Apr.24 (GMM) Kimi Raikkonen bit back at his former McLaren teammate David Coulthard on Friday, after the retired Scot questioned the Ferrari driver's car development abilities.
Amid Ferrari's current slump, 38-year-old Coulthard suggested the Italian team would do better to dump the 2007 world champion and instead hire Fernando Alonso."The Finn has never shown me he can lead a car's development," Coulthard, now Red Bull's reserve driver and a pundit for British TV, wrote in a column.To the Finnish broadcaster MTV3 in Bahrain, 29-year-old Raikkonen responded: "I don't know any driver who develops the cars."I think it's pretty funny to hear comments like those from people who never really achieved anything. It's none of my business, what a guy," the Finn added.Martin Whitmarsh, boss of the McLaren team, also contradicted Coulthard's comments."The fact is, he is very sensitive to what makes a car quicker and is very intelligent -- he just doesn't always give it all away," said the Briton, referring to Raikkonen, who raced for the Mercedes-powered team between 2002 and 2006."Based on my experience of when he was here he was a very committed development driver. When he spoke those few words they were always very valuable," Whitmarsh added.
