Tealy wrote:kostas22 wrote:mario wrote:I wouldn't give the 'Kimi to Red Bull' rumours too much credence, however - Kimi is enjoying himself much more in rallying now (he is actually becoming much more open with the press, and seems more relaxed there), and I don't think he wants to come back to F1.
Don't be so sure.
Once Michael bottles it and storms out of Mercedes, it won't be Nick racing as his replacement, it'll be Kimi.
Where did I get this idea from? A photo of a file on the Merc pitwall containing 3 names: Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg and Kimi Raikkonen. Only minutes after the photo went online it was taken down again by Sutton, but maybe someone gave them a hint to do so...
Maybe I'm reading too far into nothing, but it's worth mentioning at least right?
I try not to read too much into these things but you can't just ignore it. I have no idea why Kimi would be interested in Mercades though, maybe they can pay him the wages he demands. However, as far as this season goes I see Heidfeld being called in for any Merc driver if they miss races.
Sorry to drag this up, but I didn't realise that things had progressed since my last comment. It is true that the Mercedes guys would have heard from Mclaren about what a strong driver Kimi was whilst he was there (they certainly respected him, as he was said to be metronomically consistent with his lap times, and very committed to the team), and would probably have floated the idea of signing up Kimi when he was pushed out of Ferrari. However, I would suspect that if he was offered the chance to go to Mercedes, he might not accept it, for the same reason that Button chose to leave the team - they don't look like they are going to be able to win this year, on current pace.
And whilst Button may have a playboy exterior, and Kimi puts on a seemingly surly demeanour, due to his hatred of the press (several have said that he is deliberately uncommunicative with the press so they leave him alone), both of them are going to want to have the best car possible, and be pretty ruthless about how they get themselves in that car.
As for Kimi's salary demands, I can't see Mercedes willingly coughing up €15million a year for Kimi's services, when they refused to pay Button half that. Hell, Schumacher is being paid a third of that. In fact, you've got to bear in mind that most of the drivers have taken a major cut in wages this year - with the exception of Alonso, who has received a major pay hike, courtesy of Santander's backing of Ferrari. Besides, even if Kimi offered a big pile of cash, considering how he hated the media attention and all the politicking in the sport, I think that he'd turn it down and do what he is happiest with doing - which at the moment is rallying.
shinji wrote:chrismcn wrote:Schumacher's still a reject!
Nope, he's won 7 World Championships, not a reject.
I suppose that the original poster was having a dig at the fact that Schumacher's current finishes would see him as a reject driver, if we were to take them in isolation.
On the other hand, Schumacher is at risk of ending up with the "hang up the keys" award, taking it off Mansell - Eddie Jordan has certainly said that Schumacher needed this like a hole in the head, and unless Schumacher can turn things around, he is going to have the press all over his back. They have already started to stick the boot in
http://www.f1technical.net/news/14525?s ... 3beb23f393 It does show the pressure of expectation, and how the press have become much more aggressive - imagine if Lauda tried to do his comeback today.
