Kimi talks with Williams? - No. Signs with Lotus Renault for 2012

Hologram777

Hologram777

100
Hologram777
Hope its true...

Over the course of his nine seasons on the Formula One grid, Kimi Raikkonen only drove for a handful of teams, making his debut with Sauber before switching to McLaren in only his second season, then to Ferrari after five seasons for another three more that included his solitary World Championship. But since his departure two years ago, the Finnish driver has been linked to more teams than he ever drove for in the first place.

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/09/19/raikkonen-negotiating-f1-return-with-williams/
 
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gogatrs
Would be nice if it was in a car that would put him ahead of Vettle.
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Shame there aren't any. :sly:

If I were him I'd give up. Teams by now should know that if the car isn't competitive, he isn't gonna bother trying. He has zero charisma, and a fairly lazy attitude to racing, even if he can be bloody fast from time to time.
 
Hologram777
that sir is a personal opinion and i do believe he does
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And you no doubt think that Raikkonen can simply step into a Red Bull after two years without racing an open-wheel car - and challenge Vettel for the title when nobody else can despite having no experience of the Pirelli tyres, DRS, an actual workable KERS system (the F60 was horrible) or cars without refuelling.

We haven't done individual threads for separate driver transfers in the past. There is no need to start now.
 
i dont, hes been out for years but to make a possible comeback to Williams and bring $$ and big name sponsorship i think it can challenge him and the team and it would be very interesting to try and bring back the team from where it is now.
 
interludes
And you no doubt think that Raikkonen can simply step into a Red Bull after two years without racing an open-wheel car - and challenge Vettel for the title when nobody else can despite having no experience of the Pirelli tyres, DRS, an actual workable KERS system (the F60 was horrible) or cars without refuelling.

We haven't done individual threads for separate driver transfers in the past. There is no need to start now.
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You have a point, it would undoubtedly take some getting used to, but considering how Raikkonen is, it shouldn't take him too long to acclimatise. Also, regarding the F60's KERS system, while it was very unreliable initially, the entire car was pretty unreliable at first, they did sort that out, and I do believe they had a pretty good KERS system later on in the season, or at least, considering they seemed to both get slightly faster starts off the grid than even McLaren, no worse than theirs.
 
Peter.
the entire car was pretty unreliable at first, they did sort that out,
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No, they didn't. They gave up. McLaren had a bad car in 2009, but managed to turn it around to the point where they had the second-best car on the grid at the end of the season (behind Red Bull). Ferrari, however, abandoned development of the F60 and concentrated on the 2010 car; at the end of the season, they only had the fourth-best car (behind Red Bull, McLaren and Brawn).

Anyway, this is off-topic.
 
Kimi competitive?

Facts:

1. In 2005 Räikkönen equalled the record of wins in a single season without winning the World Title (7), shared with four time World Champion Alain Prost, who initially set the record in 1984 and matched it in 1988, and also with Michael Schumacher, in 2006.

2. In the 2005 and 2008 seasons, he equalled Michael Schumacher's record of 10 fastest race laps in a season, set in 2004.

3. In 2008, Räikkönen scored six consecutive fastest race laps (in Spain, Turkey, Monaco, Canada, France and Britain), equalling Alberto Ascari's record for the most consecutive fastest laps in a single season and placing him one behind Ascari's overall record of seven consecutive fastest laps (which were split across two seasons: six in 1952 and one in 1953).

4. He was the first driver to win on his Ferrari debut since Nigel Mansell at the 1989 Brazilian Grand Prix and the first to win, set the fastest lap and pole position on his Ferrari debut since Juan Manuel Fangio at the 1956 Argentine Grand Prix. His replacement Fernando Alonso also won on his Ferrari debut at the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix, setting the fastest lap on the way; however Alonso only qualified 3rd.

5. Following Michael Schumacher's retirement at the end of 2006, Räikkönen was the highest paid driver in Formula One, with a reputed base salary of $51 m per year.

6. The 2007 Chinese Grand Prix saw Räikkönen give Scuderia Ferrari their 200th Formula One GP win, as well as their 600th podium (along with team-mate Felipe Massa who finished in 3rd).At the 2008 French Grand Prix Räikkönen gave Ferrari their 200th pole position.

7. Räikkönen is the second driver to win the World Championship after being third in the drivers standings before the final race. Giuseppe Farina, the first F1 World Champion, was the first to do this in 1950, beating Juan Manuel Fangio by three points and Luigi Fagioli by six points. Sebastian Vettel repeated this feat in 2010, when he won the championship at the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

8. Räikkönen is the third Ferrari driver after Juan Manuel Fangio and Jody Scheckter to win the world title in their first year with the team.

9. Räikkönen is the third Finnish driver to win the World Championship, after Keke Rosberg and Mika Häkkinen. He is also the most successful Finnish Formula One driver in terms of points, podium finishes and fastest laps.

10. Räikkönen also holds the record for the most wins in a debut year with Ferrari with 6, beating Alain Prost's previous record of 5 from 1990.

11. Räikkönen also holds a title in the FIA hall of fame for Formula 1 drivers.


I think hes more competitive than any wannabe f1 driver out there. Who does he have to compete with? Bruno? ha thats a joke. Its simple logic. Kimi can pretty much get into any team he wants guaranteed.... the only thing that's different is the contract information. Obv, Red Bull wont pay him $40 mil plus for a contract. But if Kimi wanted to go cheap he could easily drive for them.
 
Thank you Dr. Wikipedia. But it still doesn't change the fact that he's been out of F1 for two years. And his last season in F1 wasn't exactly his greatest drive. And not to mention his lack of motivation.

And saying Bruno Senna is a "wannabe F1 driver" is just laughable.
 
corporatesteve
Kimi can pretty much get into any team he wants guaranteed.
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No, he can't. It's been two years since he last raced in Formula 1. And he spent two two years in the WRC, which is about as far away from Formula 1 as you can get whilst still being in motorsport. Kimi's skills will need to be sharpened and his focus will need to come back - we've already seen that with Michael Schumacher, who was much more competitive than Raikkonen. Raikkonen is not going to step into a car and be instantly competitive. He's going to have to find his way.

And while his past success is not in question, his current motivation is. Sceptics see his forays into rallying, NASCAR and Le Mans testing as being experiments with new forms of motorsport. But he's quickly lost interest in them when he hasn't experienced instant success. He probably wasn't expecting to be fighting Sebastien Loeb for rally wins, but he probably wasn't expecting the difference in speed between them to be so vast. If Raikkonen loses interest quickly when things don't go his way, he'd be better off staying out of Formula 1 altogether. Because otherwise, he's just going to waste everyone's time.

corporatesteve
Obv, Red Bull wont pay him $40 mil plus for a contract. But if Kimi wanted to go cheap he could easily drive for them.
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Except for the fact that Red Bull's driver line-up is already locked in for 2012, and they're not so far out of their minds that they'd recruit Raikkonen after two years on the sidelines. And they've got a whole host of potential drivers lined up; they're not all falling over one another at Milton Keynes shouting "OhmygodKimiRaikkonenwehavetohavehim!". Raikkonen would have, at most, a year to prove himself, but Williams will want him for a lot longer (they'll need at least two to reclaim lost ground) and Helmut Marko can still say no (since the popular belief is that he doesn't want anyone who can threaten Vettel). It has to be said; the idea that Raikkonen can simply return to the sport and race for Red Bull is nothing more than an fanboy's pipe dream.
 
At this point, I'd probably rank Webber higher than Raikkonen, or at least pretty damn close. With the exception of the frequent bogged starts, Webber is probably one of the most consistent drivers in the field.
 
It's difficult to rank anyone again Raikkonen, because all our information is two years out of date. Like I said ealier, he's never raced fuel-heavy cars, he's never raced with Pirelli tyres, he's never raced with DRS, and he's never raced with the current KERS systems. The idea that he can just show up and race - and be competitive - is ridiculous. If Williams do indeed sign him up, half their winter testing program will involve getting him up to date on the rule changes.
 
Hologram777
Hope its true...

Over the course of his nine seasons on the Formula One grid, Kimi Raikkonen only drove for a handful of teams, making his debut with Sauber before switching to McLaren in only his second season, then to Ferrari after five seasons for another three more that included his solitary World Championship. But since his departure two years ago, the Finnish driver has been linked to more teams than he ever drove for in the first place.

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/09/19/raikkonen-negotiating-f1-return-with-williams/
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lot's of the posts about f1 are fake

but I think this is probably fake because Kimi has stated he is not coming back to F1 but I guess if it was a seat in 1 of the top 3 teams then he would but its unlikely that he is coming back with Williams with its current performance , they are just too way behind even the top teams top 3 and top 2 teams are behind the top 1 , I don't see Williams being a winning team in at least 3 years time , I mean williams was a winning team but only when Adrian Newey was the engineer and Adrian Newey is now secured with redbull and if Kimi left F1 because of either fernando alonso or if he's just done with it then I don't see him coming back on a williams seat and I am doubtful on a redbull seat because first of all redbull gives priority to redbull drivers and second of all , it would be most likely be hamilton whose getting a seat if Webber in the future leaves or gets replaced.
 
Enzo309
but I think this is probably fake because Kimi has stated he is not coming back to F1 but I guess if it was a seat in 1 of the top 3 teams then he would
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In 2009, he said he wanted a team that could challenge for a championship. Which was completely unrealistic because no team could guarantee a championship challenge six months before the season actually began. And that was two years ago - a lot has changed.

Enzo309
but its unlikely that he is coming back with Williams with its current performance , they are just too way behind even the top teams top 3 and top 2 teams are behind the top 1
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There is absolutely no way Raikkonen can expect to drive for one of the top three teams, least of all because their 2012 line-ups are already confirmed. And Raikkonen knows it. The rules have changed so much since Raikkonen left - improved KERS, DRS, Pirelli tyres and fuel-heavy laods, and that's not counting the way he is out of practice in open-wheel racing cars - that he would have to spend a year with a lower-tier team before the front-runners even gave him the time of day. And Raikkonen knows that, too. Contrary to the belief of many of his fans, Raikkonen cannot simply step into a car and be instantly competitive.

Enzo309
I don't see Williams being a winning team in at least 3 years time , I mean williams was a winning team but only when Adrian Newey was the engineer and Adrian Newey is now secured with redbull and if Kimi left F1 because of either fernando alonso or if he's just done with it then I don't see him coming back on a williams seat
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When Raikkonen left in 2009, he was visibly bored with the sport. Winning no longer meant anything to him, so he went elsewhere. That's not going to suddenly change - Raikkonen would need some added incentive. Restoring Williams' former glory might hold some appeal.

Enzo309
I am doubtful on a redbull seat because first of all redbull gives priority to redbull drivers and second of all , it would be most likely be hamilton whose getting a seat if Webber in the future leaves or gets replaced.
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Raikkonen was never going to get a Red Bull seat. It was never an option. It was just an idea propogated by Raikkonen's fans who didn't want to see him leave and overstated his abilities behind the wheel. Raikkonen's 2009 season was absolutely abysmal; he gave no reason why he should return to the sport at all, much less with Red Bull.
 
astrosdude91
Thank you Dr. Wikipedia. But it still doesn't change the fact that he's been out of F1 for two years. And his last season in F1 wasn't exactly his greatest drive. And not to mention his lack of motivation.

And saying Bruno Senna is a "wannabe F1 driver" is just laughable.
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Thats funny, becuase im actually stating facts. DR. " Im talking out of my ass because my personal opinion is greater than the facts presented"
 
prisonermonkeys
Raikkonen was never going to get a Red Bull seat. It was never an option. It was just an idea propogated by Raikkonen's fans who didn't want to see him leave and overstated his abilities behind the wheel. Raikkonen's 2009 season was absolutely abysmal; he gave no reason why he should return to the sport at all, much less with Red Bull.
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The 2009 Ferrari was simply uncompetitive. It was kind of like last year's Renault or Mercedes. It's difficult to shine in a car like that; one that can't challenge for wins at most venues but you stay ahead of the midfield far enough for people to think you're under-performing when you don't get a podium finish.

I do like Raikkonen, but I agree that he can't come back to the sport and be competitive right away. Williams have other prospects who are already in F1. Possibilites include (But are not limited to) Senna, Sutil, Hulkenberg, Heidfeld and Ricciardo. I guess Kobayashi is also a possibility if he loses his Sauber seat (Doubtful) and Grosjean is a possibility. Not to mention that Barrichello is a proven driver and they could just keep him on for next year.

It would be a gamble by Williams to take on Raikkonen. It is difficult to predict whether the gamble would pay off. Being so down on pace means perhaps they should go with the most financially viable option to give them more funds to develop their car. Obviously throwing money at development isn't the only thing they need, but I think driver-wise they could be sorted. Maldonado looked like an amateur at the beginning of the season and with the exception of his run-in with Lewis at Spa, he's transformed himself into a very good driver. Williams need to sort out the problems with their car before they can come close to challenging the title, so you have to ask yourself, is Raikkonen the guy for the job? Probably not... But with new regs coming in in 2013 or 2014, it couldn't hurt really as they would only get one season under their belt before they have to start from scratch anyway.
 
Hologram777
that sir is a personal opinion and i do believe he does
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You should probably listen to prisonermonkeys seeing as he is informing you of the Forum rules that you obviously don't seem to be aware of due to you making this thread, though this topic is somewhere as said by others. However, ignore ops at your own risk
 
corporatesteve
Thats funny, becuase im actually stating facts. DR. " Im talking out of my ass because my personal opinion is greater than the facts presented"
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You can throw insults around if you want, but my point still stands...
 

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