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

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Re: Speculation-thread: Will Kimi be in WRC or F1 next seaso

Post by Vida » 28 Sep 2010, 02:39

SpaMaster wrote:
I am going out on a limp and say something. I think Webber may not drive for Red Bull next year. If he wins the WDC he might retire, and he might have probably told the team about it. If he does not win, he would probably be fired. So the team knows either way Webber won't be there, and they may have contacted Kimi for an F1 seat next year. An offer too good to resist for the second time for Kimi? Particularly having gone through the rigours of WRC, he knows what it takes to reach the top there.

If Webber loses the title from here, Red Bull is not going to be happy. He has had what one minor mechanical issue in the fastest car this year? That gear box change in Canada where he was back to front from P7 in no time any way after the race started. So, with almost no reliability issues, and considering how much he has slated the team in public, I won't be surprised if Red Bull decides to let him go after the season.
why would he retired if he wins WDC...? he might have so many offer from other team.. the possibility is that he move to other team...

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Re: Speculation-thread: Will Kimi be in WRC or F1 next seaso

Post by icemaid » 28 Sep 2010, 02:49

''hmm'' just like Button taking his no.1 away to McLaren...

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Re: Speculation-thread: Will Kimi be in WRC or F1 next seaso

Post by brendakarli » 28 Sep 2010, 02:57

Vida,

webber was saying in the media that he is already 34 years old and to go to another team next year does not appeal to him; to have to start knowing a new team etc...so he is sending a strong message to RB that he is there until the end of his career. I was thinking webber was so nice to say these "RB stuck with me when I was injured" things earlier but after reading Marko's comments - that Kimi said he prefered to rally in 2010, then perhaps this sends to webber that he was def being considered for replacement during the period of his accident/recovery and they only stuck with him cos kimi chose to rally....just trying to figure out why they extended his contract for 2011 if they were still waiting for kimi in 2011...this just makes me feel queasy - cos I wouldn't want webber to leave under similar circumstances that kimi did

I would say that - and if this sounds negative about kimi - kimi prob made the decision to rally for a number of reasons, one he gets to do his hobby is for a whole year which is like a vacation; two, he gets to keep all the 2010 money by going to some other motorsport; three, he can take this 2010 oppportunity to see if he can switch to rally full time. I believe both RB and Kimi may have agreed to give each other space in this sense, that both sides may reconsider their positions for 2011.

For all we know, webber may be paid off to retire if he wins the WDC or he may be fired for failing in the best car (since vettel's has been compromised by reliability more often than webber's and with his experience, he should be much further in front compared to vettel but he isn't). But he did add that he is a man of his word. I believe this is to tell RB that he hopes they r a company of their words too - unlike some other team(s).


I actually think Fernando will win it this year with ferrari's late charge. He has won it several times before and is better able to keep his cool in check more than webber. Just look at when happened in the last race between webs and hammy...
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Re: Speculation-thread: Will Kimi be in WRC or F1 next seaso

Post by SpaMaster » 28 Sep 2010, 03:09

Vida wrote:
SpaMaster wrote:
I am going out on a limp and say something. I think Webber may not drive for Red Bull next year. If he wins the WDC he might retire, and he might have probably told the team about it. If he does not win, he would probably be fired. So the team knows either way Webber won't be there, and they may have contacted Kimi for an F1 seat next year. An offer too good to resist for the second time for Kimi? Particularly having gone through the rigours of WRC, he knows what it takes to reach the top there.

If Webber loses the title from here, Red Bull is not going to be happy. He has had what one minor mechanical issue in the fastest car this year? That gear box change in Canada where he was back to front from P7 in no time any way after the race started. So, with almost no reliability issues, and considering how much he has slated the team in public, I won't be surprised if Red Bull decides to let him go after the season.
why would he retired if he wins WDC...? he might have so many offer from other team.. the possibility is that he move to other team...
Because he himself has hinted so. Moreover, he has talked about old age, not wanting to carry on for long, fire in the stomach, etc.
Curious case of Kimi Raikkonen..

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Re: Speculation-thread: Will Kimi be in WRC or F1 next seaso

Post by bourbon » 28 Sep 2010, 03:14

Boudica wrote:
SpaMaster wrote:
sammyosammy wrote: The RBR-part above..somehow I have this childish trust on Robertsons and Kimster. And mr. Marko only answered to me this evening; they are bounded, bounded big time. The man who gave the interview to MTV3 was not the angry bear we´ve read earlier comments from. That is for sure.

I also had a very strong dream some days ago. Can´t really tell what it was all about since don´t remember it that good. It was not sexistic, not a nightmare but a very strong one.. there were storms and stuff like that but I wasn´t afraid of anything and for anyone :)

What it comes to Apple, I´ll PM You..
Okay, some crazy stuff happening in the world of Kimi. Marko comes out and says they wanted Kimi to drive for their F1 team in 2010 and Kimi was the one who insisted to go rallying. Now, this news on Kimi's site.

As much as I think Kimi wants to succeed in rally and go for a second year, I think he has some reservation on how far he could go. At this moment he is far behind as expected, but may be he realizes this is very difficult having seen it first hand.

I am going out on a limp and say something. I think Webber may not drive for Red Bull next year. If he wins the WDC he might retire, and he might have probably told the team about it. If he does not win, he would probably be fired. So the team knows either way Webber won't be there, and they may have contacted Kimi for an F1 seat next year. An offer too good to resist for the second time for Kimi? Particularly having gone through the rigours of WRC, he knows what it takes to reach the top there.

If Webber loses the title from here, Red Bull is not going to be happy. He has had what one minor mechanical issue in the fastest car this year? That gear box change in Canada where he was back to front from P7 in no time any way after the race started. So, with almost no reliability issues, and considering how much he has slated the team in public, I won't be surprised if Red Bull decides to let him go after the season.
Yes, this might just be a real possibility. Red Bull actually might have a bit of a problem, people tend to forget that they also had a very fast car last year, if Lewis, Alonso or Kimi were driving that car they might actually have won the championship. This year they have the best car, if their drivers cant win the WDC with the best car at their disposal how are they ever going to do it? Next year year Mclaren or Ferrari might have better cars, then they will be totally lost, they would need someone who can fight against Lewis and Alonso. Whether other people like to admit it or not, the truth is that Kimi is the only one who has managed to beat them on equal footing. I like Vettel but I think he was placed in the Red Bull team to soon, he needs time to mature. But irrespective of Kimi or not, if Red Bull doesn't win the championship in the best car, I expect to see some action at Red Bull.
I knew this would happen with Vettel, because it happened with Kimi at McLaren. I used to be perfectly bemused when people seemed to forget all the reliability issues Kimi was plagued with - or blamed them on him - and the race incidents that sent him from the front to back through no fault of his own. It is interesting that Vettel is getting the exact same treatment - even from some Kimi fans - lol. Oh well, I guess it is just a race fan thing to do, but it struck me as kinda funny that your post started off saying "people tend to forget". I actually smiled when I read that "Vettel was placed in the Red Bull team to[o] soon" - because if you replace "Vettel with Raikkonen" you have rewritten a pre-season 2003 article about Kimi placed in McLaren too soon, :lol:.

Anyhow, one cannot figure out the game all these big wigs are all playing with remarks about Kimi - nor does Kimi give anything away. I am just going to wait for an announcement. Speculation is fun, but I have already speculated all the different outcomes possible. Now to wait and see.
Every mile I have with the Citroen C4 WRC is giving a certain pleasure - Kimi Raikkonen
My ideal is to win the race at the slowest speed possible - Alain Prost
You should just stick with those people who are really there for you - Sebastian Vettel

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Re: Speculation-thread: Will Kimi be in WRC or F1 next seaso

Post by luieluv » 28 Sep 2010, 04:09

Hmm.. This makes it interesting only if last part of the below article from TS is to come true. This is exactly what Spa Master concluded few pages back. But Kimi's over all career seems to be in jeopardy as from this article i understand :

Kimi - Renault : Both Renault and Kimi are not keen
Kimi - Red Bull - Rally : Red Bull indeed may withdraw from the rally
Kimi - Red Bull F1 : Right now seems not under consideration but...

Webber may win the championship and could finish his career : Then probably Kimi - Red Bull F1 is a way out

a nice translation would be helpful :
http://www.ts.fi/f1/uutiset/162506.html
So its gonna be a mix of Ravishing Black and White for Kimi Raikkonen this season

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Re: Speculation-thread: Will Kimi be in WRC or F1 next seaso

Post by beefree88 » 28 Sep 2010, 07:04

Kinga wrote:
beefree88 wrote:
sleenster wrote:This is an interesting blog post:
http://motorsportsramblings.blogspot.co ... gress.html

The author does make some interesting points, but there's definitely a lot of things I disagree with in his post. For those who don't want to read anything "controversial" about Kimi, you might probably want to skip reading this.

I also hope I don't get stoned to death for posting this :pray:
Thanks for the info. I find it interesting and mostly agree with it too. I had the same thoughts about IRC. However I doubt RB would have sponsor him there. I'm not sure Kaj would have followed him there either. Also wouldn't say so early that he won't be faster. We have no real comparison, since he started his career in WRC while he's still trying to learn the very basics. Some things have to become automatic before he can concentrate on driving. That's what Latvala was talking about, and I have no reason not to believe him. Who did what and how decades back is no real comparison either. Loeb said he was actually faster this time in Japan (which was only 2 years ago), than he was last time, but the general level of competition become higher since then. There are lots of smaller and bigger differences, but my point is, that I save judgement for later. Kimi is known for being capable of doing unexpected things. Under no circumstances would I say, he's not capable of doing this or that in the future, I just try to follow his progress patiently.
Thanks for the article, it was a great read! The last sentence hurt though, like a knife in the heart. :(

I agree 100%, Beefree! :)
beefree88 wrote: I have my doubts too. If I would watch him only for enjoying his success, I'd definitely hope, he'll stop possibly making a fool of himself by taking up an impossible challenge. However I'm equally sure that he would kick himself later if he lets the chance of realizing his dream pass without even trying. The Kimi I know and respect is not like that. I remember young Kimi coming to the holy world of F1 claiming that he can be just as good as King Schumacher is, and believing it too. Considering his inexperience it sounded extremely arrogant. Yet this same strong confidence and accompanied tenacity was the added ingredient that lifted him above other talented drivers, who had more experience, or better background. The guy is basically trained and brought up to rise above the hindraces he had all his life one way or another. Started from fighting with his two years older brother, through weaker equipment, to unreliable car, painful accidents, or unfitting car. Sauber (I think it was him) described him as somebody who could break through a brick wall to reach his goal, and he had a point. The first and most important step to reach high goals is to believe you can reach them, whatever happens around you.
Fantastic post!!!! :shhh: Such nice words and so true! :)
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Még a könyvbe is beleírhatnánk. :O
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Minden szavát vállalom, de ez nem feltétlenül olyasmi, amit személyesen az érintettnek mondanék el :) Esetleg átfogalmazva, de nem tudom, akkor mi maradna belőle. Mire a kezébe kerül, előfordulhat, hogy le is zárul a pályafutása.
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Re: Speculation-thread: Will Kimi be in WRC or F1 next seaso

Post by Kinga » 28 Sep 2010, 07:21

beefree88 wrote:
Off-Topic: show
Minden szavát vállalom, de ez nem feltétlenül olyasmi, amit személyesen az érintettnek mondanék el :) Esetleg átfogalmazva, de nem tudom, akkor mi maradna belőle. Mire a kezébe kerül, előfordulhat, hogy le is zárul a pályafutása.
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Jaj, csak azt ne!!! :fear:

Egyébként nagyjából ezt írtad az üzenetedben is, úgyhogy így szerintem szuper. :)
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Re: Speculation-thread: Will Kimi be in WRC or F1 next seaso

Post by beefree88 » 28 Sep 2010, 08:00

sleenster wrote:I am going to be sooooooo pissed off if he drags this out until like a week before the F1 or WRC season is about to start, then announces that he's retiring from racing completely.
Well, he said he would have decided already, but it's not just up to him. Better be prepared to anything though.
So nothing new, that's Kimi for you. Never boring and simple. Perfect scenario for a soap opera :p
I always said he's a PR goldmine.They just never came to even close to utilize the possibility, because they were too busy to mold him to their expectations instead of playing to the opportunities his personality offers
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Re: Speculation-thread: Will Kimi be in WRC or F1 next seaso

Post by beefree88 » 28 Sep 2010, 08:18

luieluv wrote:
square wrote:Hi guys, I'm new to this forum :wave: been reading for a while and finally decided to register :blush:

I've found this german article by a columnist and there's a paragraph about Kimi's future; I translated it but there are some parts that I don't get respectively are new to me...

http://www.motorsport-total.com/f1/news ... 92714.html
"He's never going to come back to Formula 1", I was told by a well informed acquaintance with a central european passport. "Renault just brought the Robertsons' approach up to make pressure on Petrov who hadn't payed his second rate." And few days later a russian sponsor showed up and the rumours about Räikkönen went silent. Coincidence?
Red Bull doesn't even want to let the "Iceman" test. "The testing restrictions are so harsh that we need to use every single kilometre for the drivers we have under contract", Helmut Marko explains. Red Bull is also disappointed with the publicity created by Räikkönen and therefore they are even thinking about not to sponsor his career in Rally anymore. So Kimi can choose: He either picks MINI or he knocks at Monster-Ford's door - or his austrain firend Willi Opitz sends him few bottles Silver Lake wine and he takes care of saving his marriage with Jenni.
Maybe I missed something, but the testing part is completely new to me, and I also don't know who that central european acquaintance might be... :huh:

Also don't know how reliable this might be, but I thought it could be interesting to share with you...
welcome square. The testing part is that kimi has already used his 15 days of allotted period of testing during the season in WRC. I guess this person seems unaware of this and has concluded that Red Bull does not want Iceman want to test. This is utter garbage of a thought from that german columnist. Ideally very few F1 columnist actually have sligltest idea of the WRC happenings. even some one like Jonathan noble did not want to respond to a rally related question regarding kimi and he said only david evans who is their rally man would be able to talk about that.

I mean thats a level of professionalism and being true to your knowledge of that particular sport. I wonder this chap does know the proceedings in WRC.
He might have referring to F1. Marko was asked if RB F1 gave Kmi an opportunity to test their car, and he said, that they need to use all of their allowed days/kilometers for their current drivers
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Re: Speculation-thread: Will Kimi be in WRC or F1 next seaso

Post by Julia » 28 Sep 2010, 08:22

wow, the speculations are going hot again... but nice that marco opend his mouth this time maybe a little bit more positive, hopefully he could one day he could correct some information about Kimi also to the international press... about the RBR seat they offered Kimi and he said no to... I think there is a missunderstanding here. Atleast Robertson admitted to kulta about it last spring but the RBR seat Kimi was offered in summer 2009 was not a seat 2010 but 2011, so they/marko were not planning to put anybody out back then either....

... but what is it about Kulta and this dome day prediction that RB would draw all its money away from Rally... sounds very strange.. OK they are maybe not interested to put as much money as before but to take away everything is quite strange...

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Re: Speculation-thread: Will Kimi be in WRC or F1 next seaso

Post by beefree88 » 28 Sep 2010, 08:27

square wrote:
sleenster wrote:square, did you see this article? What does it say?

http://www.motorsport-total.com/rallye/ ... 92405.html
Nothing new, they are speculating about WRC, a break or retirement. They ruled out Formula 1 because Gerard Lopez doesn't want to pay Kimi high salary and Renault just wanted to set Petrov under pressure.
It says that Red Bull isn't happy with his first season and might stop to sponsor him, but that he and Kaj still have many doors open, such as Monster or Mini.
They quoted Kimi; "I'm having fun but I still haven't decided what to do in my future" and that he isn't in a hurry to decide.
The article also quotes someone saying "Kimi's thoughts are somewhere else" and that he has problemes concerning his private life.

I don't know why they stick so much to his private life, are they referring to that blackmailing thing? :confused:
He's perfectly right about one thing:
Und wer den "Iceman" kennt, der weiß, dass er immer für eine unkonventionelle und unerwartete Entscheidung gut ist...

Knowing Kimi , he might come up with an unconventional and unexpected decision.
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Re: Speculation-thread: Will Kimi be in WRC or F1 next seaso

Post by rko281 » 28 Sep 2010, 08:42

Julia wrote: ... but what is it about Kulta and this dome day prediction that RB would draw all its money away from Rally... sounds very strange.. OK they are maybe not interested to put as much money as before but to take away everything is quite strange...
I didn't understand that RedBull will withdraw from rally, what I understood from all the articles and Marko's comments is that maybe they won't put big money anymore (like the money spent on Kimi's seat). I think they will continue sponsoring Citroen, but as a regular sponsor. For now their big investments should be in F1, not in the current world of rally with so little coverage.

But, I fear that they might not win WDC or WCC in F1 so even after having such a great car this year, they might not get the money for the 1st place in WCC. I guess they are waiting for the final results of this season in F1 before making some big decisions (I guess this is what Marko said about focusing now on F1 because they MUST win a title this year, or .... ).

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Re: Speculation-thread: Will Kimi be in WRC or F1 next seaso

Post by luieluv » 28 Sep 2010, 08:58

Renault willing to meet with Raikkonen

By Jonathan Noble Tuesday, September 28th 2010, 08:42 GMT

Renault team principal Eric Boullier wants to meet face-to-face with Kimi Raikkonen to get a better understanding of how keen the Finn is to return to Formula 1, as the French manufacturer continues evaluating slotting him in alongside Robert Kubica in 2011.

As AUTOSPORT revealed after the Italian Grand Prix, Raikkonen and Renault made contact earlier this month to discuss the possibility of a tie-up for next year - with such a deal having been off the cards earlier this year.

And although Renault has made no secret of the fact that current driver Vitaly Petrov can still retain his seat if he shows signs of improvement, the outfit is still weighing up the pros and cons of taking Raikkonen.

But before it will consider entering serious negotiations with Raikkonen and his management team, Boullier has said he wants to know for sure that the former world champion is fully motivated for a comeback.

And to do that, Boullier thinks he must meet Raikkonen face-to-face so he can see for himself whether there is a genuine hunger to find F1 success with Renault.

"It is definitely getting closer to when we will make a decision," Boullier told AUTOSPORT. "But we really want to consider all of the options.

"I decided to tell some drivers that we will not carry on discussions with them, so we know wait and see - but Kimi remains one of our scenarios.

"I have said many times that I want to meet with him first before we do anything more. I want to understand more about his wish to come back."

With Petrov having made another qualifying mistake in Singapore, after spinning out of Q2 and damaging his car, Boullier admitted that he had not yet seen enough to convince him the Russian is the right man for his team in 2011.

"It is still frustrating because he keeps doing mistakes," explained Boullier. "We put a lot of pressure on him and definitely he was not on the pace on Friday but he was there on Saturday.

"He qualified 13th with a crash in Q2, so it was a strange situation. The race could have been good, but he opened up a little bit too much the door and [Nico] Hulkenberg did a kamikaze move on him. It is racing, and it was unfortunate."

When asked whether the decision on Petrov rested on commercial factors or performance, Boullier said: "It is definitely not a money issue. It is only the understanding for him to fit in F1 - and for us to give as much support as we need to give him to make sure he could be, shall I say, a decent second driver to score points next year.

"If Robert is fighting like now for fifth position and Petrov can finish seventh or eighth then that is fine. This is what we expect from a young driver. And it means his learning curve is still improving. If he is already at the limit, then it is a different matter."
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/87045
Just when we thought Renault - Kimi Raikkonen was more of a publicity stunt.. we come to know that Boullier seems seriously keen.. :lol: :lol:

Another twist may be
So its gonna be a mix of Ravishing Black and White for Kimi Raikkonen this season

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Re: Speculation-thread: Will Kimi be in WRC or F1 next seaso

Post by Boudica » 28 Sep 2010, 09:00

rko281 wrote:
Julia wrote: ... but what is it about Kulta and this dome day prediction that RB would draw all its money away from Rally... sounds very strange.. OK they are maybe not interested to put as much money as before but to take away everything is quite strange...
I didn't understand that RedBull will withdraw from rally, what I understood from all the articles and Marko's comments is that maybe they won't put big money anymore (like the money spent on Kimi's seat). I think they will continue sponsoring Citroen, but as a regular sponsor. For now their big investments should be in F1, not in the current world of rally with so little coverage.

But, I fear that they might not win WDC or WCC in F1 so even after having such a great car this year, they might not get the money for the 1st place in WCC. I guess they are waiting for the final results of this season in F1 before making some big decisions (I guess this is what Marko said about focusing now on F1 because they MUST win a title this year, or .... ).
Yes, these are my thought as well, Red Bull will not just abandon WRC. But right now there biggest focus is F1, they are waiting to see how the championship turns out, everything might be resting on the championship results, and they expect to win or else...
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