© grandprix.com Another way of looking at the Schumacher situation... Kimi Raikkonen has signed a deal with Ferrari for 2007 and beyond - it is hard to find anyone in F1 who does not believe that this is the case. However Michael Schumacher has not yet finished his F1 career and so this has confused matters somewhat as it is hard to imagine the two men racing together at Ferrari. Raikkonen will not want to be number two to Michael and Michael will not want an equal number one. F1 deals are often much more complicated than they appear to be and it is possible that both Michael and Kimi do have deals to race for Ferrari in 2007. Felipe Massa may also have just such a deal in place. But in F1 three into two does go because it is not impossible that Ferrari would loan out Raikkonen to to its rival Renault. If the Italian team is confident that Michael can win World Championships in a Ferrari, letting Renault have Raikkonen makes sense because it means that eventually when Michael does quit, Ferrari has the man it wants to replace him. This would be a great help for Renault as it currently needs a star name until Heikki Kovalainen has built up his standing in the F1 world. The announcement that Michael has done the deal with Ferrari could well be being held up by the fact that Raikkonen and Renault have yet to sort out their deal now that Michael has decided what he is going to do. ...just stirring the pot...?
Sounds unlikely. I dare say if Kimi goes to Renualt he will beat MS to the title in 07, I doubt Ferrari would ever do such a thing on purpose. I think Kimi has yet to sign anything and is pretty much in the cat-bird seat.
Ferrari would never give such an asset to its strongest competitor. The gift was rather from Renault to Ferrari by letting Alonso go. Alonso will be screwed at McLaren; Renault will have no top driver in its great 07 car and that will increase Ferrari's chances greatly to get the title back. A pair like MS and Kimi would virtually guarantee both titles. Just today I read in German Bild (not very reliable), that MS is a) starting to realize that the 06 title is gone and that b) he wants to drive on in 07 with a 99.9% chance (which makes sense as he smells the 8th title). 3 into 2? Ahem, Senor Massa can still drive the car at Fiorano.
I'd love that! Two drivers I used to pull for given a chance to redeem themselves. Although, why am I getting flashbacks of Berger/Alesi/Benetton/1996?!
well, the '07 title sounds more realistic for ms at the moment, but that doesn;t mean giving up on this season. knowing MS, he'll surely push all the way. '03 comes to mind..
