I personally think Kimi will sign with Red Bull for 2014.
Although Kimi has continued his consistentcy - and points streaks - with Lotus, I'm starting to fear that Lotus is falling behind in the development race. Monaco and Montreal are not best suited for the Lotus car, even though Romain faired well in Canada in 2012. If Lotus falls behind again in the development race, what will the incentive be for Kimi to resign with them in 2014? Essentially, he would be signing up for mediocrity over the course of the season with the chance to win the odd race. I understand there are a new set of rules coming in 2014. And this "change" could give Lotus an upper hand. But unless that upper hand is similar to Brawn's in 2009, could Lotus really stay ahead of the competition over the course of 19 or 20 races?
They have displayed enough pace to fight for victories. But not consistent victories. And that will certainly be required against an Improving Vettel and Alonso in a competitive Ferrari. Mercedes could also throw their hat into the ring if they finally understand how to operate their rear tyres in the optimum temperature window. My real concern is Vettel. He's an adrenaline junkie that is finally starting to reign in some of his childhood antics and understand what Kimi and Fernando do best: play the long and consistent game. He's becoming a seasoned veteran at the ripe age of 25. For me, he has been the premier driver so far in 2013. And I personally don't believe Kimi could properly fight Vettel in any car other than a Red Bull.
I really want to see a Kimi and Vettel pairing for 2014. Kimi certainly deservesat least 1 more title for all of the poor luck he experienced at McLaren. A reunion with Newey could bring a reinvigorated Raikkonen back to his best. And would be his best chance to snatch another WDC before he exits the sport..
I have no clue... maybe rlock" title="sherlock" /> Miezi can find out for us??
h" title="hih" /> my first thought was that it's mabye Todd Hirschfeld, the guy who managed Kimi during NASCAR time.. but looking at old pics I don't think he is. " title="hmm" /> no idea, maybe just a friend? " title="dunno" />
Zitat von SonnyI personally think Kimi will sign with Red Bull for 2014.
Although Kimi has continued his consistentcy - and points streaks - with Lotus, I'm starting to fear that Lotus is falling behind in the development race. Monaco and Montreal are not best suited for the Lotus car, even though Romain faired well in Canada in 2012. If Lotus falls behind again in the development race, what will the incentive be for Kimi to resign with them in 2014? Essentially, he would be signing up for mediocrity over the course of the season with the chance to win the odd race. I understand there are a new set of rules coming in 2014. And this "change" could give Lotus an upper hand. But unless that upper hand is similar to Brawn's in 2009, could Lotus really stay ahead of the competition over the course of 19 or 20 races?
They have displayed enough pace to fight for victories. But not consistent victories. And that will certainly be required against an Improving Vettel and Alonso in a competitive Ferrari. Mercedes could also throw their hat into the ring if they finally understand how to operate their rear tyres in the optimum temperature window. My real concern is Vettel. He's an adrenaline junkie that is finally starting to reign in some of his childhood antics and understand what Kimi and Fernando do best: play the long and consistent game. He's becoming a seasoned veteran at the ripe age of 25. For me, he has been the premier driver so far in 2013. And I personally don't believe Kimi could properly fight Vettel in any car other than a Red Bull.
I really want to see a Kimi and Vettel pairing for 2014. Kimi certainly deservesat least 1 more title for all of the poor luck he experienced at McLaren. A reunion with Newey could bring a reinvigorated Raikkonen back to his best. And would be his best chance to snatch another WDC before he exits the sport..
first you have to look at that from RB side, do they really want Kimi? What will Webber do? I'm quite sure if Webber decides that he wants to continue then RB will keep him. and that will happen around summer break I think. if not then I think we won't know that soon who will be the Seb's team mate. Depending on the season they might also go for one of the Toro Rosso guys. and for Kimi, sure RB is the better team but with the big changes it's possible Newey gets it all wrong this time, or the engine doesn't have enough power compared to Mercedes or Ferrari - although that might be same problem at Lotus. Then there are the points like PR time and if he could be as "free" as he is at Lotus now which I don't know how crucial are for Kimi. and RB is basically Seb's team, I'm not saying Kimi is slower than Seb but it would certainly not be easy to beat him as they know him very well and Seb's their 3 or then maybe 4 times champion. So what if he sits in best car but still can't win WDC " title="dunno" />
I have no clue... maybe Miezi can find out for us??
my first thought was that it's mabye Todd Hirschfeld, the guy who managed Kimi during NASCAR time.. but looking at old pics I don't think he is. no idea, maybe just a friend?
I was thinking is it possible that maybe he's @The_Iceman7 on Twitter?? Based on the stuff he tweeted... I guess @The_Iceman7 is part of Kimi's Webteam (twitter, Kimi's Offical website, maybe FB too...) ?? just my wild guess h" title="hih" />
I feel the same. I was so happy reading Sonny's post until I read Miezi's " title="oh" />
I happen to stumbled today with Soren's and WRCVA article about the Ferrari-Santander deal in 2008, right after Kimi's Barcelona win... that's exactly when I really started to follow Kimi. and I have followed him through all his downs and some small ups. Most of you enjoyed watching Kimi kick everybody's but in 2003, 2005 and specially in 2007!
Forget Kimi, don't "I" deserve to enjoy some golden years with the sportman I support " title="pray" /> " title="dreamy" />
I don't follow @The_Iceman7 but I'm sure that's just someone and not in any way connected with Kimi. From the few tweets I saw it's either stuff taken from others or just made up.
Felipe Massa three races in time to save the Ferrari place.
Webber is Fernando friend, but Of the three (Bianchi, Webber, Hulkenberg) candidates, Bianchi would also be favorite team mate Fernando Alonso, who does not see this as a threat to its stature team the absolute number one driver.
Zitat How Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull contract extension affects the F1 driver market Examining the implications of the World Champion's one-year extension and why all eyes are now on Kimi Raikkonen
By James Galloway. Last Updated: June 13, 2013 9:07am
Alonso, Vettel and Hamilton: Locked into their respective current teams for now Kimi Raikkonen is still weighing up his options for 2014
The news that Sebastian Vettel has committed his future to Red Bull until the end of 2015 was, by F1 standards, delivered with both the minimum of fuss and without the kind of long-term trailing and speculation that accompanies many headline driver-market announcements.
The World Champions' three-paragraph-long press release, two thirds of which were simply a plotted history of Vettel's extraordinary F1 career thus far, effectively said all you, and any rival suitor, needed to know: the sport's current pre-eminent driver is going nowhere for at least the next two seasons.
But while the first part of the statement made reference to the fact that Vettel had "extended his multi-year contract", the unspecified small print was that the 'extension' only actually amounted to an additional 12-month term. That's because back in May 2011 the then single World Champion extended his contract by two more years all the way up to the end of 2014.
So, while it's undoubted good news for Red Bull to have tied down their home-grown star for the first two seasons of F1's new regulation era, it's not quite as emphatic a commitment from the triple World Champion as it could have been. "Really what we're seeing is Vettel being happy with the team and prepared to sign-up again, but let's not put it too strong, it's only a year's extension," observed Sky Sports F1's Ted Kravitz. "So while it is a vote of confidence, it's not a massive vote of confidence for the long-term."
Vettel extends Red Bull deal
Indeed, while the extension will certainly put speculation of a future switch to Ferrari - or even similar long-term admirers Mercedes - to bed for a good while, such is the nature of the F1 rumour mill that talk about where the German, by then in his late 20s, is headed in 2016 will lurch into full swing before you know it.
What Vettel's one-year extension has already certainly achieved, however, is to tie the trio who many consider to be F1's fastest drivers to their respective teams for the medium-term future.
Fernando Alonso signed his latest contract back in mid-2011, but unlike Vettel even with the new extension taken into account, the Spaniard's deal with Ferrari runs for longer - all the way to the end of 2016, by which time the two-times World Champion will be 35 and with 15 seasons of F1 racing under his belt. Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, is in the first of what is a three-year deal at Mercedes, thus meaning his contract tantalisingly now runs for the same length of time as Vettel's.
The similar durations of those three key deals raise all sorts of mouth-watering prospective scenarios for the 2016-2017 merry-go-rounds but the more immediate focus is now firmly centred - if it wasn't already - on one of the grid's other World Champions. With Jenson Button thought to be contracted to McLaren to the end of next season, it's therefore Kimi Raikkonen whose short-term future is the most uncertain given his Lotus contract runs out in December.
The Finn has made no secret of the fact when quizzed about his future plans at recent races that, as things stand, he is a free agent next year, while he also apparently suggested that he probably has "two" options for 2014. The first of those is certainly a third season at Enstone and while that is an attractive proposition in its own right, it's the speculation that the 2007 title winner could replace the seemingly departing Mark Webber at Red Bull that has set excited tongues wagging in the sport.
However, while the merits of signing the 20-time grand prix winner are obvious, Sky F1 expert Mark Hughes, writing in his latest website column, suggested Red Bull's hierarchy had yet to decide whether a Vettel/Raikkonen dynamic would actually be good for the team. "The word in the paddock is that Team Principal Christian Horner and Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz cannot agree whether that would be a good idea or whether it would risk de-stabilising a team that has won the last three Drivers' and Constructors' world titles," Hughes wrote. "Even if that gets resolved in favour of the idea, there's still the matter of whether Raikkonen would want to come."
While neither the team nor driver have publicly ruled out the prospect of Webber ultimately staying on for 2014, the idea has appeared implausible ever since the spectacular fallout from this year's Malaysian GP - although given Horner has admitted that his drivers hadn't much trusted each other anyway since their famous coming together in Turkey 2010, Sepang may not have actually changed all that much after all.
Road to Greatness - Christian Horner
Indeed, what could be considered even more of a gamble for 2014 would be propelling one of Toro Rosso's two young chargers, Jean-Eric Vergne or Daniel Ricciardo, into the senior Red Bull team after just two full seasons in F1 respectively - and with no front-running experience at that.
Both drivers are nonetheless showing signs of increasing maturity and speed in 2013, with Ricciardo finishing seventh in China and Vergne sixth in Canada, and asked about the pair last weekend Horner made clear he was monitoring their respective progress closely, even if he admitted it was still too early to make a final decision on their suitability for promotion.
"The two of them are both very capable young drivers and they're feeding off each other. They almost alternate over different weekends and it's great to see young talent starting to flourish. It's still too early to make a call on that [if they are ready to step up to Red Bull] but we have all the information through working with those guys and following them quite closely and it's great to see the progress they're making."
So, reading between the lines, it appears Red Bull have quite the quandary as to who to choose for the second seat in 2014 - thus making Vettel's extension, however short, quite the timely comfort.
Zitat von miezicatfirst you have to look at that from RB side, do they really want Kimi? What will Webber do? I'm quite sure if Webber decides that he wants to continue then RB will keep him. and that will happen around summer break I think. if not then I think we won't know that soon who will be the Seb's team mate. Depending on the season they might also go for one of the Toro Rosso guys.
Do we know that they DON'T want Kimi? Have you heard anyone in Red Bull try to squash the rumour about Kimi coming to Red Bull? If they did NOT want Kimi to come: they have had ample opportunities to properly say so. But have they?
I think their lack of denying the fact Kimi could partner Seb is what keeps everyone " title="hmm" /> . With that being said: Yes I do think they want Kimi.
Zitat von Miezicat and for Kimi, sure RB is the better team but with the big changes it's possible Newey gets it all wrong this time, or the engine doesn't have enough power compared to Mercedes or Ferrari - although that might be same problem at Lotus. Then there are the points like PR time and if he could be as "free" as he is at Lotus now which I don't know how crucial are for Kimi. and RB is basically Seb's team, I'm not saying Kimi is slower than Seb but it would certainly not be easy to beat him as they know him very well and Seb's their 3 or then maybe 4 times champion. So what if he sits in best car but still can't win WDC
This is certainly an unknown. But what do we know about the current engine situation? Red Bull clearly had "less" of an engine - powered by Renault - yet dominated the competition. I think Newey has proven that he can overcome what's lacking in the engine with his ingenuity in aerodynamics. If the rules continually scale back aerodynamics, then Red Bull may be at a disadvantage with a lesser engine. But it hasn't seem to have affected their world championship charges the last 3 seasons or this season so far. Again, I'm going off of recent history when I say that I think Red Bull still has the capacity to win a title despite lacking power to the competition.
As for your final question.. Maybe he can't win the WDC. But maybe he can! But would you rather he never had one more "real" chance at a WDC? Or cruise around in a Lotus where P3 is probably the best he can hope for?
If Turrini is to be believed, Ferrari talked to Kimi last summer but nothing hapened. And Red Bull has already done an offer to Kimi but they are still discussing the length of the contract.
In another article I read Red Bull's owner DM wants Kimi but Horner doesn't " title="dunno" />
And in another article I read is Vettel who vetoed Kimi.
So if Vettel and Horner don't want Kimi to be there, what kind of future could he have there.
Anyway, maybe Kimi chooses to stay at Lotus for his own reasons.
Zitat von WHATEVER In another article I read Red Bull's owner DM wants Kimi but Horner doesn't
And in another article I read is Vettel who vetoed Kimi.
So if Vettel and Horner don't want Kimi to be there, what kind of future could he have there.
This actually makes a lot of sense to me.
I personally don't believe that Mark has deserved to have his contract renewed. Especially after his antics last year. If Seb would have lost the title in Brazil after Mark squeezed him into the first corner, Red Bull would have been right in paying Mark to surf on the beaches in Australia rather than drive for them again in 2013. But Red Bull has continued to "support" him despite this. But is it true support? I believe a component of renewing his contract is dictated by Seb. But just a component. And this is important because I think Seb also has some say in whether Raikkonen comes to Red Bull.
Even if they are " title="friends" /> at the circuit, that friendship would surely suffer as teammates. The pairing of Raikkonen and Vettel would be " title="dreamy" /> for the fans, but not for Red Bull. What if Seb has bad luck and/or Raikkonen is quicker? Surely having an incoming 1x WDC challenge your 4x WDC (theoretical) is not ideal..
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Wed Jun 12, 2013 7:29 pm
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rlock" title="sherlock" /> Miezi can find out for us??
h" title="hih" /> my first thought was that it's mabye Todd Hirschfeld, the guy who managed Kimi during NASCAR time.. but looking at old pics I don't think he is. 
" title="hmm" /> no idea, maybe just a friend? 
" title="dunno" />
ha" title="haha" />
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" title="nono" />
" title="oh" /> 
" title="pray" /> 
" title="dreamy" />
" title="oi" /> 
" title="friends" /> at the circuit, that friendship would surely suffer as teammates. The pairing of Raikkonen and Vettel would be 