Kimi Raikkonen will announce his plans for the 2013 season on October 17. Despite Lotus chiefs saying the Finn is staying in 2013, 2007 world champion Raikkonen insisted at Suzuka that he has not yet signed a deal. But that will all change on his 33rd birthday. A viral video has emerged on Youtube, depicting Raikkonen signing an unbranded contract and then putting his finger to his lips and saying "shhh", with a loud F1 engine revving in the background. The description reads: "There has been a lot of speculation about what Kimi Raikkonen will do next season. This will all come to an end on the 17th of October when a new contract will be published." According to Finnish broadcaster MTV3, the company behind the video is Pulp Active Oy, an advertising agency that represents Raikkonen’s rally team Ice 1 Racing. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEiw-7DQ9GY[/ame]
You could well be right, as it makes little sense to be making a viral to cause hype about his announcement if he is just going to be staying with Lotus. Also notice that he is not wearing any team clothing or sponsorship in the vid, which also suggest he is on the move...
Obviously staying at Lotus... (I better not eat my words 9 days, 18 hours, 4 minutes, and 7 seconds from now!)
Next web site address: whowillkimiblocknext.com Apparently Kimi *did* bring back the things he learned in WRC.
No way can I see Kimi going back to Ferrari to play second fiddle to Fernando. McLaren would have made sense given Kimi's new haircut but McClaren already signed Perez and they already have Button under contract. I think/hope Kimi is going to resign with Lotus and become a part owner. Remember he wanted an ownership stake in Williams. I can't see him leaving F1 because he is just too competitive this year. Lotus has let him down.
Is it feasible? I started following F1 in 2010, so am ignorant on the terms under which Kimi left. But seems to me that if you leave Ferrari, you're gone for good, no?
Kimi was paid to leave to boot. I think re-signing with Ferrari is one of those absurd F1 events that Kimi, the self-styled anti-hero of F1, would relish. To be able to say that Ferrari paid him huge sums to leave then paid him again to come back, would be very tempting for Kimi. That is the kind of history/lore that Kimi is interested in establishing, IMO. That being said, I doubt it is going to happen, especially after Japan, where in the course of one race, not only did Kimi destroy Alonso's WDC chances, but Massa proved his worth.
Thank you very much for the explanation. Guess he took the fall when the car was reportedly crap, right? Started following F1 right after that (2010 season), with Alonso on board. Thanks again.
Actually, there were a few things going on (If you believe the scuttlebutt) Luca was fed up with Kimi and his laissez faire attitude. The car was just part of it. It seemed that since Kimi won the WDC, he just did not have the same fight in him anymore (the classic scene from this era is Kimi eating an ice cream cone in the Ferrari garage after crashing out of a race). They desperately wanted Alonso. So, they bought out Kimi's contract. I wouldn't say that Kimi "took the fall" because it seemed like Kimi was okay with being shown the door.
Then he doesn't deserve to be back at Ferrari . That's the gamble of a contract. But I assume Ferrari added a few clauses it didn't have before . Thanks again; greatly appreciated.
They desperately wanted the sponsor money Alonso brought with him. After Alonso tossed both McLaren and Renault to the FIA, there wasn't much of any place left for him to go. Without the sponsorship money, I doubt any team would have wanted Alonso, after he made his reputation as a whiner with no team loyalty.
If Ferrari wants to compete for the WCC, Kimi is probably their best option. Kimi doesn't care who his team mate is and he doesn't care which color camera they give him. So the only issue would be with Alonso, so I guess it is probably not going to happen.
