Lotus eager to tie Raikkonen down

[Dare]

From Planet F1

One part of me wants Kimi to remain at Lotus and the other
part wants him to go to RB just to see how Vettel and he
get along


Lotus Team Principal Eric Boullier has confirmed that wants Kimi Raikkonen to remain with the team for another season.

Raikkonen is one of the favourites to join Red Bull next year after Mark Webber revealed that he will leave the reigning Constructors' Champions at the end of the year.

"Two years in a row we have closed the gap with Red Bull. He wants to know if we will keep going like that," Boullier told BBC Sport.

"We are in discussions about the technical package we'll have.

"He is mature enough to decide for himself what is the right thing to do.

"There are some upsides to going to Red Bull and some downsides as well."

After nine races of the 19-Grands Prix season, the Finn currently lies in third place on the Drivers' Championship, 41 points behind Sebastian Vettel but only nine behind long-time rival Fernando Alonso.

One of Raikkonen's concerns seems to be about the loss of highly rated technical director James Allison, who is set to join Ferrari.

Boullier also revealed that Lotus was late in paying the former world champion's salary, but confirmed that the Finn's wages are up to date now.

"It was paid late, yes," Boullier added.

"But it has been paid. We have to if we want to keep him."

Raikkonen has won 20 grands prix during his career and will be a fast, consistent rival to Vettel, but questions remain about his ability to engage with designers technically, a characteristic Red Bull seemingly values highly.

While Lotus is keen on Raikkonen staying on, doubts remain about the future of team-mate Romain Grosjean.

While Grosjean outpaced his more illustrious team-mate at times during the German Grand Prix, doubts about his temperament remain after a crash-strewn debut full season in 2012.

However, Grosjean's presence brings a guaranteed sponsorship from oil company Total with it, rumoured to be in the region of Ģ5million per year.

[Jericoke]

How disappointing.  No pictures of Kimi tied to a bed. 

Um, where was I?

I would both like to see Kimi going head to head in an RBR with Vettel, but also to see Enstone continue to grow around Kimi.  Given that RBR officially doesn't like 'head to head' teammates, I guess that's ruled out.  Even if Kimi wins the first 9 races of the season, does anyone envision Vettel backing off to 'support' Kimi?  (And to be honest, vice versa.  Would Kimi really go to RBR just to follow team orders?)

So I guess staying at Enstone would be the most entertaining choice for me.

[Scott]

If Kimi goes to RBR (or anywhere for that matter), I seriously doubt he would follow any team orders until he had no chance for the WDC himself.

[John S]

  Given that RBR officially doesn't like 'head to head' teammates, I guess that's ruled out.  Even if Kimi wins the first 9 races of the season, does anyone envision Vettel backing off to 'support' Kimi?  (And to be honest, vice versa.  Would Kimi really go to RBR just to follow team orders?)

I'm not sure that is true Jeri, Herr Marko would like us and everyone else to believe it, he also tries to convince us their is a clear No 1 and No 2. I don't think  Mateschitz, or Horner, are bothered by ranking drivers and head to head battles - so long as the fight remains clean and doesn't allow rivals to get the jump on the team.

It's common knowledge that Marko's choice is one of the Red Bull development drivers, but then I guess he has to be since he is in charge of the driver development programme.    So either Marko is saying something else behind closed doors or Kimi is the on the red Bull owner or team principals list. Ergo If Kimi is held in high regard by Mateschitz or Horner then clearly there can be no real anti competition bias between teamates at RBR. 

[Irisado]

It's no surprise that Lotus wants to keep Raikkonen.  If the car performs consistently well in the next few races, they may well have a good chance to do so, because I believe that Raikkonen is on a good deal there regarding external commitments, such as sponsorship work, and I'm not convinced that he could work out such a favourable deal for his own personal preference at Red Bull.

[John S]

It's no surprise that Lotus wants to keep Raikkonen.  If the car performs consistently well in the next few races, they may well have a good chance to do so, because I believe that Raikkonen is on a good deal there regarding external commitments, such as sponsorship work, and I'm not convinced that he could work out such a favourable deal for his own personal preference at Red Bull.

Yeah but he stands a much much better chance of another WDC at Red Bull. By now Kimi will have amassed more money than you or I can only dream about, for him and other top F1 drivers it's all about the Crown and the Glory not being a well paid runner up, even at the cost of their individual preferences.
 
Kimi is not going to stay at the top of his game for too many more years so he's got to get into the right car or stay a one time champ.

 

[Willy]

Kimi has never made any bones about just wanting a competitive car and to be left to just race. If is is given these things, he is happy.
Oh, and no sponsorship promo crap.

If he feels Lotus can give him that, he will stay, if not , he will leave.
RB will ask more of him then he wants and put other pressure on him due to their obvious backing of everything Seb.
Kimi will be better served to stay with Lotus and help them grow.

[Monty]

My guesses are no better than anyone else's regarding if he will go to RBR or not but if he does, I think he will face a really tough time.
It is clear that the 'real' boss in the racing team is Marko and he has a direct line to Mateschitz to ensure he gets his way. He will always favour his German golden boy Vettel which means Kimi will be a number two driver. Now I believe Kimi could outdrive Vettel under many circumstances but I just do not believe he would be allowed to. In my opinion it will not be team orders that hold him back but lots of unseen and mysterious technical issues (poor starts, loss of Kers, bad pit calls). Yes I know it all sounds like a conspiracy theory but I believe these are real tactics they applied to Webber.

[vintly]

I hope Kimi goes to Red Bull, partly to witness the awesome prospect of two of the best drivers in the best car. Although it might not be the best car of course, what with all the changes to come in 2014. That aside, I'm also intrigued to see if they manage to get on - it has the all the ingredients to go horribly wrong, which would make for fantastic intrigue and drama, in my view at least. Kimi might not struggle against Vettel, but anyone who thinks he'll simply out-drive him is mistaken. Sure Vettel is favoured at Red Bull, as he should be, why favour the slower guy? Vettel's a class act, on a run for a 4th WDC. Ok there's more to it, maybe he has the better engineers, more technical support etc, but conspiracy theories like loss of KERS and bad starts for Webber? Come on. Vettel's had his share of unreliability over the last few seasons, but granted not as bad luck as Webber. Bad luck and poor starts is much more likely than a conspiracy.

I'm not so sure it's the right thing for Red Bull however. Kimi's getting on a bit, might not want to be around for long especially if he's not in with a sniff of a championship. I think they should go for young talent, but not Ricciardo. Hulkenberg represents a better option for the future I think.

Back to Kimi, where should he go? I think he's better off staying at Lotus, where he's clearly no. 1, and seemingly happy with the PR commitment level. The car's quick, they just need to convince him to stay. As much as I'd like to see him race Vettel, I don't think it's best for him. But what do I know.

[lkjohnson1950]

Seb is ANYTHING BUT a class act. And though I'm not a conspiracy nut, all the stuff that happens to Mark is suspicious to me.

[John S]

I have to join Vintly on his assessment of Vettel, I would use the words hugely talented rather than class act though. History in F1 shows that it's not a given that the driver in the best car will become WDC, in fact there is plenty of evidence to the contrary. Seb is equal to any of the top drivers on the grid at the moment, he may even be better - my only worry is he does so much of his winning from the front, - wow what a bad fault! 

On the conspiracy theory over Mark's bad luck, I always take the view that the simplest explanation is usually the right one - much harder to keep all the ducks in a row when a group of people is being devious. sh*t just happens and pays no mind to what & whom it effects.

[Ian]

Vettel's good, no doubt about that, but I personally rate Fernando and Kimi as better than Vettel. I think Willy is right about all the promo crap, just can't see Kimi being happy with that.

[Scott]

I'm with you Ian.  Certainly Alonso, and I would say Kimi is at least as good as Vettel.

I'm not so sure how much promo time Red Bull really make their drivers go through.  Maybe I'm in the wrong country, but I would say I can count the ads I've seen Vettel in on one hand.

Besides, a driver can negotiate the way they want.  If money is less important than free time, I bet RBR is also flexible on the promo stuff, and as I've said before, if Kimi is asked to perform something that he doesn't want to, he simply has to behave as himself, and he surely won't be asked to do many more.   

[Jericoke]

Vettel's good, no doubt about that, but I personally rate Fernando and Kimi as better than Vettel. I think Willy is right about all the promo crap, just can't see Kimi being happy with that.

There are certainly many aspects to being a 'great' Formula One driver.  Certainly skill on the track would appear to be a key factor, but let's not forget that getting into a good car is a political game.  Drivers who don't play well with the people who matter tend to find themselves moving on.  Also being able to develop a car is a different skill from simply driving it.  Finally being a likeable fellow that sponsors want to sponsor matters too.

I'd say that Schumacher nails these categories in ways that no one on the grid does.  Not to say that he was perfect, but certainly moreso than Alonso, Kimi, Seb et al.

(I would grudingly suggest that Alonso is the best across my categories.  After all, he managed to have the political will/sponsor drawing power to get Ferrari to pay a WDC a huge amount of money to not race, and his on track skills speak for themselves)

[Willy]

I can certainly agree that there is more required of Formula One Drivers today then just in-car performance. One just has to look at any UK sporting rag or website to see Jenson and before him Lewis splashed across pages wearing designer fashions and showing off the latest huge ugly watch.
Kimi would be wanted by sponsors to do these things, and if I could afford to be a sponsor, I would ask it of him.
As mentioned by Scott, in previous posts Kimi only has to open his mouth and he will not be asked to do that again.
Mumbles is not a spokesperson!