Kimi Raikkonen – Ferrari Driver Again?

Kimi Raikkonen

There have been many talks and rumours circulating around Kimi Raikkonen over the past few months. There were strong rumours saying that he was off to Red Bull next year, to take the seat of the soon-to-retire and long-suffering Mark Webber, but according to Raikkonen’s management, talks with the Milton Keynes outfit had broken down, and as such, there was no chance of Raikkonen being teamed with his friend and three-time world champion next season.

As Lotus are rumoured to have little money from investments and as such cannot hope to compete with the big teams in terms of development, Raikkonen’s personnel team have been looking elsewhere, any other team that may have a seat up for grabs next year.

Obviously, with a driver that has the calibre and CV of Raikkonen, he isn’t going to be looking at the likes of Caterham or Marussia, but rather the top teams. With Red Bull out of the running – and likely to sign Toro Rosso driver Daniel Ricciardo, the others are open for negotiations.

McLaren, home to the Iceman for most of his career before he moved to Ferrari, are down in the dumps. Their car does not look like it has potential to win a race, never mind win the championship, and unless they get their team in order, that will continue into the next season. McLaren would be a risky move by Raikkonen, but he has experience in turning a car around, and McLaren certainly have the money to afford him and a huge development push. However, they have just signed Perez and Button doesn’t look like he’s going to change teams again before he retires, so McLaren are probably out.

Mercedes? Well, it’s possible, but as with McLaren, I doubt it. Hamilton and Rosberg are enjoying their time there, driving the best car Mercedes have had since they took over Brawn GP. They certainly have the money, and the car, but they also have two great drivers who look like they’re going nowhere soon.

Lotus is where Kimi Raikkonen is currently, and he looks to be enjoying himself – kind of. When the car is on form, and in the hands of the ’07 world champion, it is unbeatable, as was proven at the season-opening race in Melbourne. However, the team simply do not have the funds to develop at the same pace as the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull, which may hamper this seasons title push, as it did last year. The chances of Kimi winning a title at the Enstone team are slim, which is why he may move to…

Kimi Raikkonen

Ferrari. Home to Kimi from 2007 (his first year and the year he finally won the championship) to his exit at the end of 2009. It was a very up and down three seasons at the Maranello team for Kimi. As mentioned, he won the title in the first year, but then the car was not suited to his driving style in ’08 and ’09, and very much played second fiddle to Felipe Massa. Towards the end of ’09, relationships with the team soured, and he was effectively booted out for Fernando Alonso for the 2010 season, as well as a healthy injection of cash from his prime sponsor, banking giant Santander.

Kimi has said to the press that his time at the Italian giant was his worst time in F1 (which is saying something after his millions of break downs during his time at McLaren), so why are there rumours flying around about him possibly going back to the team that rejected him? Well, there could be benefits for both parties. One, for Kimi, he won his one and only championship there. He got what he always wanted, and won many races in his time there. Financially, he was the highest paid sportsman in the world at one time (after Tiger Woods), and he was given a fantastic car in his first year.

The team have not won a championship since Kimi stepped into the shoes of Micheal Schumacher, and perhaps are becoming disillusioned with the Spaniard that replaced Kimi. Also, the feeling might be mutual, and Alonso may be wanting to get out of his contract to move over to another team – perhaps Red Bull – and win another championship or two before he retires.

Will Kimi want to go back to a team that left him high and dry, pushed him out for another driver when there was still a year of his contract left to go? If I were him, I would think long and hard about his options. Going back to his old team may well be his best chance of winning a championship again, and as he is going on 34 years of age he does not have many years left, but is that drive enough to make him go back to the team that made life in F1 so bad for him?

Silly season in F1 is soon to come to an end, with the F1 circus winding its way to Spa Francorchamps, Belgium. This is many of the drivers favourite track, and Raikkonen himself has won there more times than any current driver (four wins). Will he be able to gain his fifth win there, and take the championship to Vettel even more? If he gets close to winning the championship this season, I think he may be tempted to continue at Lotus, but whether they can develop well enough, and find enough money to fund such a thing is a different matter entirely. Look out for my Race Preview of the Belgian Grand Prix coming up in the next few days.