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Formula 1
COOPER: Raikkonen Is Back
On Tuesday morning came confirmation that Kimi Raikkonen will be back in F1 next year with Lotus Renault GP...
Kimi Raikkonen, driver of the No. 15 Perky Jerky Toyota, stands in the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)
This week was supposed to be the calm after the storm as we all chilled out at the end of a long and very busy season, but it’s been anything but quiet.
On Wednesday we got an entry list that included as many as nine gaps, although in some cases we know what the missing names are. Then late last night European time Williams filled another hole when it confirmed that Pastor Maldonado will stay on.
Today we had the news that Ferrari and Red Bull Racing have signaled their intention to withdraw from FOTA, a move that leaves the organization in a state of disarray, and turns the balance of power in F1 politics upside down. An explanation of what it all means who probably take a book – I had a go in a column last week!
Not surprisingly many race fans glaze over at the mention of ‘Resource Restriction Agreement’ – don’t worry it has the same effect on us journalists! – so I’d much rather comment on the really big news of the week.
On Tuesday morning came confirmation that Kimi Raikkonen will be back in F1 next year with Lotus Renault GP. The Finn’s name had been connected with Williams for several weeks, on the basis that his presence as a former World Champion would help to attract sponsorship from the Middle East. Indeed his managers, father and son team David and Steve Robertson, were seen at the Williams hospitality building in Abu Dhabi.
But soon after that, the trail went quiet, and we heard that a Williams/Raikkonen deal was no longer likely happen. Instead the Robertsons pursued Plan B, with LRGP.
At first glance, it seemed unlikely for two reasons – firstly the team seemed to have no shortage of potential drivers. Secondly, Kimi lost patience with the management this time last year when tentative talks about a potential future together were revealed to the media by team boss Eric Boullier. An unimpressed Kimi thought that his name was being used to give LRGP credibility.
Thus when Robert Kubica was injured in February – and Kimi was an obvious choice – the two parties did not get together, and instead Nick Heidfeld got the drive. To be fair it was also very close to the start of the WRC season, and Kimi would have found it hard to back out at that time.
But anything is possible in F1, and when it became clear shortly before the Brazilian GP that Kubica was not going to make the start of the season, a marriage of convenience was quickly arranged, and any past problems were quickly forgotten.
The bottom line is that LRGP, which becomes Lotus F1 Team next year, badly needs a big name driver. And having run out of options with Williams, and yet decided that he really wanted to be back in F1, Kimi needed a team that at least has the potential to be challenging for podiums.
Even with a car that the team now admits was fundamentally flawed, Heidfeld and Vitaly Petrov managed a third place apiece in 2011, and the team finished fifth in the championship.
In other words it was as good a car as he as likely to get. For all the changes at Williams, and the boost provided by the switch from Cosworth to Renault power, the team has a mountain to climb. Lotus at least has a head start as it tries to regain the sort of form that won a World Championship just five years ago with Fernando Alonso under the Renault guise. Of course, it’s not just the team name that is different, but there are still a lot of good technical people on board.
It’s impossible for anyone to predict what sort of car the team will build for Kimi in 2012, but the big question surrounds the man himself. As always, opinion is split – people either love Kimi or – I won’t use the word hate, because he’s not the sort of character to inspire that degree of negativity – have very little time for him.
The problem is the Iceman image that he has cultivated, saying very little in TV interviews, and keeping himself to himself. Then there are the offstage antics, and his well know preference for having a good time on a Sunday night after a race. Much of that is just a trait of his nationality – Finns are the first to admit that they are generally low-key characters who come out of their shells when they have a drink.
Kimi has always maintained that his private life is his business, and he performs better when not under the cosh. If you are winning, then you can get away with perceived misbehavior off-track. The problem is when you’re not winning, if you don’t live the life of a saint, critics will always be able to point a finger.
Kimi is going to have to work hard to shed the image he generated in his last couple of years in F1. In 2007 he had a brilliant, near faultless season, coming back from 17 points behind with two races to go to beat Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton to the World Championship.
In 2008 he was again fast, but he had a series of early setbacks that cost him momentum. Felipe Massa meanwhile kept piling up the points and became Ferrari’s title contender, and naturally, the team got behind the Brazilian.
On Wednesday we got an entry list that included as many as nine gaps, although in some cases we know what the missing names are. Then late last night European time Williams filled another hole when it confirmed that Pastor Maldonado will stay on.
Today we had the news that Ferrari and Red Bull Racing have signaled their intention to withdraw from FOTA, a move that leaves the organization in a state of disarray, and turns the balance of power in F1 politics upside down. An explanation of what it all means who probably take a book – I had a go in a column last week!
Not surprisingly many race fans glaze over at the mention of ‘Resource Restriction Agreement’ – don’t worry it has the same effect on us journalists! – so I’d much rather comment on the really big news of the week.
On Tuesday morning came confirmation that Kimi Raikkonen will be back in F1 next year with Lotus Renault GP. The Finn’s name had been connected with Williams for several weeks, on the basis that his presence as a former World Champion would help to attract sponsorship from the Middle East. Indeed his managers, father and son team David and Steve Robertson, were seen at the Williams hospitality building in Abu Dhabi.
But soon after that, the trail went quiet, and we heard that a Williams/Raikkonen deal was no longer likely happen. Instead the Robertsons pursued Plan B, with LRGP.
At first glance, it seemed unlikely for two reasons – firstly the team seemed to have no shortage of potential drivers. Secondly, Kimi lost patience with the management this time last year when tentative talks about a potential future together were revealed to the media by team boss Eric Boullier. An unimpressed Kimi thought that his name was being used to give LRGP credibility.
Thus when Robert Kubica was injured in February – and Kimi was an obvious choice – the two parties did not get together, and instead Nick Heidfeld got the drive. To be fair it was also very close to the start of the WRC season, and Kimi would have found it hard to back out at that time.
But anything is possible in F1, and when it became clear shortly before the Brazilian GP that Kubica was not going to make the start of the season, a marriage of convenience was quickly arranged, and any past problems were quickly forgotten.
The bottom line is that LRGP, which becomes Lotus F1 Team next year, badly needs a big name driver. And having run out of options with Williams, and yet decided that he really wanted to be back in F1, Kimi needed a team that at least has the potential to be challenging for podiums.
Even with a car that the team now admits was fundamentally flawed, Heidfeld and Vitaly Petrov managed a third place apiece in 2011, and the team finished fifth in the championship.
In other words it was as good a car as he as likely to get. For all the changes at Williams, and the boost provided by the switch from Cosworth to Renault power, the team has a mountain to climb. Lotus at least has a head start as it tries to regain the sort of form that won a World Championship just five years ago with Fernando Alonso under the Renault guise. Of course, it’s not just the team name that is different, but there are still a lot of good technical people on board.
It’s impossible for anyone to predict what sort of car the team will build for Kimi in 2012, but the big question surrounds the man himself. As always, opinion is split – people either love Kimi or – I won’t use the word hate, because he’s not the sort of character to inspire that degree of negativity – have very little time for him.
The problem is the Iceman image that he has cultivated, saying very little in TV interviews, and keeping himself to himself. Then there are the offstage antics, and his well know preference for having a good time on a Sunday night after a race. Much of that is just a trait of his nationality – Finns are the first to admit that they are generally low-key characters who come out of their shells when they have a drink.
Kimi has always maintained that his private life is his business, and he performs better when not under the cosh. If you are winning, then you can get away with perceived misbehavior off-track. The problem is when you’re not winning, if you don’t live the life of a saint, critics will always be able to point a finger.
Kimi is going to have to work hard to shed the image he generated in his last couple of years in F1. In 2007 he had a brilliant, near faultless season, coming back from 17 points behind with two races to go to beat Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton to the World Championship.
In 2008 he was again fast, but he had a series of early setbacks that cost him momentum. Felipe Massa meanwhile kept piling up the points and became Ferrari’s title contender, and naturally, the team got behind the Brazilian.
Grand Prix of Bahrain
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