the pressure when he is outside of this system.

"He doesn't take it easy and it is absolutely not the case. He is fully dedicated, fully focused and he is pushing like hell on every single detail. You can ask the engineers: nobody will consider that Kimi is on vacation."

When Raikkonen signed for Alfa (then still known as Sauber) last year, Vasseur was excited at how it would motivate his staff. Now he has seen what Raikkonen's "hobby" is doing for him, he has been surprised by his new driver's own levels of motivation. This, says Vasseur, is evident through Raikkonen's scrutiny of various details.

"For sure you have less pressure, when you are running with us, than with Ferrari," says Vasseur. "But you can put yourself in the same situation, with the same target to deliver and to achieve.

"Kimi has this kind of approach to pay attention to every detail. He was in the office and made some drawings of the brake pedals, because he wanted some changes" Frederic Vasseur

"Honestly, when you are in the meetings with engineers, he is paying more attention to every single detail of the car, of the track, of whatever you could expect. It's not the bad side of a 'hobby', you know? He is not relaxed at all. Perhaps he is enjoying it a bit more now, with less pressure."

F1 has come to know Raikkonen as a man who gains attention through soundbites and cold put-downs. At Ferrari, he was second-best - a clear number two to Sebastian Vettel. That meant Raikkonen seemed stifled as a driver.

He could not seem more different at Alfa, where we have already seen a side of him that was never on display at Ferrari, such as the proactivity and engineering nous in pre-season testing two months ago - when he repaired his own seat. Vasseur offers an even better engineering example of the unexpected motivation driving (or that is perhaps as a result of) Raikkonen's hobby.

"He has this kind of approach to pay attention to every single small detail," says Vasseur. "He was in the office last week, he made some drawings of the brake pedals, because he wanted to do some changes. And he made some drawings on a paper sheet.

"Honestly I like it! The guy who is able to pay attention to every single small detail. It's a kind of commitment, and is impressive."

Vasseur joked that he would not give Raikkonen the tools to make those changes himself because then "I'd have to pay him" as an engineer. But this enthusiastic, committed, motivated version of Raikkonen is already earning every euro of what Alfa is paying him.

As Alfa/Sauber continues to work its way up the grid, working closely with Ferrari, Raikkonen was always going to be an important reference point. He was also expected to be the team's early benchmark, which has been particularly important given rookie team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi has been hamstrung by factors outside of his control so far.

What Alfa may not have counted on, and what Raikkonen's critics may also have underestimated, is how much Raikkonen would push the team in the background.

The environment at Alfa, where there is no political pressure like the maelstrom of Maranello, seems to have freed him. Raikkonen never looked like a particularly confined person, but then again how could we possibly know given how little he opens up?

His demeanour off-track and the way he is hustling his car on it - like his rise from 13th to ninth in China - is the opposite of how he appeared when dressed in Ferrari red.

If that feels like guesswork, consider that it is emphatically backed up by Raikkonen making it clear that there is a difference in how he finds F1 now. Unexpected or not, that is an undeniably good thing for everybody concerned.