Speculation-thread: Will Kimi be in WRC or F1 next season?

[Soren]

This is hilarious, watch until the end, not off-topic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMpjIWqp2UQ

OMG! That is the funniest thing I have seen in quite a while Thanks Wolfie. I needed that.
"Vettel knows how to use his finger for f*** sake!"

[Claudie_Schnaudie]

258 i bet we hit that by monday

I wrote that on monday when we were at page 214

claudie we need a new thread.....the speculation of the speculation thread.....when will it end?
or maybe a poll

oooh another thread with even more strange specualtion?

[Maria d]

nicole that vid was soo funny , thanks i was laughing out loud

[SilentKiller]

Last year at this time we were more than sure he would drive for Mclaren.........but see how that ended
We can't be sure about anything regarding Kimi.

well I have to say that we where not all so sure about Mclaren last year, I never got the point of going back there, so last year this time I was quite sure he would end up rallying next year... but then again I assumed the whole time that he would say sayonara to F1 after his Ferrari stint and go rallying and in my eyes his exit from F1 just came one year earlier than he planned.

But I have to say that this year the role of RB-rally is starting to look more and more like Mclaren last year...

You should be kidding me.......Last year the only thing that came from Kimi's mouth was that Mclaren was his only option. There wasn't even a hint from him about rally. Him entering the Mclaren pit garage and spending more time there rather than Ferrari's garage in the last few races. Everything pointed to Macca return, while only there was speculation they he will go rally for 1 year for the Ferrari money.
Nobody believed that at that moment.

[rko281]

Last year at this time we were more than sure he would drive for Mclaren.........but see how that ended
We can't be sure about anything regarding Kimi.

well I have to say that we where not all so sure about Mclaren last year, I never got the point of going back there, so last year this time I was quite sure he would end up rallying next year... but then again I assumed the whole time that he would say sayonara to F1 after his Ferrari stint and go rallying and in my eyes his exit from F1 just came one year earlier than he planned.

But I have to say that this year the role of RB-rally is starting to look more and more like Mclaren last year...

You should be kidding me.......Last year the only thing that came from Kimi's mouth was that Mclaren was his only option. There wasn't even a hint from him about rally. Him entering the Mclaren pit garage and spending more time there rather than Ferrari's garage in the last few races. Everything pointed to Macca return, while only there was speculation they he will go rally for 1 year for the Ferrari money.
Nobody believed that at that moment.

I said back then that he won't go to Mclaren and the chances of him going to WRC were implied by many people, it wasn't that much of a surprise, not even for the F1 insiders.
The fact is that many got in a way "fooled" and didn't see the "whole picture". Th press exaggerated the story of him spending a lot of time in the Mclaren garage. It was on a GP after Ferrari announced Alonso and then there were some images in Suzuka with Kimi and Kovalainen plus some Mclaren guys leaving the paddock together. This and all the MW praises made it so sure for some of you.

Take it from me, when Kimi says this or nothing, then the "this" has very little chance of happening.

[Wolfie]

This is hilarious, watch until the end, not off-topic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMpjIWqp2UQ

OMG! That is the funniest thing I have seen in quite a while Thanks Wolfie. I needed that.
"Vettel knows how to use his finger for f*** sake!"

I nearly spilled my coffee when reading your last sentence, Sören

@ Spinne, you are willing to walk to Lourdes

All we need is one tiny news and this thread explodes again and gets 10-20 pages. Can't understand why speculating over Kimi's future plans gets us all electrifyed

[Julia]

Last year at this time we were more than sure he would drive for Mclaren.........but see how that ended
We can't be sure about anything regarding Kimi.

well I have to say that we where not all so sure about Mclaren last year, I never got the point of going back there, so last year this time I was quite sure he would end up rallying next year... but then again I assumed the whole time that he would say sayonara to F1 after his Ferrari stint and go rallying and in my eyes his exit from F1 just came one year earlier than he planned.

But I have to say that this year the role of RB-rally is starting to look more and more like Mclaren last year...

You should be kidding me.......Last year the only thing that came from Kimi's mouth was that Mclaren was his only option. There wasn't even a hint from him about rally. Him entering the Mclaren pit garage and spending more time there rather than Ferrari's garage in the last few races. Everything pointed to Macca return, while only there was speculation they he will go rally for 1 year for the Ferrari money.
Nobody believed that at that moment.

well if you didnt belive it for a moment it doesnt mean that nobody believed it I remember quite many insiders speculating about it, OK not those people to whom F1 is their life but...and i think there are other than rko281 and I also on this site who had seen this rally thing coming.
And what I remember he actually said that Mclaren was his only option in F1 and he also had other options, the thing is that the Big press ignored it and told only about Mclaren rumors and that was what Kimis management also wanted... as hey this year has used most of the time on renault rumors and also RB-rally rumors...

Here for instance some of his statements about rally from 2008 and 2009:

29.7.2008 Kimi Raikkonen wants to go rallying after his career in Formula 1 is over
http://www.rallybuzz.com/kimi-raikkonen ... -after-f1/

6.11.2008 F1 star Kimi Raikkonen says again that he would like to try rallying
http://www.rallybuzz.com/raikkonen-wants-to-rally/

5.10.2009 KR would only contemplate a switch to the WRC if he was offered a top drive (autosport)
http://www.rallybuzz.com/raikkonen-only ... -team-wrc/

29.10.2009 Raikkonen: Rallying is definitely an option for next year (pressconf)
http://www.rallybuzz.com/raikkonen-rally-option-2010/

[Wolfie]

Editorial from Vauhdin Maailma November 2010 (paper edition) by Olli Koivusalo

(MTV3 has this slogan 'the world's fastest people')

The world's fastest Kimi

MTV3 has for a long time almost made an art out of feeding the rumours and recycling old news when it comes to Kimi Räikkönen's future.

Even the smallest 'news' get through with an amazing lack of critisism. MTV3 have their own interests in keeping F1 - and why not rally too - as a daily subject, so therefore the matter is quite easy to understand. They have to sell paycards, they have to get viewers and sponsors.

I don't claim that they wouldn't from time to time come up with some pretty good stories from the world of F1 and rally. Unfortunately they tend to be buried under the insane scale of the Kimi-avalanche. The boastings about the results in shakedown are a completely criminal underestimation of the viewers and readers.

They are now having the most exciting battle over the F1-championship but for MTV3 it's only the second most interesting subject this autumn. Will Kimi go back to Ferrari? What will Schumacher do? Would there even be room in Red Bull? We are living exciting times...

I respect greatly Kimi's F1-career. At his best he was a brilliant driver and a great champion - and that's how we want to remember him too. I'm sure there would be some available seats in F1 but they should take one zero away from their salary demands and there aren't any top cars available for crying out loud.

Would "The world's fastest Kimi" be a good selling gimmick for MTV3? I highly doubt that. I'm sure he is better than Heikki Kovalainen but that doesn't require much.

Räikkönen isn't as hot stuff in rally as some want us to believe. He found immediately a good basic pace which isn't a miracle when we talk about a tough steering wheel -man who is on top of his active career. He has had offs during the season but those happen to everybody. The bigger problem is that he hasn't in practice caught up the difference in the stages. There has been no development.

When you have drove for 20 years with your 'eyes' it's not easy to dive into dark curves trusting only in the notes you hear. When driving a familiar route and smooth tarmac Kimi has been superfast even in a rally car. But that's not what rally is about.

Still Räikkönen has made a great favour to rally by his bold career switch. One would assume that by now even the people on the street would understand how tough Sebastien Loeb, Jari-Matti Latvala, Mikko Hirvonen and Juho Hänninen really are.

This year Räikkönen got a free seat and a huge commercial deal. From now on it's difficult to ride on old merits. In practice Räikkönen has to pay the bills himself in the future if he wants to continue in WRC. The man has the money but I doubt he wants to do that. World champions just don't act that way.

That's why his path might lead back to the track. Le Mans, GT1 and DTM are options that could seriously be considered.

And he could then do some rally or motorcross as a hobby on the side. Just for his own pleasure. And using his own money.

Of course it's also very much possible that Räikkönen will hang up his driving gloves altogether.

[sammyosammy]

Editorial from Vauhdin Maailma November 2010 (paper edition) by Olli Koivusalo

(MTV3 has this slogan 'the world's fastest people')

The world's fastest Kimi

MTV3 has for a long time almost made an art out of feeding the rumours and recycling old news when it comes to Kimi Räikkönen's future.

Even the smallest 'news' get through with an amazing lack of critisism. MTV3 have their own interests in keeping F1 - and why not rally too - as a daily subject, so therefore the matter is quite easy to understand. They have to sell paycards, they have to get viewers and sponsors.

I don't claim that they wouldn't from time to time come up with some pretty good stories from the world of F1 and rally. Unfortunately they tend to be buried under the insane scale of the Kimi-avalanche. The boastings about the results in shakedown are a completely criminal underestimation of the viewers and readers.

They are now having the most exciting battle over the F1-championship but for MTV3 it's only the second most interesting subject this autumn. Will Kimi go back to Ferrari? What will Schumacher do? Would there even be room in Red Bull? We are living exciting times...

I respect greatly Kimi's F1-career. At his best he was a brilliant driver and a great champion - and that's how we want to remember him too. I'm sure there would be some available seats in F1 but they should take one zero away from their salary demands and there aren't any top cars available for crying out loud.

Would "The world's fastest Kimi" be a good selling gimmick for MTV3? I highly doubt that. I'm sure he is better than Heikki Kovalainen but that doesn't require much.

Räikkönen isn't as hot stuff in rally as some want us to believe. He found immediately a good basic pace which isn't a miracle when we talk about a tough steering wheel -man who is on top of his active career. He has had offs during the season but those happen to everybody. The bigger problem is that he hasn't in practice caught up the difference in the stages. There has been no development.

When you have drove for 20 years with your 'eyes' it's not easy to dive into dark curves trusting only in the notes you hear. When driving a familiar route and smooth tarmac Kimi has been superfast even in a rally car. But that's not what rally is about.

Still Räikkönen has made a great favour to rally by his bold career switch. One would assume that by now even the people on the street would understand how tough Sebastien Loeb, Jari-Matti Latvala, Mikko Hirvonen and Juho Hänninen really are.

This year Räikkönen got a free seat and a huge commercial deal. From now on it's difficult to ride on old merits. In practice Räikkönen has to pay the bills himself in the future if he wants to continue in WRC. The man has the money but I doubt he wants to do that. World champions just don't act that way.

That's why his path might lead back to the track. Le Mans, GT1 and DTM are options that could seriously be considered.

And he could then do some rally or motorcross as a hobby on the side. Just for his own pleasure. And using his own money.

Of course it's also very much possible that Räikkönen will hang up his driving gloves altogether.

The bolded part..? Otherwise very realistic article I must say..

[Wolfie]

Sammy, please don't let that happen - Kimi in DTM

[sammyosammy]

Sammy, please don't let that happen - Kimi in DTM

Meant except the bolded part...sorry if I hurt You

[luieluv]

I still feel Kimi wont have to pay up for a ride. And i am still feeling that Red Bull will poach him for their better future years.
They cant spend so much and not utilize Kimi Power. Ideally if we were to consider the fees of webber and vettel, we can easily conclude that Kimi as a red bull driver was earning more than vettel and webber both and that too not being in F1. Red Bull cant let this slip as it may easily come back to haunt them if and when kimi opts to return back in F1 and does it with their rivals.i

I see it this way. If Red Bull let kimi go off then in longer run they are keeping the doors open for mercedes or mclaren to utilize kimi if at all the opportunity arises. Red Bull will have to do a truck load of thiking before deciding on parting ways with kimi.

[spinster]

@ Spamaster : I really mean this...Are here some people who wanna join me on that long trip?

If he comes back to F1 then we should arrange that meet up we would have liked to organise for this year. Spa, that is!!!

Dheeban, what are your plans for next year?

That's a deal!!!

[Anelise]

Thanks Nicole!!!!!!!

[SilentKiller]

There is a mark Hughes article in autosport subscription that Massa days in ferrari are outnumbered. If thats really the case then it would trigger a chain of exciting events.