He wont last 3 years at Ferrari. I wont miss him when he leaves again. LdM can probably give Lotus some advice...pay him off and let him go... Kimi Raikkonen absence fuels doubts over Lotus F1 team relationship By Jonathan Noble Thursday, October 31st 2013, 14:21 GMT Kimi Raikkonen absence fuels doubts over Lotus F1 team relationship - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com Doubts about Kimi Raikkonen's immediate future with Lotus in Formula 1 have emerged amid signs of increasing tension between the Finn and his team bosses after the Indian Grand Prix. The Finn will be a late arrival in Abu Dhabi, having opted to delay his departure from Europe until the last minute. Raikkonen is missing his regular media commitments at the Yas Marina track on Thursday. Although the team is adamant that the former world champion's decision to arrive late is simply down to him electing to spend more time at home, with no risk of jet lag issues due to the time difference, high level sources have revealed that all is not well between the driver and team. As well as the ongoing matter of unpaid payments - which he said was a key factor in him electing to join Ferrari in 2014 the nature of the heated radio conversation with trackside operations director Alan Permane at Buddh telling him to let Romain Grosjean overtake him is understood to have not gone down well. Sources with good knowledge of the situation suggest that Raikkonen was so annoyed with Lotus matters that he even briefly considered not racing in Abu Dhabi this weekend. However, following conversations with senior team representatives over the last 48 hours, it appears that Raikkonen has been convinced to carry on with the team and is now scheduled to arrive in time for opening practice in Abu Dhabi. It is also thought unlikely that, having not been paid in full, he would deliberately not race and put himself at risk of breach of contract. Nevertheless, the relationship between Raikkonen and Lotus appears set to come to a difficult end over the remaining races of the 2013 campaign. Lotus has been in the media spotlight since India, with team principal Eric Boullier apologising on Tuesday for the language used in radio comments following a backlash from Raikkonen fans. Boullier vowed to have words with both Raikkonen and Grosjean in Abu Dhabi this weekend to ensure that the team's performances on track are not compromised. "I'm going to speak to both of them in Abu Dhabi," he told AUTOSPORT. "We are working for these guys to deliver, but there is a team behind them and you always have to think about the team." Neither Raikkonen nor his manager Steve Robertson were available for comment.
I agree with Kimi, since he announced joining ferrari lotus ony focusses on Grosjean. kimi don't deserve that. seeing the first half of the season the points and podiums he managed to get for the team. and still not being paid. F*** lotus and Eric boullier. Yeah i think he will last 3 years @ ferrari retiring with his second WDC.
I found that interesting as well. Supposition that he must drive to be paid. No matter though, the relationship is broken and they should move him out and finish the season with Valsecchi. Things got heated last race and Kimi should be a professional and show up, drive and let the season end without making the situation more dramatic. Ferrari are next for his strange way of operating in a team that they didnt like last time. Im not a huge fan at all and frankly could care less about him at Ferrari. He is not the driver to push FA at all. Grosjean is now soundly beating him. Kimi didnt help his case against Grosjean or seem to help his relations with the team at all with India. Naturally they support Grosjean more, he is staying. Its up to Kimi to fight that on the track. I still see mechanics around his car so they are working with him and Boullier alluded to in the article that they are supporting him. Kimi didnt like being told what to do but the team needed the good result Grosjean was providing. We are not hearing all of the story for sure of course.
Good point. But Miki would probably damage his reputation by refusing to race until he is paid. That would probably also lower his claim if he has to take Lotus to court. I think it would be good if those financial consideration didn't affect his performance on the track - or over the radio!
It didn't hurt Senna's reputation. He had a race-to-race deal with McLaren at one point, and would not get in the car until he had confirmation of the wire transfer.
I googled the writer and read a couple of his other stories...lots of sensationalist fluff (any time an article refers to "sources" and then ratchets up to "high level sources" it usually means the writer has nothing). His Ross Brawn story suggests Lewis Hamilton may or may not feel like Ross leaving MBZ could or could not affect the team.
Guys, it was already known on Sunday morning before the Indian GP that Kimi would go home on Sunday and only fly in to Abu Dhabi late on Thursday, as he didn't want to do any press anyhow. It's not the first time he's missed the press meetings, and most certainly won't be the last. It's no secret the team has turned on Kimi after he made the Ferrari decision. According to team insiders Permane has taken it specifically personally, along with lots of others. @DF1 Kimi's deal is 2 years+ option for 1. I can easily see him do 2 years, unless mind games are going on.
Ferrari made a poor decision by hiring Kimi. He just isn't good enough to be able to get away with this kind of BS. You either do your job or you don't and press meetings come with that job. Just stay home Kimi. Or go wreck a WRC car.
Which begs the question: Why, after having had him for 3 years, so they have all the data on him, do they bother making him the highest paid F1 driver along with LH and Alonso? If they think he is no good, no point doing that. They would've had a much better deal with Hulkenberg for instance, who won't be so reluctant to move over for Alonso. Kimi has shown in 2008 he will only move over when he's mathematically out of the title. I think Alonso and Raikkonen will be a lot closer than we think.
Hysterical...he'll last longer at Ferrari than Alonso...IMO If I didn't get paid, i certainly wouldn't be very hospitable to my employer either. Good for Kimi...f lotus! Kevin
There are no simple contracts in F1. It's entirely possible that Kimi would be violating a contract with an entity other than the one that is violating their contract with him. The lawyers will sort it out and everyone will lose.
Press meetings are something Ecclestone introduced to F1 a few years ago. Some drivers don't like that kind of PR. Personally I find them ridiculous and I don't watch them any more. What is the point of parading drivers repeating well rehearsed reply to stupid questions? The show is on the track, not at the press conference. Let's face it, the media sometime spoil the sport!
Kimi already said he wasn't going to show up on thursday at the indian gp...bored journalists just trying to create off-track drama since there isn't much of that going on on the track these days.
Ferrari obviously believe Kimi is worth it. I respectfully disagree. Kimi has his flashes of brilliance, but flashes are not enough, or shouldn't be enough.
So, you must then feel quite strongly that Ferrari should boot Massa out of their car and put in another driver for the final 3 races? After all, since Ferrari announced that Massa would not be re-signed for 2014, Massa has deliberately ignored team orders to let Alonso by, stated publicly that he would ignore team instructions, and that he will do it again.
Guys, firstly, why is everyone trashing Kimi and saying he won't last at Ferrari, etc? Common, it was Lotus who stirred this ***** up. The unprofessionalism, the late payments, the rudeness. I for one, fully support the Kimster if he skipped the rest of the races to teach Eric Bouillier a lesson. Ferrari took care of Kimi when he was there, no reason for him not to return the favour.
no money no honey or in this case no money no drive LOL screw lotus, since kimi return he is doing good job giving the team wins and podiums and now they are screwing him since the announcement
Sad for Lotus, they helped make F1 sort of interesting to watch. But if KR is not getting paid per contract, he is not in breach. At least NASCAR has drama. The days of drivers being at a race for the pure competition are long gone. To bad, it would great to see Kimi on the podium again ahead of Alonso before they are teammates. And then, I hope Kimi screws Alonso and Ferrari, neither deserve to win just because they are....
Well, the law is not all that simple on this one. It depends on the contract, but the situation is likely this . . . Let's say that Kimi gets paid $1,000 per race and let's say that the team is behind by $800. If the team is behind on payments Kimi can sue for the payments, but I am sure there is a clause in his contract that if he fails to show for the next race, he can be fired. So let's say there are 7 races left, if he fails to show for the next race, he could be fired and the team could release him and not be obligated to pay the remaining 7 races. (They would still owe him for the $800 that they are behind.) Here is a similar situation. Let's say that you are a tenant in an apartment. You have asked your landlord to fix the heat, because you are cold, but the landlord does not fix it. Generally speaking (and there are some exceptions) you are not permitted to withhold rent until the heat is fixed. You can move out and claim you were 'constructively evicted' but you cannot stay there and refuse to pay rent.
