Should McLaren Have Signed Raikkonen Instead...

From both perspectives no. Kimi is happy where he is. Mclaren need a younger driver.

They should have gone for the Hulk.

To be perfectly honest, this pairing of Kimi and McLaren do have unfinished business and Martin is a big admirer but they don't gel togethor very well and Kimi is better suited at Lotus. The only other team I can see him fitting so well into is Red Bull.

In regards to Perez though, I do think McLaren jumped the gun a little and signed a driver largely through desperation and hype. I would've gone with Hulkenberg, now there's someone for the future or perhaps sign someone on a 1 year deal and then look for a top class driver in 2014 with the shakeup. I do feel the Perez and Button combination is weak.

Aha ha!



Inspite of what you may think, McLaren have more resources and have the greater capacity to provide Kimi with race victories, etc.

Let's be brutally honest here. We're talking about a team (from Woking) that can win races even during their worst seasons (like 2009, 2006).

Edited by Orn, 15 October 2012 - 03:57.

If processes are the new McLaren thing - Kimi shoud stay far away from that team.
Kimi doesn't seem to be a process kind of guy...

And see what happened - the processed HAM escaped in desire to be real meat again?!

Yes, he's the closest driver to the top 3 tier in F1 (Alonso/Hamilton/Vettel). Doesn't have any glaring weaknesses.

No. I'd like to see Kimi do well next year.

best answer!

as for the signing... the panic execution of plan B... because "we cannot let Lewis announce that he is leaving us and we look empty handed"... could have been given more time... look at Hulkenberg now... growing and growing in his role.

Perez has many more years and can be molded by McLaren. Plus we need young drivers in F1 to be able to go into top teams.

To be honest, I don't think they're interested in signing and retaining top drivers anymore. Just like they weren't too desperate to keep Newey. They seem to want to build a system that will keep working even without the stars, be it drivers or designers. In fact signing Perez is a pretty strong signal that they aren't really interested in the best drivers, but rather are looking to get solid drivers and put the right processes in place to help them succeed.

Good luck to them, it's a different approach.

Edited by BillBald, 15 October 2012 - 12:35.

There's no way McL would have chosen someone like Perez if Kimi had been available. By the same tolken, there's no way Kimi would have chosen to stay at Lotus if he had been free to move to McL next season.

If they were the same age and brought the same sponsor money I'm absolutely sure they'd have tried to sign Raikkonen. We don't know how far negotiations went but I'm not convinced Kimi was that keen, the contract might have been too demanding PR-wise.

None of it adds up as far as the choice between these two drivers are concerned. There's no way McL would have chosen someone like Perez if Kimi had been available. By the same tolken, there's no way Kimi would have chosen to stay at Lotus if he had been free to move to McL next season. WDCs are practically never won in 2nd tier teams and Kimi has been more vocal than any other driver in F1 that he is only interested in driving if he can win WDCs.

All the evidence indicates that Kimi was already commited to either Red Bull or Ferrari for 2014. In other words, I believe that Kimi will be taking Webber or Vettel's seat at RB in 2014.

"I always said that if I win one I'm happy and then if something comes after that good, but I am not desperate on it,"
...
"When I feel I want to stop I will stop and it's not that I try to carry on and try to win. It's not going to be the reason why I am going to stay here."

Well they did make a processed HAM for a few years...

I don't mean to sound like a pretentious a**, but I don't think they won any races in '06

are you serious ??? mend what ??? it's a open secret that he was shoved aside by santander money ... and don't give us that ''motivation'' Bullcrap.

No, they should have signed Schumi for a year. Ron always wanted him in the team.

Perez needs more experience, I fear he'll do another 'Heikki' and hurt his career.

Signing Perez isnt the problem. He is a good young driver with tons of potential, and will help bring sponsorship to the team.

The problem is Button. He just isnt a team leader. A good driver on his day and has shown he can beat Hamilton but he has too many problems per season to be top class.

Mclarens problem the past few years is that they did not have a driver to rally behind and is sure to get results. RB have it with Vettel and a very good backup Webber. Ferrari have Alonso the best driver of his generation. Merc has MSC, but they also had Brawn hence the failure.

Mclaren needed Raikkonen and Perez IMO, or MSC and Button. I think they were too hasty renewing Jenson contract more than anything.

Edited by RayInTorontoCanada, 15 October 2012 - 20:36.

Kimi and Button are similar type of drivers similar in talent and even characteristics, smooth, clean, non-aggressive personalities. I think Mclaren needs some fire, not sure I would go with Perez he does seems to have the speed, but still a bit green, but on the long run could be a very good choice. Kimi would be less risky, but with more mediocre results in my view, a not highly motivated Kimi that is.

Edited by Mauseri, 16 October 2012 - 07:38.

Button and Kimi are too similar, only in the sense that they are both reliable result makers. other wise they are so different that you can't put them in the same continent

Hulkenberg was the better option but thats just my opinion.

Meanwhile the also rapid but inconsistent Perez (being even handed perhaps it is more down to the machinery) goes to McLaren and I wonder if this was, at least in part, driven by the major sponsor(s).In response to the thread's title no I don't think McLaren should have signed KR.

Suddenly I see a lot of people saying Kimi has become a leader. He hasn't done anything different on this regard since 2001. If he is a team leader now, he was one in 2004 and 2008 as well. If he wasn't a team leader in 2006 and 2009, he isn't one now.

I agree. He is no leader.

Edited by Vesuvius, 16 October 2012 - 15:33.

I agree. He is no leader.

Perez was signed to race , he is not bringing sponsors . Mclaren rate him higher than all the other available options , we will see soon enough if they were right . IMO they made the right choice

Perez was signed to race , he is not bringing sponsors . Mclaren rate him higher than all the other available options , we will see soon enough if they were right . IMO they made the right choice

I agree. He is no leader.

Edited by Torsion, 16 October 2012 - 17:11.

Hulkenberg was the better option but thats just my opinion.

Button and Kimi are too similar, reliable result makers.

Edited by beute, 16 October 2012 - 16:38.

how the hell is button a reliable result maker?
He is the most inconsistent driver from the top4 teams...

Sometimes he misses q3 for no real reason, sometimes he cruises around in position 15 for no good reason.
he finished outside the points 4 times without suffering any major problems that were out of his own hands.
Complete contrast to Hamilton, who finished every race he finished in the points, not to mention that he suffered more real retirements and still is considerably ahead than button.(no I dont count driving around in 14th position and then giving up shortly before race end as a real retirement, sry button)

2010 was more or less the same, 2011 was great, 2012 shitty again.
this happens, as I said already, also in a race to race basis...


button is not someone you should rely on, Kimi on the other hand is sitting in a position where he and the car he is driving have no business to be, solely because he was more reliable and consistent than the guys behind him.(maybe exclude hamilton, as all of his 4 retirements were no fault of his own)

Aha ha!



Inspite of what you may think, McLaren have more resources and have the greater capacity to provide Kimi with race victories, etc.

Let's be brutally honest here. We're talking about a team (from Woking) that can win races even during their worst seasons (like 2009, 2006).

The team from Enstone has only 1 legitimate win in 6 seasons.

I love Raikkonen, for me he is amazing and I've always been a fan. But I don't think he should have got back to McLaren now. He is not so young anymore, his commitment can switch suddenly as we saw from F1 to rally from rally to F1, so you can't build anything on the long term with him. Moreover let's not forget he decided to leave McLaren in 2006, for Ferrari, a direct competitor, so McLaren wouldn't want to allow such a comeback otherwise all the future drivers will see McLaren only as a step of their career not the pinnacle.

Yet is Perez better than Kimi ? No, never, in any sort of form. He is young but he's not world top 3 material. And he's too commited to Ferrari as well, so he will got to Italia after 2-3 years, I'm sure. I continue to pretend that Vettel was the only option for McLaren. By not getting him signed they showed financial weakness and strategical error for their own future.