Having read the many comments on the action at Montmelo, there is little to add. You guys have done the analysis already. One point I would make, however, is about Kimi. Are we seeing the beginning of a Kimi hegemony in Formula One? I must admit I have never believed Kimi would stick around long enough to dominate the sport for more than one or two seasons but there are signs this may yet happen.

I mentioned in an earlier post a conversation I had in Barcelona with one of his closest advisors and the view there is strikingly positive. Not only is Kimi's driving bang on the pace, he is enjoying himself in a way he certainly was not in his last years at McLaren where he felt suffocated by Ron's strict regime and so on. And the bottom line is Kimi may well stick around for a good few years yet. I hope he does.

The less formal atmosphere at Ferrari and the less demands on his time out of the car there suit Kimi's understated and straight-up style perfectly and you have to credit Jean Todt for getting this right. There is no doubt that Kimi feels far happier in red than in grey and the mood set by Todt has been carried on perfectly by Domenicali who is a pretty chilled guy himself.

Another point to make is that Kimi is handling the role of being world champion extremely well. He has come to terms with it and is using the positives - the bounce, the extra confidence - without appearing to have succumbed to any of the pitfalls. He must be one of the more modest, unassuming champions in Formula One for a long time. I, for one, have never heard Kimi throwing his weight around, demanding equal treatment, imposing himself, displaying even a hint of vanity or any of that sort of stuff. Kimi never involves himself in politics and if he complains at all it is usually a general observation about his car. The Iceman is a perfectionist and if the set-up isn't quite right, he is happy to share that. In general however, he just gets on with it and, in the car, he is starting to look ominously consistent.

For those of us lucky enough to watch him at work, it has been interesting to gradually get to know him, even if from afar. There is no doubt that having reached the pinnacle, Kimi has relaxed a little more and we are all seeing more of his sense of humour(which was always there of course) and his natural charm. He is quite a shy individual and is still criticised(especially outside the sport) for being dull, but I think he is finding the public side of his role less intimidating than before.   

It is instructive to compare where he is now with what was happening 12 months ago. Looking through the coverage in this paper, we ran a story around this time last year entitled "Ferrari dismiss Raikkonen troubles as Massa shines". There is a neat symmetry with what was happening to him at that stage with what is happening to Lewis this year. Both won the first race in Australia with ease, but then went into the doldrums. While Lewis may be suffering a touch of "season two" syndrome, in Kimi's case it was more about settling in at Ferrari and getting used to being the man in Michael's car. He also had a team-mate in Felipe who was enjoying a purple patch(going into Monaco, Felipe was on a run of five poles in six races). There were more troubles to come for Kimi at Monaco(crash in qualifying - driver error, started 16th) and the coverage got worse("Raikkonen misfiring in bid to close gap on pace-setters), but the Iceman gradually found his rhythm and by the end of the season he was the most consistent driver in the field and has been ever since.

This year, by contrast, Kimi has started in devastating style. Once the team had recovered from its collective woes in Australia, the Iceman has taken full advantage and dropped only two points; he followed a win in Malaysia with second in Bahrain, and now a win in Barcelona and he is already nine points to the good over the chasing pack led by Lewis. 

In terms of the battle between Ferrari and McLaren(and BMW) this season, it is still far too early to say how it will turn out(even if the red cars have the whip hand at the moment and are likely to be strong again in Turkey). And it is still way too early to write Felipe off in the battle at Maranello. But you have to like Kimi's chances just now of defending his title at least once - and maybe a third time and after that, who knows? 

Pic of Kimi by spiegelbild via flickr