"Flying Finn", " Iceman", "The King of Spa" are some of the nicknames that he is associated with. Love him or Hate him, he is a character you can't stop talking about in F1, be it his uninteresting though straightforward answers to the media or his rant on the pit radio in the races. As Natalie Pinkham once said " We know that he knows what he is doing ", one must admit that Kimi Raikkonen is from a different planet altogether.
Kimi has been hounded by the press recently who want to know his future plans. Kimi is without a contract at the end of the season.
Steve Robertson, Kimi Raikkonen's Manager has admitted that Kimi would stay in F1 in 2014. It is clear that the Iceman has enjoyed his second stint in F1. Lotus F1, Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Ferrari are all vying for Kimi's Signature. Where will he end up?
Let's explore his options...
1) Lotus F1 :
Kimi joined
Lotus at the start of the 2012 season on a 2 year deal.
The Team were a mid-table runner up until 2011. However
Kimi's arrival has helped the team immensely and the team has been moving up the grid steadily. 2012 saw
Kimi score in every race (
China the only exception ) and even win the
Abu Dhabi GP. He Finished 3rd in the Drivers' Championship and the Team were 4th in the Constructors, a big leap compared to 2011.
The Team has gone from strength to strength with
Kimi winning the season-opener at
Australia in 2013, being 2nd 5 times after that and finishing every race in the points up until this point ( in 2013 ).
Romain Grosjean has played the perfect support role to
Kimi's Title Charge. Kimi is currently 2nd in the Standings, 38 Points behind leader
Sebastien Vettel.
Reasons to stay at Lotus F1 :
Kimi loves life at
Lotus. He has openly admitted that this. The Team has allowed him to enjoy life outside F1
, be it participating in Motocross or other adventure sports that he loves. The Team have also kept
Media and PR events at a minimal for him.
The Car has been extremely reliable for
Kimi. He has finished every race so far, something that he couldn't accomplish even in his championship winning year in 2007.
Kimi has responded with great results on track and will continue to do so as long as he has a strong package to play with.
Kimi is the no.1 driver in the team and shall always have the full support of the team.
The Team knows how to win Championships ( 2005 and 2006 ) and with
Kimi they know another title is definitely on the cards.
An elaborate plan is in place for 2014 too and they would want him to spearhead the charge.
Hurdles in Contract Renewal :
Lotus F1 has a modest budget and fewer personnel compared to the bigger teams. However they have performed way better than the bigger names so far. F1 is an expensive sport and how long would the team be able to sustain the challenge at the front is the question.
Finances have started to trouble the team as some media reports suggest.
Infiniti Racing, a 35 % Stakeholder in the team
( supposedly ) are yet to fulfill their financial commitment. The delay has put a strain on the team's resources.
The reports of bigger players like
Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Ferrari offering
Kimi a seat in 2014 have not helped their cause.
If
Lotus were to lose
Kimi in 2014, finding a worthy replacement would be difficult. They might not be able to continue their climb up with the new replacement as he might lack the ability and the experience that
Kimi possesses.
2) Red Bull Racing :Mark Webber retires from
F1 at the end of the season.
Kimi is one of the options that
Red Bull are considering for 2014. Will he make the switch?
Reasons to join Red Bull :
Red Bull Racing have been the team to beat since 2010. They have won 3 consecutive Drivers' Championships
( Vettel ) and 3 Constructors' Champions
and are favourites for both titles this year too.
The Car has been fantastic at most circuits thanks to the aerodynamic expertise of
Mr. Adrian Newey. Red Bull has been the best package in 2013 too and the rest have been playing catchup.
Kimi Raikkonen was sponsored by
Red Bull during his rallying years and enjoyed a great relationship with
Adrian Newey when both were at
McLaren Mercedes. Dr. Helmut Marko, advisor to Red Bull Racing has always admired
Kimi and has expressed his desire to see him at
Red Bull at 2014.
Kimi knows that he has only a couple more years of racing left in him and with
Red Bull he improves his chances of winning a second title considerably.
Hurdles for a Red Bull Switch :
SEBASTIEN VETTEL is the biggest hurdle for such a switch.
Vettel has been reared by
Red Bull Racing and has come through the ranks to become their top driver. The 3 time World-Champion's life at
Red Bull is reminiscent of the relationship
Schumacher enjoyed with Ferrari during their Glory Years.
Vettel would not want his co-driver to jeopardize this relationship or his position within the team.
Kimi Raikkonen is very much capable of giving
Vettel a hard time should he be his team-mate in 2014.
Red Bull would find it difficult to show equality to both as they almost lost the plot in 2010 at the
Turkish GP when
Vettel crashed into Webber ending the latter's Championship hopes.
Vettel has stated that he won't have a say in choosing his 2014 team-mate but I doubt that. He would want someone who would play a support role rather than challenge his throne.
Vettel also said that he would enjoy having
Kimi as his team-mate as both are great friends off the track and
Kimi is more straightforward according to him. Would events in 2014 put a strain on their friendship? Maybe..
Red Bull have a long-term plan in mind. They want someone who would build a similar relationship with the team like
Vettel has.
Kimi would not want more than 2 years on his contract and this might just dissuade
Red Bull from obtaining his signature.
The 2014 Season might be another factor. The Massive Regulation changes would level the playing field and
Red Bull might not have the same advantage that they have enjoyed so far.
Vettel too has renewed his contract only till the end of the 2014 season, so he also is keeping his options open.
Kimi's decision to switch might just backfire on him.
The Car isn't immune to unreliability or problems either.
Mark Webber has suffered from many mechanical and personnel errors.
Vettel too had to retire in some races due to issues in his car.
Scuderia Ferrari :
Ferrari have been playing catchup and have not won a championship since
Kimi Raikkonen's title in 2007. They have come close in 2010 and 2012 only to end up second-best to
Red Bull. They are 3rd in the Constructors this year and seemed to have lost their way. The Team has been going backwards and their development has been hampered by the lack of a proper wind tunnel for testing.
Why Ferrari :
Kimi always had admirers at
Ferrari. Michael Schumacher stated that only
Kimi Raikkonen was a worthy successor to his seat for 2007.
Kimi performed exceptionally well and won the Drivers' Championship in 2007.
Stefano Domenicali, the Ferrari Team Principal still shares a healthy relationship with
Kimi.
Ferrari still is the most successful team in F1 History and has enough finances to turn around the deficit that they face right now.
James Allison joins the team on the
Italian GP weekend and it is the first step towards addressing their problems.
James had been an instrumental figure at
Ferrari from 2002-2006 and helped
Lotus regain ground until he left them this year.
Kimi would feel at home and with
James to assist the team with development, they might just return to their glory years.
Ferrari needs
Kimi rather than vice-versa.
Issues at Ferrari :
Ferrari are very strict when it comes to regulating Drivers' Lives outside of F1.
Kimi had to be wary whenever he participated in events outside F1. He did it all in secret much to the displeasure of
Ferrari. Kimi's contract was cut short and he had to leave the team in 2010 to open the door for
Alonso's entry who also brought in
Santander who became
Ferrari's Biggest Sponsors.
Kimi thus had an unceremonious exit. He is not on good terms with
Luca Montezemolo and has told those close to him that he would never work with the
Ferrari top boss.
2014 with the Regulation Changes brings in its fair share on unpredictability and
Ferrari engineers are reportedly struggling with keeping the fuel efficiency of the 1.6L V6 Engines in check. It might not be a smooth ride
for
Kimi if he were to switch.
Kimi would also be monitoring who would partner him at
Ferrari. Alonso has expressed displeasure at the car's lack of performance this season and some sources believe that might jump ship to
Red Bull. If so then
Ferrari must bring in someone of
Raikkonen's calibre.
Massa too has had a torrid season and
Ferrari is running out of patience with him.
Raikkonen would face a similar situation ( like
Red Bull ) if Alonso stays. Two champions in one team would make it difficult for
Ferrari to play the balancing act.
Kimi Raikkonen has maintained the stance of concentrating on this season. He has not let next year's talk hamper his performance so far. Clarity would come sometime during the mid-season break.
Kimi said in the
Thursday Press Conference at Hungary that he shall take a decision soon. He said : "I think there is going to be an overall package and whatever feels
right for me. Whatever the decision will be it might feel stupid to
somebody else but then it might feel right for me. I have no idea what
will happen. We have to wait and see what will come but hopefully
whatever it will be, it will be the right choice." " Basically everything just has to feel right and I think in the end it
comes down to whatever I think is the right choice and there will be no
guarantee that the choice will be the good one in the long run but I’m
fine with it, whatever the outcome will be; you live with the choices."
( Credit : www.fia.com )The Word "Stupid" indicates different possibilities :
1) Some might interpret
Kimi's decision to stay at
Lotus as stupid as he had the chance to switch to
Red Bull.
2) Some might interpret
Kimi's decision to switch to
Red Bull as stupid as he might have to play second fiddle to
Vettel
3) Some might interpret
Kimi's decision to switch to
Ferrari as stupid as they are currently struggling and the struggle would continue
into 2014.
However he is ready to live with whatever he chooses as he knows it would be right for him
I believe that
Lotus still offers him the best package overall. Leaving them at the end of the season would cause all the good work come to naught. He has built a great relationship with them and he enjoys life at
Lotus. Others might be better off in other areas but
Kimi would have to start from scratch and he might struggle with the working environment of other teams.
We can talk, speculate, discuss but we would never know what goes on in the mind of the
Iceman. He would eventually make the call and believe its the right one for him.
He definitely knows what he is doing.Wherever Kimi Raikkonen goes, I shall support him!!The
Flying Finn is at his best!
All Hail the ICEMAN!! Common Kimi!!
