SPEEDWEEK - Didi Mateschitz: «Kimi ist immer ein Kandidat» In a interview with speedweek, Mateschitz did not deny RB's interest in Kimi - "he is always a candidate". Interestingly, he said the same about Webber: "Mark is of course a candidate for 2014, he is always welcome - just as a fast junior like Vergne or Ricciardo" - which does not sound as if Webber is set for the next season...
No way that will happen. Why on earth would Kimi want to go from being the clear #1 at Lotus to playing second fiddle to Vettel?
Could well happen. They are good friends and I'm pretty sure Kimi wants to win another title, and I don't think Lotus will have the resources for that next year. Hell, they'll have problems with that this year as well...
I dunno..... Reads like he's not ruling anyone out at this stage..... I suspect if they'd thrown almost any name at him he'd have said the same. As for Fauxtus not being able to win the thing and/or not having the $ etc, I'm not so sure. Kimi is apparently one hell of a feedback provider, the guys love him and he remains damn fast IMO. Give him a decent car, leave him alone and he'll surprise a few folk..... Cheers, Ian
Yes I agree, but the biggest problem they have is $, or the lack of it. This year they can mount a serious title challenge, so a lot of their time and money will be spent on this years development. I think Red Bull will just stand a better chance than Lotus for 2014.
You could of course very well be correct...... However, Boullier has been pretty bullish on their budget recently and claims they're very well funded blah, blah. How long that will continue is another Q of course - Given some success life gets easier too. We know they're down to almoste a 'skeleton' crew having had everyone stolen by Merc, but that may also be a good thing........ Cheers, Ian
+1 I'm not reading too much into it. I don't think Red Bull would want to upset the balance of 'team Vettel' with someone too good anyway.
I think Kimi would be foolish to make that switch anytime soon. There is something to having a team you "belong" to. Kimi seems to have that with Renault right now. He is some one with a history of following the money, but that may just be because he wasn't happy with the team he had, so whoever offered more, got him.
Kimi described leaving Ferrari as a breath of relief. It seems he's comfortable with Lotus, however if he is a racing driving who wants to above all else win and he gets an offer from Red Bull, I can't see him not leaving. Lotus have stated their ability to challenge for the title this year will be dictated by their budget, that's not something a championship capable driver wants to hear IMO..... The again, Red Bull are not dedicating resources to 2014 like so many others are, including I believe Lotus?
+1 I'm glad some don't buy into the current anti-Vettel-hysteria. If Webber accidentally takes out a Ferrari at the next race, the pendulum of lemmings will swing the other direction.
How come you changed your tune on Kimi? I remember reading on here just about a year ago how undeserving that bum is getting a win etc etc Another case of the enemy of my enemy is my friend?
So far this season his data is more favorable than that of his teammate. Last year his teammate should have mopped the floor with him, but he (teammate) was wreckless/a lunatic take your pic. And yeah, he waltzed right into a dream situation which I'm sure he wasn't expecting. In the end, I'm still undecided about Kimi, I just can't see him not taking a whack at a top flight Newey car if it's offered to him though. In other news, Red Bull's worldwide market share drops again......to Monster. 42% Red Bull, 37% Monster, 11% Rockstar. That's another couple % gain for Monster. US domestic market volume however is advantage Monster 35% to Red Bull 30%....... I give Red Bull another 5 years until they're snapped up or downsized unless they do something big. Coke only distributes Monster for Hansen (owner of Monster) in other parts of the world, so I suspect Coke may buy Monster (dumping Coke's on house brand) or Red Bull or Pepsi would make a move on Red Bull first. Something will happen, but I bet anything Coke/Pepsi are waiting for Monster to officially beat Red Bull in dollars and volume before they can go in and take over Red Bull for a relative song.
