Kimi Raikkonen to Red Bull for 2014?
19:50:00
Mark Webber is due to be replaced in 2014, and so far, none of the drivers at Red Bull's sister team Torro Rosso have impressed. Red Bull would probably prefer to promote António Félix da Costa to the team, or even Jules Bianchi, or Davide Valsecchi. So till they believe the drivers have achieved some level of maturity, they might sign up Kimi Raikkonen for a single year at Red Bull for 2014. This is subject to the fact that Kimi might not continue in Formula 1 in 2014. Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel have a great relationship on, and off the track, so a move might be possible.
But there's one factor that makes Lotus a very good team for Raikkonen to thrive at. Lotus doesn't make Kimi do any PR work, and they don't involve in him team politics either. By shielding him away from the media, and PR work, Lotus can get the best out of Raikkonen, as the 2012 standing show quite clearly. 2012 was probably Kimi's best ever season in Formula 1. Kimi enjoys the privileges he receives at Lotus, and so there isn't much of an incentive to join Red Bull. Kimi prefers to enjoy his racing, rather than be outright successful, so there doesn't seem to be much of a case to join Red Bull. But if Kimi wants to win a championship, then he can do so with Red Bull. Red Bull has the budget, and the resource to do so, and Kimi might be tempted to sacrifice some of his PR freedom at Lotus to win a championship. There's no guarantee that either Red Bull, or Kimi want this move, but who knows what could happen next year.
UPDATE: As it turns out, I wasn't wrong after all. Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz said: "Kimi is cool and fast and always a candidate."So Raikkonen could spend his final year in Formula 1 with Red Bull, reunited with Adrian Newey from his McLaren days. Although it wasn't an entirely a successful relationship, their last year together in 2005 was a very good one. We saw Raikkonen wallop the competition with an extremely unreliable car. Now both men have gotten better over the years, and we could see ultimate dominance once again in 2014?
 |
| Kimi Raikkonen at Red Bull next year? Image by Sutton Images |
But there's one factor that makes Lotus a very good team for Raikkonen to thrive at. Lotus doesn't make Kimi do any PR work, and they don't involve in him team politics either. By shielding him away from the media, and PR work, Lotus can get the best out of Raikkonen, as the 2012 standing show quite clearly. 2012 was probably Kimi's best ever season in Formula 1. Kimi enjoys the privileges he receives at Lotus, and so there isn't much of an incentive to join Red Bull. Kimi prefers to enjoy his racing, rather than be outright successful, so there doesn't seem to be much of a case to join Red Bull. But if Kimi wants to win a championship, then he can do so with Red Bull. Red Bull has the budget, and the resource to do so, and Kimi might be tempted to sacrifice some of his PR freedom at Lotus to win a championship. There's no guarantee that either Red Bull, or Kimi want this move, but who knows what could happen next year.
UPDATE: As it turns out, I wasn't wrong after all. Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz said: "Kimi is cool and fast and always a candidate."So Raikkonen could spend his final year in Formula 1 with Red Bull, reunited with Adrian Newey from his McLaren days. Although it wasn't an entirely a successful relationship, their last year together in 2005 was a very good one. We saw Raikkonen wallop the competition with an extremely unreliable car. Now both men have gotten better over the years, and we could see ultimate dominance once again in 2014?
0 comments
what do you think?