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

[momo]

KIMI IS NOT MISSING F1

Turun Sanomat 22.6 2010 17:01:51

Kimi Räikkönen assures in Auto Sprint's interview that he hasn't missed F1 this year.

– F1? I watch the races from tv but I haven't missed it one bit. Of course I miss the driving but I don't miss anything else.

Who will win the WDC in F1 this year?

– Either one of Red Bull's drivers or Lewis Hamilton, Räikkönen believes.

What does Räikkönen think about Michael Schumacher's comeback to F1?

– It's his own decision, Kimi says and shrugs his shoulders.

Could Räikkönen still go back to F1?

– I am going to make my decision completely in peace without any pressure from the outside. I have a one year contract for rally but I'm in no hurry to make any decisions or take any pressure about them.

If you compare rally and F1, what is the first thing that comes to your mind?

– That you can't compare them. Driving in each genre is completely different. In rally the level is very high. If you take anyone from the F1-top to drive a WRC-car, he will immediately be in trouble - with the exception of Robert Kubica.

– In F1 you can learn all the tracks really quickly but in rally every stage and corner is so different that it's impossible to remember them, Räikkönen says.

Still not satisfied with the achieved level

Räikkönen has rallied for six months now. Are you satisfied with the level you have achieved?

– I am not satisfied. In Turkey I could drive like I wanted to and the endresult satisfied me and if I wouldn't have crashed in Mexico, things would have gone quite nice there too. In Portugal and Jordan I had problems I didn't anticipate. Sweden was my first WRC-rally with a WRC-car so I can't say anything about that.

A few weeks ago in rally della Lanterna Räikkönen was leading for the first time and he put Ogier in a really tough spot.

– It was the first time Kimi felt that he was a real rally driver. He has developed a lot and can fight with this moment's name Ogier. It gave him a lot of confidence for the tarmac rally in Bulgaria. We go there with the purpose of being in the top, Kaj Lindström told the Italian media.

Turun Sanomat, Rooma

This is the article of Auto Sprint, courtesy of TaniaS:

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http://cid-23b1abff33cab8a4.photos.live ... AB8A4!4231

[Wolfie]

Thank you Momo and TaniaS

[saif]

Thanks Nicole!

[momo]

The article of Auto Sprint translated by TaniaS:
(BRAVA TANIA!)

Into Kimi’s World
June is time for drawing up a balance sheet. Six months after the “big leap”, the ex F1 Champion tells about himself. And he often surprises.

Excited girls. Noisy kids. And above suspicion men of fifty. They would all ready to give a push with the elbow or to tread on somebody toes at their side if only they could get an autograph, or even take a photo with him. He himself, who is afraid of the crowd. Life is strange. Kimi Raikkonen withdraws, shrinks, hides himself when he’s surrounded by a human mass that chases him. It’s the price to pay for the notoriety, for the title won in F1 with Ferrari and for having answered no, one day, to GPs to switch to the less famous rallies. The only way to survive in this situation is to retire into himself, in his own world. The Kimi’s world.

Away from the crazy crowd
But it’s not so impossible to speak with him. You just need to wait for the right moment and being in the conditions he prefers. Almost like the wild animal which lets you get closer when you expect it less and just for few moments. Then Kimi comes out of the den and he brings himself into play. He speaks. A long time.
“The F1? I watch it on tv and I don’t miss it. Well, the driving, of course yes. But not all the rest. No, thanks. I have thought about rallies for years. I’ve always wanted to race them, at a high level if possible. I couldn’t wait anymore, then it would be too late. At the end of 2009 it was ended with Ferrari and there weren’t the conditions to come back to McLaren or to another top team. The moment of doing what I had always dreamt had come.”
- So, farewell to F1, without regrets. After nine seasons, with a Title and 18 victories. Who will win the Championship this year?
- “One of the RedBull drivers. Or Hamilton.”

- And about Sch., what do you think?
- “It’s his own choice.” (He said this shrugging his shoulders, and making you clearly know that Raikkonen doesn’t agree...)

- And Kimi? Will he come back to F1?
- “I’ll make my decision calmly, in peace, without any pressure from the outside. My contract in Rally is for 2010 only, but I’m not in hurry to decide. No pressure.”
- How do you feel six months after your big leap?
-“I’m learning. Every time it’s all new for me. Lanterna race was my eleventh rally of my new life, the first one on tarmac with a WRC car. I learn in every race, I go on more and more, trying to understand every secrets, every detail.”

He doesn’t say it, but you have to consider that Raikkonen has always to fight against competitors who know by heart stages that on the contrary he sees for the first time. So it’s in the Championship and so it was at the Lanterna, where he had to fight on a surface almost unknown for him – in a rallying level obviously – against people who could even make those stages with closed eyes. Someone even lives there, where the rally is, but Kimi didn’t cut a poor figure, not at all. And this also considering that at the start the stages were a bit dry and a bit wet, thing that is not an advantage for a rookie.

- But are you satisfied of the level you have reached so far? Did you expect more or you thought to be lower?
- “No, I’m not satisfied. Well, not completely. In Turkey I went well, I drove like I wanted and the final result was satisfactory. In Mexico, if I didn’t go out, it wasn’t going too bad. But in Portugal I had some more problems that I didn’t expect. We can say that it depends on every single rally. In Portugal, like in Jordan, I didn’t like myself. In Mexico and Turkey I did. Sweden was the first race, so...”

- What comes in your mind when you have to compare F1 and Rally?
- “You can’t compare them. The driving itself is completely different. The rally level his very very high. If you put any top F1 driver in a WRC race, he will be in a mess. Kubica apart! You can learn the circuit, but in rally every curve is different and it’s impossible to remember them all.”

There are also some comments from Nogier, Lindstrom and Nawarecki in that article. I'll translate them tomorrow.

[Maria d]

thank you momo, i liked the part about wild animal.

[Lynx'niK]

So great Momo. I really appreciate your work, giving us inside informations and so on. And Tania is also just amazing.
I´m happy that there are so great Italian Kimi Fans. And looking at the Rallye Lanterna, Kimi seems to love you,andI have to admit, I liked how he treated the RAI journalists.

[Ice-Ludy]

Thanks Nicole!

Thanks a lot Nikki, Momo and Tania!!!

[Wolfie]

Thank you Momo

Great read!!!

[Vida]

thanks nicole and Momo...

so where will kimi in 2011??? only kimi, the robertson and the team he goes to know about it...

[redstorm]

Thanks to all of you for translating so the poor Yanks like muah can get in on the "down low!"
Kimi is doing way more interviews in rally. Is it because of the journalist from TS?

[Wolfie]

Thanks to all of you for translating so the poor Yanks like muah can get in on the "down low!"
Kimi is doing way more interviews in rally. Is it because of the journalist from TS?

Hi Redstorm

Kimi has always given interviews to Heikki Kulta from TS, it's just that Heikki is on the GP-paddock and not on the rally paths, although he promised he would take part in one or two rallies this year, but Red Bull is arranging these interviews for him and it's nice to see how he doesn't refuse, he is willing to dress up as a gladiator and everything

Heikki from TS usually gets a call from Steve Robertson and it's speculated in the Finnish forum if Steve Robertson uses Heikki Kulta to leak out things...

If Kimi would be in F1, Red Bull, then he would probably give the same amount of interviews since Red Bull takes maximum advantage of their stars

[Wolfie]

thanks nicole and Momo...

so where will kimi in 2011??? only kimi, the robertson and the team he goes to know about it...

They have said June-July, it should be any day now

[Vida]

thanks nicole and Momo...

so where will kimi in 2011??? only kimi, the robertson and the team he goes to know about it...

They have said June-July, it should be any day now

please please please let it be F1...

[beefree88]

thanks nicole and Momo...

so where will kimi in 2011??? only kimi, the robertson and the team he goes to know about it...

They have said June-July, it should be any day now

I think Kimi won't decide until after Neste Rallye. In F1 he has confidence as a driver, but hates everything else, while in rallye it's the opposit.
He loves rallye, but still seems to be a bit unsure if he could be competitive enough to reach the top. Bulgaria and Finland could give him some kind of sign one way or the oher.

[Vida]

thanks nicole and Momo...

so where will kimi in 2011??? only kimi, the robertson and the team he goes to know about it...

They have said June-July, it should be any day now

I think Kimi won't decide until after Neste Rallye. In F1 he has confidence as a driver, but hates everything else, while in rallye it's the opposit.
He loves rallye, but still seems to be a bit unsure if he could be competitive enough to reach the top. Bulgaria and Finland could give him some kind of sign one way or the oher.

my feeling said that he will give his decision before the end of the year.. around october and november..