Kimi ain't coming back
08-20-2010, 12:06 PM
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Kimi ain't coming back
Raikkonen drops hint that F1 is now a closed book
Having refused to give anything away for so long regarding his future plans, former F1 World Champion-turned-World Rally Championship convert Kimi Raikkonen has offered the clearest indication yet that there will be no going back
Former F1 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen has dropped the clearest hint yet that he will not be returning to the grand prix grid either next season or indeed ever – arguing that whilst the opportunity is there, the desire crucially isn't.
The opportunity, ostensibly, would come from Renault, with the Enstone-based outfit understood to be eager indeed to secure World Rally Championship-convert Raikkonen's services for F1 2011, keen to place the Finn alongside Robert Kubica – in many observers' eyes, the star of the campaign to-date – in what would indisputably represent one of the strongest line-ups in the sport.
However, having departed the scene at the end of last season – released by Ferrari a year before his contract was due to expire, and unable to come to any kind of financial agreement with erstwhile employer McLaren-Mercedes – Raikkonen does not appear overly enthusiastic about the prospect of returning, particularly now that he is well-ensconced at the Citroën Junior Team and improving with every outing in the WRC [see separate story – click here], with an excellent fifth place on the Rally of Turkey back in April a notable highlight.
Rumours have persisted that a grand prix comeback – given that his foray into rallying was originally billed merely as a sabbatical – may be on the cards and that F1 remains unfinished business for the 30-year-old, but despite acknowledging that he likely could return if he so wished, he concedes that he simply doesn't want to.
“I would have the opportunity to go [back to F1],” the 18-time grand prix-winner told MTV3 Germany, “but I think I've seen off that career.”
Having refused to give anything away for so long regarding his future plans, former F1 World Champion-turned-World Rally Championship convert Kimi Raikkonen has offered the clearest indication yet that there will be no going back
Former F1 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen has dropped the clearest hint yet that he will not be returning to the grand prix grid either next season or indeed ever – arguing that whilst the opportunity is there, the desire crucially isn't.
The opportunity, ostensibly, would come from Renault, with the Enstone-based outfit understood to be eager indeed to secure World Rally Championship-convert Raikkonen's services for F1 2011, keen to place the Finn alongside Robert Kubica – in many observers' eyes, the star of the campaign to-date – in what would indisputably represent one of the strongest line-ups in the sport.
However, having departed the scene at the end of last season – released by Ferrari a year before his contract was due to expire, and unable to come to any kind of financial agreement with erstwhile employer McLaren-Mercedes – Raikkonen does not appear overly enthusiastic about the prospect of returning, particularly now that he is well-ensconced at the Citroën Junior Team and improving with every outing in the WRC [see separate story – click here], with an excellent fifth place on the Rally of Turkey back in April a notable highlight.
Rumours have persisted that a grand prix comeback – given that his foray into rallying was originally billed merely as a sabbatical – may be on the cards and that F1 remains unfinished business for the 30-year-old, but despite acknowledging that he likely could return if he so wished, he concedes that he simply doesn't want to.
“I would have the opportunity to go [back to F1],” the 18-time grand prix-winner told MTV3 Germany, “but I think I've seen off that career.”
