The latest rumors: 1. Kimi will go to Brawn next season and replace Rubens. And Ferrari will foot the bill. In other words, Ross got a free team from Honda and now a free driver from Ferrari. [Note to self: It is good to be Ross!] Robertsons have been spotted in discussions with Ross at Nürburgring. All this presumably according to an Italian rag La Stampa. Robertsons say it is total BS. 2. Toyota -yes, the same Toyota that is presumably quitting F1 next season due to the cost- wants Kimi to replace Trulli. And Toyota can afford to pay for their own driver, even a very expensive one. This is a Nürburgring pit rumor reported in Finland by multiple sources. Of course this also means that Toyota thinks they will be able to handle the personable and subtle Kimi although Salo's direct style upset even the highest echelon of the team and led to his eventual canning. And Salo is the one with a Japanese wife not to mention his years of residing in Japan after the infamous DUI incident. Well, that makes a world of sense. 3. Kimi has said that Ferrari will be his last F1 team. And he is sticking to it. Soooooo. I sure miss the good old days when Kimi was in the news for winning races, driving his heart out even in defeat, pulling out his dick at a strip joint, throwing up on his karaoke mic and "having a chit" whenever he felt like it. I cannot blame the guy for hanging on given the rewards. Any sane person would. No matter how embarrassing the current state of affairs is, e.g. being constantly outdone by -of all people- Massa! Maybe I'm just a fair weather fan but the truth is that this is getting real old real fast. BOOOOORING!!! Luckily Vettel speaks Finnish and is looking to buy a vacation property there. It'll almost be like a Finn winning again in F1.
Go Kimi. I miss the old days as well. I really liked the comment when martin whitmarsh was asked by the british press on Raikkonen's strip joint adventure (he was driving for mclaren at the time): 'perhaps Kimi was a bit naive considering the Mp4/20 was about to be released...'. Martin is a sound guy, always has been
That's why I love the guy. And because he falls off the deck of the yacht in the Monaco harbor totally drunk. That's news to me. You sure about that? He speaks German and for a German born speaker it is very hard to learn Finnish, particularly given no reason. Aren't you thinking of Nico Rosberg?
Well, OK, Seb may not be exactly fluent yet but I've heard it with my own ears on several instances. Several interview answers -some quite funny- and even a brief song after his latest victory as he had promised prior to the race. Finnish is indeed a very tricky language and Seb's command of pronounciation is quite impressive. OTOH, Nico has stated that he does not speak Finnish and I've never heard him try. ("Not enough commercial potential" as per Keke............) I'm not sure what the reason is for such linguistic acrobatics but I know that Seb's trainer or someone else like that very close to him is a Finn.
Ok, I hear you. It is a bit beyond me why Nico wouldn't speak Finnish. Major mistake on part of his father.
Some people speculate that it is because Keke was quite unfairly dissed by Finnish media and sporting circles on his way to the WDC and even after that. He only started to get proper respect there when he basically made Mika happen. At any rate, while I have no stats or surveys to rely on, Vettel is clearly the second most popular F1 driver in Finland after Kimi. The fact that Nico does have a Finnish passport too doesn't seem to be a bonus to him.
I was born there. And I still have a property there where I spend time when I don't feel like working or when I just feel acting like Kimi.
Don't think any of this will happen because as you've already said Kimi is adamant that Ferrari will be his last drive in Formula 1, but you never can be quite sure will Kimi. He didn't get to work with Ross at Ferrari so maybe he wouldn't pass it up this time. I really don't know, don't see why on earth he would go to Toyota. I'm supprised that there have been no rumours for Kimi to replace Heikki at Mclaren.
Yeah, if i was him i wouldn't want to leave til i've got at least one more WDC. He's far to good for just one title.
I don´t see why Kimi would want to drive for another team apart from Ferrari next season, when he could be at home drinking or having an ice cream or doing rallying and still be getting paid by Ferrari. He still has a contract with them.
I think the Brawn option is plausible. I'm pretty sure F will cut him loose early. He has too much bad luck. The guy will go where someone is still willing to throw some money at him and he doesn't care who it is. Possibly Brawn would be able to find that talent in Kimi that seems to have gone missing?
actually today was the Ferrari V8 that seems to have gone missing... he finished 2 times third, 2 times 2nd and only got 1 Worldchampion title, what a looser !
The silly season thickens: http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=336517&FS=F1 I wonder if he's in line to take Loeb's seat?
Actually that is nothing more than an example of journalistic prostitution in Finland. The article relies entirely to the old story by Pino Allievi in Gazzetta dello Sport. There is no new or additional content or sources in that story. About to go under due to editorial incompetence and mismanagement (including delays in publishing), Veikkaaja hopes that people will be flocking to the newsstands to buy a story that they already knew. I hope to see the POS-managing Editor on the links one of these days so I can take my trusty old Big Bertha and show him a hole in one. At least he'd be maximizing his potential as #19.
Many seem to think that Kimi is suffering from Damon Hill syndrome... After many years of trying to reach the mountaintop and finally achieving it after several near misses, the fire seems to have gone out of him... However, this does not change the fact that Kimi is an incredibly talented driver that has put in some amazing drives and has fantastic car control. His freakish car control actually makes him a very viable candidate for a rally seat. We will see how this plays out. If someone put a gun to my head I would say Kimi would be out at Ferrari and Alonso will have his seat. At his salary level results are not only demanded, but expected and frankly Kimi's results the last 2 years have not justified the financial expenditure (speaking from a business standpoint). Alonso with his racecraft and ability to develop a car throughout a season make him very appealing to Ferrari.
Exactly. People like to throw up the WDC stuff but what has he done lately? A guy like Schumi, you paid him and you get results, no freaky car mishaps etc.
Schumi and...and...and...who else? Mmmmm...that's right, NOBODY. Schumi's success was unparalleled and will perhaps never be repeated again. Get real folks.
In fairness to Kimi, Schumi was always going to be a hard act to follow. Following Schumi would be like trying to replace Babe Ruth... Schumi's leadership, talent, drive, and determination are something experienced rarely. Ferrari before him was in disarray. Benetton never won Championships before Schumi and never did after. His ability to build a team and get everyone pulling in the same direction set him on a whole different level. Other drivers may have had similar driving talent, but few brought the entire palette of the above mentioned abilities that Schumi did. ... Kimi is not the complete package that Schumi was... At almost any other time in Ferrari's history Kimi would have been a star... but the brightness of the stars are eclipsed by the brilliance of the Sun...
