16/10/2017
NEWS STORY
Sebastian Vettel says that Kimi Raikkonen's straightforward, laid-back attitude makes the Finn his best ever teammate.
That said, since entering the sport in 2007 he has only had six. Nick Heidfeld for one race at BMW in 2007 and then Antonio Liuzzi at Toro Rosso for the final seven races of the year.
He completed a full season alongside Sebastien Bourdais at Toro Rosso in 2008, before five seasons alongside Mark Webber at Red Bull and finally one season with rookie Daniel Ricciardo as his teammate.
While the final season at Red Bull wasn't easy, the German clearly unhappy with the new car and engine regulations, not to mention the 'out of the box' performance of the Australian, the years alongside Webber were fraught with issues, from the famous "Multi-21" incident to numerous on-track clashes that resulted in just as many 'clear the air' meetings and cheesy photo-ops.
Asked what sort of teammate he prefers, Vettel, who is in his third season alongside Raikkonen, told Motorsport.com: "It's not your decision, and I don't think it should be. So I don't mind.
"Obviously it makes it a lot easier if you have somebody who you are working with that you feel the respect," he added. "Many times people tend to make things much more complicated than they are, especially in Formula 1, so it's good if you can work with somebody where there are no politics or no confusions or anything.
"In this regard, Kimi is probably the best teammate that I had," he admits. "He is pretty straightforward, but I also got along well with Daniel (Ricciardo).
"With Mark, obviously at times we had our differences," he says in a masterpiece of understatement. "Also I have to say we were different generations, so we probably from the start were not that close. But that is how it is."