DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post - Kimi! Yeah (Raikkonen confirmed at Renault)

**MattJargin** · 11-29-2011, 11:42 PM

Oh well. I wasn't really expecting these news. Even yesterday, while pondering about 2012 line-ups, I wasn't considering Räikkönen at Lotus. But I have to say it's not exactly a surprise either, because there were some rumours about contact between two sides. Bouiller has talked about needing a "big name" for the future, also after a difficult season LRGP has been evaluating future options and seemed to be quite flexible about, who to possibly hire.

Now interesting to think that the Williams rumours were really serious, but they quite suddenly died off just recently. Perhaps that was the moment, when Kimi got a better offer from LRGP and hence decided to abandon Williams. There was some talk about the purchase of equity in Williams, which was arguably denied - wonder if equity was part of negotiations with LRGP too? I think they (Genii) would welcome any new investment in the team. From that point of view long-term deal (it is 2 years as we are reading) makes sense, instead of abandoning the ship quickly.

Regarding motivation thing - perhaps Kimi realized that it would be better to earn something (for racing) rather than pay all his WRC drives, which would be quite expensive. Regarding performance, I guess the current rules could suit Kimi fine. He had some tyre warming issues later in his (previous) F1 career, but in 2005 he was going really well and back then we had tyres that had to last for the whole race! So perhaps Kimi prefers fragile tyres, much like Button.

Interesting partnership, but I'm unsure, how will this work out for the future. There were doubters about the Williams deal, critics saying that there is no point in joining a team that is going nowhere. Well, LRGP doesn't seem much better really, sometimes they have been performing in lower midfield late in the season. If they could get back their early-11 form on a consistent basis, everyone would be happy, but they could just as easily keep scraping for a single championship point every now and then. Like Williams, they have been in turmoil and need a fresh start. I don't think they have it in them to match Top4 teams in F1 at the moment - they would need quite a few changes, also significant further financial boost by the looks of it.

If this means that there is another driver who can challenge for podiums and, at a stretch, race wins, how on earth can this be bad news?

It largely depends on the car, how many drivers can challenge for the podium.

If you are getting lapped like the whole midfield was this year, there is no chance for them.

11-29-2011, 11:42 PM	#31
MattJargin Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 442 Senior Member	Oh well. I wasn't really expecting these news. Even yesterday, while pondering about 2012 line-ups, I wasn't considering Räikkönen at Lotus. But I have to say it's not exactly a surprise either, because there were some rumours about contact between two sides. Bouiller has talked about needing a "big name" for the future, also after a difficult season LRGP has been evaluating future options and seemed to be quite flexible about, who to possibly hire. Now interesting to think that the Williams rumours were really serious, but they quite suddenly died off just recently. Perhaps that was the moment, when Kimi got a better offer from LRGP and hence decided to abandon Williams. There was some talk about the purchase of equity in Williams, which was arguably denied - wonder if equity was part of negotiations with LRGP too? I think they (Genii) would welcome any new investment in the team. From that point of view long-term deal (it is 2 years as we are reading) makes sense, instead of abandoning the ship quickly. Regarding motivation thing - perhaps Kimi realized that it would be better to earn something (for racing) rather than pay all his WRC drives, which would be quite expensive. Regarding performance, I guess the current rules could suit Kimi fine. He had some tyre warming issues later in his (previous) F1 career, but in 2005 he was going really well and back then we had tyres that had to last for the whole race! So perhaps Kimi prefers fragile tyres, much like Button. Interesting partnership, but I'm unsure, how will this work out for the future. There were doubters about the Williams deal, critics saying that there is no point in joining a team that is going nowhere. Well, LRGP doesn't seem much better really, sometimes they have been performing in lower midfield late in the season. If they could get back their early-11 form on a consistent basis, everyone would be happy, but they could just as easily keep scraping for a single championship point every now and then. Like Williams, they have been in turmoil and need a fresh start. I don't think they have it in them to match Top4 teams in F1 at the moment - they would need quite a few changes, also significant further financial boost by the looks of it. If this means that there is another driver who can challenge for podiums and, at a stretch, race wins, how on earth can this be bad news? It largely depends on the car, how many drivers can challenge for the podium. If you are getting lapped like the whole midfield was this year, there is no chance for them.
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