Norbert has today confirmed that the Robertson contacted him this day.

Lets wait. For sure, Mercedes needs Kimi.

Link? At MTV3 there was a story where was quoted Haug talking to Auto Motor und Sport, where he said that "Kimi can always call to me".

Well, at least there is some truth behind these reports.

I still think Kimi leaving F1 is most likely outcome, but certainly Merc would be good team for KR. Now they have more resources, etc. And I also agree proven WDC should be at the top of their wish list. Both Ferrari & McLaren have scary strong lineup; 3 world champions + one who was within inches of winning the title.

It was the HS story, but I think its just bullshit, HS doesn't have any sources so its more probable that they just fiddled with the translation(Haug: Kimi can call me anytime)

e. Though I think they are in negotiations, but the HS report isn't based on any new info.

There was a reason why Kimi considered Macca as his only option. Why should this have changed all of the sudden? He must have know about the split of Mercedes and Macca a long time ago.

I will be seriously hacked off if Kimi joins Mercedes. I wanted Jenson to stay and its only 'cos of him Maclaren lured Jense away. If Kimi wanted to stay in F1 then he should have done a deal with Maclaren. However I can't blame Mercedes, its not gonna be as easy in 2010 with two new drivers and without the head start they had this year. Kimi could be a big help, I suppose.

Same thought!

Read this board.

Mercedes does not need Kimi.

However, Kimi does need Mercedes if he wants to stay in F1.

Haug has confirmed this.

Please read a bit on the board, it´s easier.

maybe he doesn't follow the latest stories of f1 from the internet we know kimi just enjoy driving competitive car, nothing else

Turun Sanomat today:
Steve Robertson says there are no negotiations. The situation is the same as on Tuesday. Only if Mercedes can prove they will be as competitive as this year, will Kimi be interested. This in not likely.

"Kimi takes a short vacation now and then we'll sit down and think what he wants to do", Robertson said.

-------

TS has been right all along when they said there was no McLaren contact and negotiations were ongoing, so I'll take this as the truth (or at least close to the truth) and the other sources as rumours. The chances don't look that good to me, Kimi is being too stubborn.

Haug confirmed to Helsingin Sanomat this evening that Kimi's managers have called Mercedes GP's Nick Fry to open negotiations with them. I guess they saw Haug's invitation to call. I posted the story a few hours ago but here it is again...

Raikkonen will Negotiate with Mercedes GP
19.11.2009

Norbert Haug confirmed that Kimi's managers have called to Mercedes GP's Nick Fry to open negotiations.

"This is normal behaviour as long as there's a seat to be filled. Other drivers and their representatives have done the same. No decisions has been made yet" says Haug.

http://www.hs.fi/urheilu/formula1/artikkel...a/1135250885855

You might be study hard - Batton just leaved Brawn/Mercedes - it's changed picture, isn't it? "The door open", - said Kimi.

Kimi dam well needs crawl down off that pedestal he has put himself on. Really what has got into him.

Yep but what could Mercedes give him what Macca didn´t? It seems that Kimi´s demands are pretty stringend and he doesn´t want to compromise anything (which is his right to do so).
And I don´t think that Brawn is that eager to sign him. He doesn´t have a high opinion on Kimi! At least this is what everybody is talking.

Well I do not know at what time that comment was given but Haug confirmed to Helsingin Sanomat this very evening that Kimi's managers have called Nick Fry to open negotiations. That of course means that there are no negotiations going on yet at the moment so even if Steve's comment is a recent one he's not lying.

Steve? But who was in Macao yesterday? There are two Robertsons. Hilarious. One could negotiate rally other F1.

It is his right to do so, but if he still ends up out of F1 then he can only blame himself.

Yeah, now that I think of it, maybe Mercedes could want Kimi in the team.

+ Kimi's got many pole positions already. Of the rumoured driver pair for Mercedes (Rosberg & Heidfeld) only Heidfeld has had a pole position. One. Pole. Position. Compare that to Kimi's 16... hmm...

+ Kimi knows how to win races in F1. He's done plenty of winning. The rumoured driver pair for Mercedes has none. Kimi has 18, of which some were really spectacular wins.

+ He's got a huge number of fastest laps compared to all the others in the sport now. 35! Only M. Schumacher and Prost have more. This must mean something

+ Kimi keeps his head cool more likely than many others when the pressure is increasing.

- Too laid-back attitude? But hey, this might be why he is able to keep himself cool when the pressure is increasing. Kimi's good at getting out of the car and forgetting the shit right away and going playing ice hockey - this guy won't suffer like Jenson suffered this year from the pressure of the Championship. Jenson himself said he was thinking about it all the time - this is something Kimi won't do, so the pressure won't be a problem like it was for Jenson.

- Not enough communication? Well, I just think he needs a boss who understands his character. Certainly the ones at Ferrari didn't. I would trust people like Norbert Haug and Ross Brawn to see the real qualities of the persona Kimi Räikkönen. They understand he is not a politician and they won't expect him to become one overnight. Norbert has worked with Finns for a long time. And has visited the country on a rather regular basis as I have understood, as he's a friend of Keke Rosberg and I've understood he has visited Keke's cottage(s) in Lapland quite often (please forgive me Norbert if this is wrong, I just read some stories and saw some photos). Does he even have his own cottage in Lapland? I'm not sure of that but it's certainly possible. He's not a stranger to the Finnish personality types, I would say.

So yeah, I would trust Norbert to work well with Kimi. Ross, is a smart individual, it's safe to say that. Smart individuals like Ross will know how to manage people like Kimi - not expect they change their persona, start to speak some new language, learn how to gesticulate a lot, etc., a smart person won't expect such things, I guess they did expect something like that from Kimi at Ferrari and that's one reason why it didn't work - it's arrogant and stupid to expect him to start speaking Italian, as an example. I had Italian people work with me here in Finland and I never told them they need to speak Finnish. Sure, some learned Finnish, but they were let to do it at their own will and pace.



Yeah, OK. I can see many things why it makes sense for Mercedes to hire Kimi. They have got their German driver in Nico Rosberg. Pair him with an experienced proven Championship winner like Kimi and you can expect if you lose it's not going to be the drivers who are at fault.


I don't expect much, but I hope they can agree to make a deal. A driver of such qualities left without a drive for a year? It would be a shame for the whole sport. Kimi has a huge fan base, and certainly not only in his native country. Looking at motorsports forums around the World you can find a lot of support for Kimi. I bet there are easily more Kimi fans outside Finland than inside it. Maybe even the number of Kimi fans in Germany alone will be enough to beat the number of Kimi fans in Finland.

I have already answered about what Brawn think about Kimi - read his comment in 2007. Mercedes could give him more money, definitely equal status, all freedom to do whatever he wants - because they don't have another big player like earlier it was Button and Lois in Mclaren.

Common sense suggest at least they will talk. I dunno Kimi might be really stupid if really think in 2011 Ferrari or Mclaren will call him back. RB? The same as Brawn, but with Vettel onboard.

I couldn't agree more. I've followed him since Formula Renault and he has never acted like this. Especially the reason for the McLaren fiasco being money. The Ferrari thing must have hurt him badly, this is uncharacteristic behaviour, imo. You never know who will be on top next year, it's always a gamble.

I think it would be good for Kimi to go to Mercedes but I won't believe it until it is signed. If it gets signed I will probably start to believe that all of this was a deal between Merc, Brawn, McLaren all along. All of it. The buying of Brawn, the deal with McLaren and the drivers. And the thing we see is just a show for the media.

Btw Kimi also gave his own comments to TS. So he's taking that short vacation now like always after season and then starting normal training with Mark Arnall. He says training is important part of his life and is a routine for him like corn flakes on the morning.

Courtesy of Leijona

Yeah, RB is the only option for 2011 and why would it be a better option than Mercedes for 2010? It doesn't make any sense. Robertsons, hello, talk some sense to the guy or I'll have to hunt down Kimi's father and tell him to set the boy straight! ;)

You probably never heard name Balzac.

Man, what is he thinking? After some dismal seasons I'm not even sure he deserves to step in and drive the best car on the grid.

TS comment about "show me winning car" was given from QA with Robertson to Autosport. So nothing new.

Implying there were more than the not even close to dismal 2008 season? At best that was a highly disappointing season. A dismal season is something like Heikki Kovalainen the same season.

He could just get his ass in that car and make it a winning car if it's not from the start. The team is certainly has the resources.

Kimi´s quotes are new so I guess that Kulta did speak with Steve as well!

During his Ferrari years Raikkonen never impressed me the same way he did when he drove at McLaren. You can't deny that, despite the fact he earned a WDC in 2007.

God forbid, Dennis back in the pit lane - that will really make the Hamilton / Button partnership a crazy soap opera.

Don't wave goodbye to Max so soon. A certain Frenchman may nominate him to be the "FIA Representative to F1" or some such nonsense. Then it'll just be like the old days. Except Max will be in pit and paddock and Todt in Paris.

They (along with the master chess player himself - B. Ecclestone) will have run off the manufacturers, broken up FOTA, brought back the "garagistes" (with their undying gratitude and allegiance to the Max and Bernie Show), re introduced Cosworth and will reap the reward with their iron fist firmly on the reins in the FIA and F1.

Good post Anssi, can't agree with everything but do with most


Although this had me laughing, suddenly a mental picture of a naked Nobby Haug and Keke Rosberg running though the snow from the sauna to a lake came to mind

Anyway I'm not too fussed about Kimi driving in F1 next year, if he can do so on his terms great but if not fine too, nice paycheck from Maranello, a bit of rallying, a bit of fun, why not there's always 2011 (or not).

As said, no one can guarantee a top car, but theres no doubt that Brawn is going to be there competing for the WDC?? it'll be top 3 at the very worst. So what gives, all this guarantee, whats he going to do, wait until the testing is done and the first race run before, saying I want to drive that car?

Yeah Kimi was 1st... and then 3rd. In 2007 and 2008. That's better than what all of his competitors, except Lewis, achieved. And I think noteworthy is also the fact that he beat Alonso 3 years in a row. This year very good drives and then the team principals think Alonso did a better job? How did he do a better job. I think I watched both as closely as I could and I saw Alonso being rather mute for most of the season, only qualifying high with a low fuel load and that's his glory from this year. Not enough to beat Kimi's perfomance. I think the team principals got that wrong.

No, no, I agree, but he hasn't had three dismal seasons at Ferrari if you ask me. One WDC and quite a handful of splendid drives in both 2008 and 2009 should mean that his stock is still quite high. If the team principals do not realize his talent and skill, then I pity them.

All I know is that I'm very sad to see Kimi leave, and I'm not convinced at all that he'll return. I would not be surprised if he pulled a Hakkinen. F1 won't be the same to me without him, not because I'm a fanboy, but because there are no one quite like him in the field. No one as arguably talented and no one as bad at utilizing the very same talent. We need more zero BS drivers.

Kimi said about short vacation after AD. BTW somewhere I heard Kimi has personal PR-man - who could provide his quotes.

If it was just a call to Fry I doubt Robertsons would tell "we negotiated hard with Mercedes". Give them time. Brawn said they will carefully study candidates and there are no reason for hurry.

I just hope that if he decides to take the Santander money and run, he has the decency to stay away.
If this Mercedes deal fails too, it is clear that he just doesn´t want to be in Formula 1 anymore.

Robertson says that Kimi will have short vacation and then they decide what they are gonna do! Doubt that Mercedes will wait that long.

Don´t get me wrong...I would be happy if Kimi goes to Mercedes. But i don´t want to get that disappointed again, I mean I was so SURE that the deal between Kimi and Macca was done! Especially at the same time last week where the news came out that Kimi´s managers did visit Woking.

Kimi doesn´t give me the impression to be that sad about having to leave F1. And he said that Macca was his only option!

I have been planning to go to the British Grand Prix next year... I could go even if there are no Finns racing, but, bleh! It would deflate it quite a bit. It would be much better if Kimi would be racing in F1 - would not hesitate with the plans so much. Bernie are you listening ;)

There propably haven't been negotiations yet. Haug said that Kimi's management had called Fry to open negotiations between them.

Yep but why is there just one source who says that? It would have been on other motorsport sites if it was true

Haug told it to Helsingin Sanomat only just this evening.

As I said earlier relax. It couldn't be worse. Kimi said he will return in 2011 if good car would be available and his door open. They could already deal they will connect with Mercedes next week/after vacation/etc. Just show interest. Robertsons should try every possibility. Earlier Brawn said he at least talked with Robertsons. So yea possibility like with Mclaren 50%.

But of course Kimi will spoil everything in the end. Stupid greedy bastard.

So what if Kimi is in vacation? Thats why he has managers,to negotiate. Im sure Kimi and Robertsons know how to use phones

here we go again

At least nobody said "Nah, never!" Situation changed rapidly, everything possible. I can't believe Kimi would be so arrogant jerk in the end.

They will receive Mercedes terms, give them Kimi's and after vacation decide what to do.