According to sources lta-Sanomat has, Kimi Räikkönen has already decided to go to Ferrari.
Räikkönen has been taken all summer long to Red Bull in rumours. Also Räikkönen's continuance in Lotus has been seen as a strong option.
According to information from "Yksinäinen Katsastaja" (Lonesome Inspector), Räikkönen has however decided to go back to Ferrari.
The rumour is that Dietrich Mateschitz wants Fernando Alonso as Sebastian Vettel's teammate next season.
Räikkönen's and Ferrari's previous journey didn't work out despite the championship. Maranello's management was constantly displeased with Kimi's reluctance to take part in PR-events.
i dont know what to think about it...i trust Kimi, so i'll support him with anything he does. Still my jaw will drop if he really decides to go back to ferrari... and i'll have to dig out the red stuff...i preferred the black/golden things... " title="roll" />
First of all, if RB is so dumb to want Alonso and all his mess in their team, then they deserve each other. IMO
Second, I know Kimi never wanted to leave Ferrari. But if he's really coming back, it should be because they realized they messed up and not because RB wants Alonso and Kimi is the best driver available.
And third, I already gave away all my Ferrari stuff and I'm not planing to by any more stuff. Not even if Kimi goes back. Unless LDM and the Dom leave and Todt goes back... wich may probably be NEVER. Because Ferrari has lots of retracting to do and a lot of ass kissing (to Kimi) too, so I can stand them again and I know it won't happen. But if they give Kimi a winning car I'll be more that happy to eat my own words.
The perfect storm. Throw out any rumours stir the pot add Kimi, and of course the story would take on a life of its own!
I just really cant see Kimi returning to Ferrari, he just recently said in Autosprint that it was his most unhappy time in F1. Ferrari is still the same Ferrari, and now we have Santander in the mix as well. For Kimi to actually go back there something big would have to change. Because you will always get the same results if all the ingredients remains the same. I guess something like Montezemolo retiring would be a start, but even then I am not sure.
I just dont see it. Besides everyone think Ferrari engines will suck next year.
Kimi is in a terrible situation. There just seem to be no win-win situation. Red Bull might go for a second driver and take Ricciardo, or Kimi could join the team and he might be undermined driving next to a most likely 4xWDC. Going to Ferrari has a boatload full of potential pitfalls. Lotus would be alright but they just cant work with money. This is not an easy decision and there is no obvious advantages anywhere. If I were the Robertsons I would be taking to Mclaren, that will atleast give Kimi a choice of a Mercedes engine as well.
Zitat von YiNingMcLaren going for Honda engine from 2015.... so better talk to Mercedes then
Yes they should also try to negotiate with Mercedes. It would be awesome to see Kimi in cars that heat their tyres for a change, I bet he would be good in a Mercedes.
In summer's silence a shocking switch has been rigged in F1. Apparently Kimi Räikkönen has a contract with Ferrari and Red Bull is negotiating about hiring Fernando Alonso. Alhtough it isn't easy to hire Alonso, because his Ferrari-contract is valid until year 2016.
According to information Sport Content has, Red Bull's leading figures Dietrich Mateschitz and Helmut Marko would want Alonso as Vettel's teammate. Alonso has got into a fight with Ferrari and he would want to leave the team. At this very moment Ferrari and Red Bull are negotiating about terminating Alonso's contract and getting him to Red Bull.
If Alonso goes to Red Bull, then Ferrari has to find a new driver. Candidates are Nico Hülkenberg and Jules Bianchi. Ferrari is not going to continue Felipe Massa's contract.
- August is a dangerous time on F1's newsfront. A little happens then, Alonso commented in Hungary after his manager's visit was revealed.
I personally don't believe these rumours about Kimi to Ferrari. Boudica's post was excellent on why Kimi won't return. Maybe some insiders have some very, very inside information that Autosport and other major F1 news sites either don't know or are unwilling to publish. Time will tell..
In summer's silence a shocking switch has been rigged in F1. Apparently Kimi Räikkönen has a contract with Ferrari and Red Bull is negotiating about hiring Fernando Alonso. Alhtough it isn't easy to hire Alonso, because his Ferrari-contract is valid until year 2016.
According to information Sport Content has, Red Bull's leading figures Dietrich Mateschitz and Helmut Marko would want Alonso as Vettel's teammate. Alonso has got into a fight with Ferrari and he would want to leave the team. At this very moment Ferrari and Red Bull are negotiating about terminating Alonso's contract and getting him to Red Bull.
If Alonso goes to Red Bull, then Ferrari has to find a new driver. Candidates are Nico Hülkenberg and Jules Bianchi. Ferrari is not going to continue Felipe Massa's contract.
- August is a dangerous time on F1's newsfront. A little happens then, Alonso commented in Hungary after his manager's visit was revealed.
another article translated by Nicole " title="ty" />
Zitat Surprising percentages in Räikkönen's Ferrari-switch - "The decision will come soon""
Urheilulehti's F1-analysist Erkki Mustakari still thinks that Red Bull is the strongest option as Räikkönen's new employer.
Eki, according to Italian Autosprint-magazine Räikkönen's possible switch to Ferrari is still one of Kimi's options. How strong do you think the option of Räikkönen going to Ferrari is?
If Italian F1-spies have figured out that they really consider hiring Räikkönen alongside Alonso in Ferrari, then it should be taken seriously. Ferrari still has a small panic, because it looks like they won't succeed this season either. In addition to that even Mercedes seems to run away from Ferrari, not only Red Bull. Lotus-team's limited resources stopped them from rising to the absolute top and they are ahead of Ferrari only because of Kimi Räikkönen's brilliant performances.
Can the Räikkös-card be affected by James Allison's switch to Ferrari?
It may of course, but I doubt Allison has much power in the team's decisions when Luca di Montezemolo and Stefano Domenicali think about Massa's replacement. On the other hand any team's management would happily welcome Räikkönen if only agreeing upon clauses. In addition to that Räikkönen's advantage is the contract situation. He is free to go to any team he wants, provided of course that the teams also really want to hire him as their driver.
What is the latest in Räikkönen's situation?
Lotus has made him an offer and the team hope for a speedy reply. Speedy so that these new options wouldn't disturb Räikkönen's decision. When it comes to Red Bull again, the ball is more in Red Bull's camp than it is in Räikkönen's camp - the team has told that they will announce Mark Webber's replacement before Spa. It makes it somehow easier for Red Bull to decide if they don't find the mutual contract-tune with Räikkönen, then Webber's seat will go to Daniel Ricciardo.
Ferrari's distress is related to their unsuccessfulness, although Alonso has almost succeeded to win the WDC twice. But getting close isn't enough for Ferrari. It also has significance that Kimi Räikkönen has after the 2-year break become the most popular driver in the F1. In addition to that Räikkönen is well known in Ferrari. When undisputable driving talents, experience of steel and ability to bring the car to finish line in each race are combined with super-popularity, it's no wonder that Ferrari is interested in him. It's also not a bad thing that Räikkönen is the last driver who brought Ferrari the WDC.
How would you evaluate these options in percentages?
Red Bull 60 %, Lotus and Ferrari 20 %.
How quickly will Räikkönen's team next season be clear?
In any way the solution will come quickly. From Red Bull before Spa and Ferrari probably in Monza. In other word one more month and we will be much wiser then.
The thing with these rumours is that Bild reports it, and Finnish articles quote Blid and now Blid is quoting Finnish articles again. Ans so it goes round and round. I ve yet to this being reported by reputable publications like Autosport.
If I have to be honest, I dont think the Finnish press is very reliable. What have they actually gotten right these past few years? When Kimi wanted to return to F1 it was Autosport who reported it first. People mostly often seem clueless about Kimi's plans.
When Kimi returned to F1 everyone thought he was going to Williams, when the announcements was dragged out I remember most people thought that the deal had fallen through and that Kimi wouldn't return to F1. People were completely blindsided by the Lotus announcement, the possibility did pop up here and there but it wasn't discussed extensively. And yet we later learned that Kimi had signed the contract 3 weeks earlier, yet for the most part no one really expected it.
The same thing happened when Kimi left F1 everyone thought he will get the Mclaren drive, only later did we learn that Kimi was already negotiating with Citroen in July of that year.
People hardly ever predicts what Kimi is doing. I bet Kimi has already signed a contract. We will know as soon as however is in charge is welling to report the information. But Kimi just might end up surprising people again. Lets see what happens.
I wouldn't be surprised if Kimi had already signed a Red Bull contract, but at the same time I think Kimi could easily stay with Lotus as well. Lotus isn't exactly searching hard for a new drivers, now are they?
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Fri Aug 02, 2013 4:01 pm
" title="ty" /> Momo 
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ha" title="haha" /> yeah, he's done it already!!!!!!!!
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" title="rb" /> say they would announce sometime between spa and Monza? Not before spa?! 
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