All this talk of Kimi just strolling into Mclaren or taking his pick of various top seats on the grid, like he has some divine right, yet I dont think anyones asked a simple and obvious question.

Does Kimi still deserve a top seat?

His form in the previous two seasons has been lacklustre, hes extremely expensive and his motivation is strongly in question, so why does Kimi even deserve another chance in a top seat with so many other younger, cheaper and more motivated drivers around? I dont think he does. Hes had his chance, its no longer 2005, and I dont think he is in a position to demand a top drive anymore.

Who else agrees?

MaxFan1

So I thought you were keen on asking a question but really you answered it as well. Silly me I was buggered to believe you actually had fleeting interest on the problem but really you have it all figured out....

Indeed. Rosberg is much cheaper and could possibly be better. They can take the risk with Rosberg because they allready have a star driver. Sutil is promising for certain and very cheap. Glock had a few amazing drives, I wonder what he can do in a championship winning car ( if Mclaren are back in 2010 ), and he's German to please Mercedes about having a German driver.

But if Kimi drives for free since he gets paid by Ferrari anyway, I don't see any reason for Mclaren not to hire him.

The title of this thread might as well be 'An open invitation to all Kimi haters'...

SHIELDS UP!

You know why Ron didn't want Michael Schumacher? Because he was alot more expensive than Mika who was just as good if not better than him.

Nothing about hating. Any driver must earn and deserve their seats so Im questioning whether Kimi has.

I suppose it's only for next season, afterwards McLaren has to pay, The Robertsons will make sure he's well paid.

It's a valid question guys so there's no need to attack the poster just because you don't agree with his view, he's right - there are a LOT of up and coming drivers available to McLaren (with arguably the same level of talent and no questions around motivation) who would cost 10 times less however (and I agree with McLaren) they want Kimi because he is a known quantity...

You know what you get with Kimi "no-bullshit get in the car and drive as fast as you can-WDC" in my view he's the perfect partner for Lewis and it will be a pleasure watchng those 2 push each other to new levels next year!

Ladies and gentlemen its really quite simple, discuss the topic or ignore the thread.

Kimi has won a Driver World Championship.

[\endthread]

He's good enough for the seat. But I'd like to see someone else given a chance, the top 4 seats are still taken by Hamilton, Massa, Alonso and Raikkenon.

Yes he does

In 2007..
How much credit does that give a driver? Top seats forever?

Engage warp-out-of-this-thread.

Well Fred won his last in 2006 so your argument is a bit limby

Who can tell what are going to be the top seats next year?

Vettel just won in a Red Bull, I'd say thats a decent seat.. the point is Raikkonen obviously deserves a top seat..

Kimi has scored just about the most points in the latest handful of races, it's a funny moment for this thread, which of course wasn't started by a troll but by the truth.

No one can be sure of course, but it's a bit daft to say Ferrari and McLaren are no longer top teams after one off season. I did say he's good enough for a top seat, I don't think we're disagreeing here. My point is other young drivers could be as fast in a good car too, it'd be nice to see what they could do in a winning car.

Why not, after all he's trashing Fisi with much greater margin than Alonso ever did so Kimi must be better than Alonso. Ain't that The Truth?

No

When motivated Kimi s still an excellent racing driver.

The key for McLaren is unlocking that motivation.

In any case he'll for sure be better than Kovalainen/Rosberg/Kubica.

It's McLaren Mercedes money and the way they spend it is up to them and nobody else.
Some of the topics on here defeat me as its a business we are discussing and they will have an economic reason for choosing drivers.
You don't think its about fairness and all that stuff ?
They have given one young bloke his chance and left to probably regret the decision as they forgot to divorce him from his father from a business point of view
To much money involved to do it any other way than pragmatism

No he does not deserve a Mclaren seat. You should have made a poll, though.

I'll be chuffed if he decides to come back to McLaren.

What is he supposed to do to deserve a seat? Part the sea?

2 WDC's in McLaren will spice things up.
Hami and Kimi will be like Yin and Yan, please let it happen.

He would 'sure' be better? How and why? Kimi has been driving in a top team for 8years. I think if you put these 2 drivers in a top team for 8 years they would have far better overall results than Kimi.

Team bosses will have to figure out that one.

It's obvious that his stock has gone down, but his recent form shows he's still got something to give. Very fast, consistent, error free and has scored more points in the last 6 races than any other driver on the grid. Mclaren know what he is capable of (and also what he's not capable of). I Hope they sign him.

Well, not forever. But WC 2007 and winning races also 2009 is much closer to today's results than 2005 or 2006.....

Deserve? No, but then neither does any other driver. Is he the right driver for Mac, and should they hire him, YES, like a shot.

Because he is faster then them?

It's like a girl. On one hand you have a young, smart and very nice behaving girl. On the other hand you have not so young, not so smart and a bit of bitch. Which one you gonna hook up with to go to the party. The one with bigger boobs obviously. Same here.

Funny though how these bashing threads nearly always backfire .

For me, good to see the dodgier Alonso fans already getting nervous at the prospect of Kimi*Lewis at McLaren .

(yes I meant Kimi*Lewis, not merely Kimi+ Lewis...)

Not the answer the OP was looking for, I suspect.

I voted 'yes'.

i think it's not a bad idea though, to have all those wank... grouped and singled out together in one thread so we don't have to bother blacklisting them anymore in the other, more neutral & interesting threads.

So we know for sure that Kimi will be overpaid at Mclaren? Overpaid and non-deserving of his seat?
Is the sum made public? A lot of strange assumptions is being made on this forum and there is an incredible amount of jealousy over Kimi's paycheck.

If McLaren want to hire Kimi they will offer him what they think he is worth in relation to what they got. They will offer him as little as possible but as much as they need to make him sign. We can be sure of that. If they really want him, that is.

93.94% of the voters answered Yes.

Is it clear enough now ?

True. And I'm sure the OP will agree with comments in the Fisi vs Kimi thread from fellow (but sadly departed) poster fanboy: "the comparision [between how well Alonso compared vs Fisi and how well Kimi does] will have good value dont you worry". Based on that, Kimi deserves a top seat ...

It is a great idea. Could be two fixed threads for each driver: [Driver X] bashing & [Driver X] blushing
Then the mods could sort out all posts that just describes the posters personal relation/feelings for a driver into those threads. These kind of threads are to hard to ignore in spite knowing that posting in them is even more pointless than reading them.

Kimi already had a McLaren seat and left them on his own accord after all the things they did for him. The McLaren seat should go to a driver who would be more appreciative of the seat. Sutil, Rosberg, Kubica, Heidfeld. All of them are better options than Kimi. Kimi going back to McLaren would be like you breaking up with a gf for another girl and when the new girl doesn't work out, crying and going back to your ex. It never works out. McLaren deserves better than the unfaithful Kimi.

Strange question really, you don't "deserve" this or that, if Mclaren feels Kimi is worth the kind of money he demands and can do the job required then they'll hire him.

In terms of potential, talent and results it's easy though, I simply don't think Kovalainen has done enough to "deserve" the seat he's currently occupying.

But Kimi's new girlfriend was having an affair behind his back with a hot headed latino while he was at work trying to bring her another championship trophy. In fact the same latino that Kimi's old girlfriend betrayed the year before. At least according to him. Seems like there is plenty of love drama in F1, maybe they all just like to **** around?

By that logic, Kovalainen should keep his seat. After all, he's a loyal, happy guy and much more appreciative than the unfaithful Kimi.

Seriously though, one has to wonder how long you've actually been following F1. Kimi stayed at Mclaren for five straight seasons. No matter how you rate his abilities, it's still pretty obvious he fought quite hard during these years and lost out narrowly on two titles. How many more seasons should he stay to satisfy your view of a "loyal" driver? Forever?

I seem to remember a certain brazilian driver who simply didn't want to stay in his old WDC winning team and publicly claimed that he "deserved" a seat in the back-then all concquering Williams team. And this in his fifth season with the team..

Indeed. It's time again to post this classic from Autosport Dec 7th 2006 - let's hear it from Ron The First Girlfriend!

To Fisi's defence, he had no testing, jumped into the car mid season. He's not as useless as he seems.

Well I saw an interview with Ron Dennis himself on this very subject and you don't know what your talking about. No one could get MS away from Ferrari, they made a commitment to each other, story closed.

Of course Kimi deserves a seat at McLaren, one of the top drivers in one of the top teams, but in no way is he more value than what Hamilton currently is and I hope the wages are balanced out, I would feel some pity for Hamilton if he gets less in his pocket.

Pretty much all of them are overpaid, top team drivers more so than any other. Tens of millions for driving a race car around, you'd end up with mere chump change in comparison for discovering the cure for cancer. Against that backdrop it appears rather academic to discuss which one of them is the most ridiculously overpaid.

Yeah, theres a bunch of experienced winners.

I torrented that DVD.

Kimi's form while at Ferrari has been up and down, but Massa has been unable to dominate him during that time - for extensive periods Raikkonen has actually looked the better driver. I rate Hamilton, Alonso and Vettel as the top 3 drivers - IMO Raikkonen is closer to that group than any other driver.

Yes, that f*****g mexican always sneaking through the border, better watch your back fella.
I think Kimi is very deserving of a Mclaren seat, the sooner the merrier.