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

[luieluv]

Räikkönen has lifted up the image of rally this year. The traditional Finnish sport was already dying into it's own 'departments' but Räikkönen blew fire back into the coals.

- Now I believe that the new regulations and manufacturers in 2011 will significantly improve rally's global attraction.

I doubt that .
Many people follow rally (not just us) because Kimi is there and "lifted the image".
There were a lot more article about rally in the newspapers because of Kimi.
How many will follow after he leaves?

I cant say about others but yes i shall still follow WRC, perhaps not to such an extent but i would definitely make a point to follow as and when time permits. And i will always be thankful to Kimi for introducing me to this one of the best genre of motorsport.

[iceman1]

http://www.f1zone.net/viewtopic.php?f=4 ... 36#p213736

[Kinga]

I cant say about others but yes i shall still follow WRC, perhaps not to such an extent but i would definitely make a point to follow as and when time permits. And i will always be thankful to Kimi for introducing me to this one of the best genre of motorsport.

+ 1

[Kinga]

http://www.f1zone.net/viewtopic.php?f=4 ... 36#p213736

Woooow Looks good on him... that yellow overall!!!

[sleenster]

I cant say about others but yes i shall still follow WRC, perhaps not to such an extent but i would definitely make a point to follow as and when time permits. And i will always be thankful to Kimi for introducing me to this one of the best genre of motorsport.

+ 1

+2!

I'm sure there will be a lot of people who will no longer follow rallying if Kimi leaves, but I won't be one of them.

[Maria d]

http://www.f1zone.net/viewtopic.php?f=4 ... 36#p213736

Woooow Looks good on him... that yellow overall!!!

yes how cute,but i dont like the shoes
still think the red bull colors look the best on him

[Julia]

so yesterday renaults teammanager explains that it was Kimi who contacted them and he is actually their b-plan to a person who doesn't get to points regulary and today their teamowner explains to reuters that they want to win the championship next year... coincidence? maybe not...wasn't Lopez the big boss who in the beginning of the summer was dreaming of luring kimi to renault...maybe he forgott to tell Boullier that

http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/2426 ... t-renault/

Lopez: A winning mentality back at Renault
15 September 2010

Renault team owner Gerard Lopez has explaining that a ‘winning mentality’ has now returned within the Enstone-based outfit, which has moved on from the high controversy of last year which involved key members of the squad being involved in one of sport’s worst ever examples of cheating.

The ‘Crashgate’ race-fixing saga relating to the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix resulted in the departures from the team plus temporary banishment from Formula 1 of Renault heads Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds although Lopez, whose Luxembourg-located Genii Capital firm owns the majority of shares in the outfit, has much confidence in the invigorated setup and new-for-2010 Team Principal Eric Boullier.

“There is a winning mentality back in the team,” he told Reuters. “For sure, we would like to fight for the championship next year and it takes more than just words to do that; it takes a culture and so on and I think we are back into that culture - where a weekend like this (Monza) is really disappointing, not just for me but disappointing for the whole team.”

With intra-team morale levels have dropped significantly due to the high amounts of negative press in 2009, Lopez is sure that this year’s Renault F1 is a totally refreshed environment.

“Just by changing some key management positions, I think we've kind of reignited the will to win and essentially showed the team and the people that were there that they can do it, just like they did it a couple of years ago,” he continued of the team which won both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships of 2005 and 2006.

“I think the foundations are rock solid. We are pretty much done with our programme, in terms of putting in some key management people here and at the factory. As far as we’re concerned, for the first time now we can actually focus on delivering results rather than just rebuilding stuff - so I think it's as solid as it has probably ever been.”

edit just found the part from todays interview where he talks about their driverchoise
for next year..

http://www.sportinglife.com/others/news ... nault.html

[Boudica]

i think mtv3 is the only one believing Heikki is a real option for Renault. They need a finn in a top team. And mtv3 seem to have a love-hate relationship with Kimi...

yeah, red bull and mark seems to be the case they are waiting for to see where it ends. But as Kimi answer kulta a months ago:

Is your scale turning to rally?

– We will see that later. There are a lot of things involved. There is nothing yet and it could be that nothing happens, Räikkönen says mysteriously.

and even if something happened in that team it doesn't mean automatically that Kimi and RB can agree on terms that suited them both. As I said before I think they are actually quite happy having him rallying for them... and they where probably quite sure of him signing a extension in rally (see the horner interview) so with yesterdays news Robertson has at least poor a lot of cold water in their neck... hope it pays of in a good way...

Yes, still think Kimi is most likely going to end up in rally next year. But I am just speculating about the Robertsons motives. I also think if both Webber and Vettel loses out on the WDC heads will start rolling at Red Bull.

[Julia]

HELP!

anybody got rights to read the autosport story:
The chances of a Raikkonen return

http://www.autosport.com/subs/login.php ... re&id=3047

[Maria d]

i agree with you boudica, about heads rolling if red bull lose out of the wdc.

[SilentKiller]

HELP!

anybody got rights to read the autosport story:
The chances of a Raikkonen return

http://www.autosport.com/subs/login.php ... re&id=3047

Shows Forbidden link to me.

[Julia]

i think mtv3 is the only one believing Heikki is a real option for Renault. They need a finn in a top team. And mtv3 seem to have a love-hate relationship with Kimi...

yeah, red bull and mark seems to be the case they are waiting for to see where it ends. But as Kimi answer kulta a months ago:

Is your scale turning to rally?

– We will see that later. There are a lot of things involved. There is nothing yet and it could be that nothing happens, Räikkönen says mysteriously.

and even if something happened in that team it doesn't mean automatically that Kimi and RB can agree on terms that suited them both. As I said before I think they are actually quite happy having him rallying for them... and they where probably quite sure of him signing a extension in rally (see the horner interview) so with yesterdays news Robertson has at least poor a lot of cold water in their neck... hope it pays of in a good way...

Yes, still think Kimi is most likely going to end up in rally next year. But I am just speculating about the Robertsons motives. I also think if both Webber and Vettel loses out on the WDC heads will start rolling at Red Bull.

Robertsons motives... I think he does his everything to find a F1 seat that is so temptation to Kimi that he gets kimis head turn away from rally back to F1... its not hard to read between the lines that Robertson is one of them who realy thinks Kimi belongs in F1 and not in rally. Hopefully he doesn't screw the rally options in his try to find a good f1 option... maybe a little hasch words but I just got that feeling from every comment he gives about rally...

[Julia]

HELP!

anybody got rights to read the autosport story:
The chances of a Raikkonen return

http://www.autosport.com/subs/login.php ... re&id=3047

Shows Forbidden link to me.

its on their main page also... you need some sorts of odes to read it... have no idee why the link doesnt work... i see the loginpage and the beginning of the story

[luieluv]

now one of my friend just told me that there is an article that has come up in autosport plus about kimi and renault.
Any idea how we would be able to procure that one.

[iceman1]

HELP!

anybody got rights to read the autosport story:
The chances of a Raikkonen return

http://www.autosport.com/subs/login.php ... re&id=3047

Here we go

Spoiler:

After AUTOSPORT broke the news that Kimi Raikkonen had made a new push to return to Formula 1 with Renault, Jonathan Noble examines why the Finn might be considering a comeback - and the chances of it happening

There are few places on the Formula 1 calendar that quite ooze history like Monza. As you pass inside the walls of the famous park, through the crumbling brickwork gates and past rusty fences, you cannot help but get lost in thoughts of which famous names have driven the same path as you.

Drive through the back entrance, past the Golf Club on your right, you drop under the old concrete tunnels that now hold the new track surface above them, and you end up on another piece of circuit. Stop here for a few seconds, look to the left and right, and there, a couple of hundred metres up the road, you can see the old Monza banking spiralling out of view. The hairs on the back of your neck stick up.

It is a place where the past and the present collide at all times. So it was quite fitting that the major piece of gossip that emerged over the weekend did not involve the thrilling future title battle but whether a former champion will - or even can - find his way back into the sport.

Ever since Kimi Raikkonen turned his back on F1 and made the switch to the World Rally Championship, there have been countless rumours that his absence from the grand prix grid would only be a temporary one.

Raikkonen himself has always maintained that his future is open - and he has been long undecided about whether he would remain in rallying or come back to F1. His silence on the matter served not to dampen the rumours, however, but fuel them more.

There were wild reports that he was a shoe-in at Red Bull Racing for 2011 - based purely on the fact that he had been seen in the Energy Station a few times. But the team never seriously considered him. Red Bull's love-in with Sebastian Vettel is well known and when Mark Webber delivered the speed and consistency that he showed from early on this season, there was no need for the outfit to look elsewhere.

Red Bull Racing's early decision to re-sign Webber put an end to the Raikkonen-RBR talk there - but that kick-started something that was much more than rumours at Renault.

Back at the European Grand Prix in Valencia, AUTOSPORT broke the news that Renault was so bullish about its improving competitive form, plus financial situation, that it was going to consider an approach to Raikkonen to see if he was interested in joining them. But the trail then went fairly quiet.

Raikkonen showed some improved form in rallying, and seemed set to stick it out in the WRC - while Renault focused on getting Vitaly Petrov up to speed, and appeared to have done so judging by the form the Russian showed at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

But since then situations have changed. Raikkonen still does not have a 2011 WRC deal in his pocket, and Petrov has had a few wobbles with his qualifying errors in Spa (silly rookie error on a wet kerb) and Monza (unnecessary blocking of Timo Glock in Q1) - meaning neither man's futures are yet guaranteed. Hence Raikkonen's phone call to Enstone in the last few weeks.

The burning question though, is whether Raikkonen is serious and whether Renault believes he is serious. In F1 it is important to always realise that not everything should be taken at face value - and you always have to work out with a story what is the end-game of the people involved in it.

When a team boss comes out and says a member of his technical staff is absolutely fantastic and a key part of its success - then you have to wonder if he is not bigging him up in a bid to get him poached by someone else and off his books.

Did Brawn GP shout the name of the man who came up with the double diffuser concept? Has McLaren let us know who thought up the F-duct plan for 2010? No. Because they knew that the second they did, those men would be offered stacks of cash from rivals and lured elsewhere.

So is there a conspiracy behind Renault's confirmation that Raikkonen has approached them?

There could be reasons for doing so. By getting Raikkonen officially linked with Renault it could be a message to Petrov to get his (and perhaps some sponsors') act together as soon as possible. Equally, it could be sent out to gee up a few potential sponsors who are pondering committing themselves to the French car manufacturer for 2011 and would stump up some extra cash if Raikkonen was a possibility.

Equally there could be no conspiracy at all. The situation could be exactly as Renault says it is: Raikkonen is a possibility but everything depends on Petrov lifting his game a bit more.

The new Raikkonen-Renault development has clearly got his fans all excited, but there is a long way to go before it is going to become reality.

We do not even know if Raikkonen is serious about his F1 return. Does he really want it, or is he simply checking on his options for next year just in case he cannot find a competitive seat in the WRC? Is it a message to other F1 teams that he is interested? Is it a way to boost the money that WRC teams are willing to offer him?

There is almost certainly a money issue in F1 too - which Eric Boullier admitted was a factor. Renault will not be able to give Raikkonen anywhere near the kind of money he got used to when he raced for McLaren and Ferrari.

And ultimately, like Monza itself, the past can sometimes seem more impressive than the present. If you think of Raikkonen you remember the sensational performances - that great victory over Michael Schumacher at Spa in 2004, that amazing triumph in Japan in 2005, the world title capturing performance in Brazil 2007.

But do not forget the times when Raikkonen appeared a shadow of his former self - those all too frequent afternoons when he appeared disinterested in being an F1 driver.

So if he does come back, let's hope it is the great Kimi we once knew. For if he can rediscover the drive, determination and brilliance that he showed so often early in his F1 career, then it would be amazing.

Can you imagine Alonso v Massa v Hamilton v Button v Webber v Vettel v Kubica v Raikkonen all guns blazing going for the title. It could happen.

Renault and Kimi. You decide.