Raikkonen so cool, says Dennis
New McLaren signing Kimi Raikkonen has been described as an incredibly cool customer by team boss Ron Dennis after outqualifying team-mate David Coulthard at the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Asked to compare Raikkonen with a 1993 Mika Hakkinen (the year in which the former double champion first drove for McLaren), Dennis said: "I honestly think that nationality is an irrelevance, although there are certain traits in Finns which seem to be unique to that country.
"Kimi is so incredibly cool that I think that aspect of his personality surpasses even Mika. He is not fazed by anything. And he knows what a car is doing although the depth of the team and the data and experience we have can help make that easier.
"The best help he can have is actually someone with the speed and maturity of David [Coulthard]. There is total transparency between the cars and that is sure to help him.
"Alain [Prost] used to complain bitterly about setting up a car for Ayrton [Senna] to blow him off. I'm not saying it's like that with David but he's got a bit of pressure and I don't think it's a bad thing."
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