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OK, so Kimi has elected to rally with Citroen for 2010. A team sponsored largely by Red Bull. So does anyone think Kimi took this deal as maybe a back door towards a Red bull F1 ride???????
Red Bull have said the deal has no bearing on an F1 seat. His chances are as good as they were before the rally contract.
He has been personally sponsored by Red Bull since before he signed with Ferrari. It is easy to find pics of Kimi with a can of Red Bull nearby. Or a bottle of Vodka.
Before I do anything I ask myself “Would an idiot do that?” And if the answer is yes, I do not do that thing. - Dwight Schrute
Am I just being simple here? I know that the formula one paddock is normally full intrigue and double dealing, but is it possible that Kimi just likes rallying? He has had a couple of one-off drives before, And is a Fin after all.
Citoren gets loads of media attention.
Kimi gets, to go rallying in a top spec car, and not lose face by taking a large pay-cut in F1.
We the fans get to see him adjust to a different discipline.
Win-Win-Win? or have i missed the point as usual?
Murray: "And there are flames coming from the back of Prost's car as he enters the swimming pool."
James: "Well, that should put them out then."
Red Bull can say what they like, but that is definitely the angle and it's something I predicted myself a few weeks ago - until his management started issuing press releases about moving to rallying with nothing much happening, probably in an attempt to prod Mercedes. If McLaren didn't work out as a serious option I doubt whether Mercedes would have been though. In the end Raikkonen had to sign otherwise it would have started to look rather silly. It's the best option though. Red Bull are almost certainly going to be the team to beat in 2010 and going to McLaren or Mercedes might well have seen him fall short again.
Don't be fooled. Formula 1 is the main event for him, he still has a lot more to achieve and time is running out. Raikkonen will take Ferreri's money (I can't believe he'll be paid more than Alonso or Hamilton next year) enjoy rallying and take it seriously, but he isn't going to hang about in Citroen's junior rallying team forever. As he said, he wants to win in rallying or Formula 1. Being in a team where he can win in Formula 1 and where he feels most comfortable, where his and their interests align and where he can do rallying or other forms of racing occasionally is the most important thing. That was never going to happen at McLaren or Mercedes and Red Bull is the only team for him now.
Without Red Bull's involvement it's doubtful that Raikkonen could get back, but it looks almost like a cast iron certainty now. Having a major backer is essential to getting back after a sabbatical. Just ask Prost. There will almost certainly be a Red Bull seat available in 2011 with Webber's contract being up, Webber's involvement in the GP3 team and the mutterings over Vettel and Mercedes. It's a risk, but I doubt whether things will have moved on enough in a year's time for that opportunity not to be there.
As I understand it Ferrari pays Kimi something like 17mil to sit out 2010. Lining up an F1 ride (which seems to pay much better WRC) via a year in WRC while pocketing 17 mil for NOT being in F1 sounds like a good idea to me. BTW, both RB driver contracts are up in 2011.
BreezyRacer wrote:As I understand it Ferrari pays Kimi something like 17mil to sit out 2010. Lining up an F1 ride (which seems to pay much better WRC) via a year in WRC while pocketing 17 mil for NOT being in F1 sounds like a good idea to me.
Yep. I know people will say that he's silly giving up on Formula 1 like he has, but fair play to him if he can negotiate deals like that. I would probably go that route if it made financial sense and I had a route back into Formula 1 if I desired. I'd only stay in Formula 1 if I was sure of a team with a dominant car that would take me to the championship, and if not, it's a year wasted anyway. Since the only team that can really guarantee that in 2010 is Red Bull and their driver seats are taken then this seems like the best option.
Kimi is obviouly taking Formula 1 for granted. He has no more passion, his only aim is easy glory. He does not want to work hard at all; "just give me a championship winning car a truckload of cash and vacation time" he says. It's better for RedBull to leave a space for people who really have a passion for F1, not this bandit of a driver. [-X
