racing is life - 17 November 2009 06:07 PM

anzie - 17 November 2009 05:30 PM

There is the article for the information:

http://www.ts.fi/online/urheilu/89167.html

It is in Finnish.


There is also this:

http://www.ts.fi/f1/uutiset/89178.html

Now that “The Grid” will be Finishless Who are you rooting for?
I think you may use your punditry skill in Nico favor.

Heikki still has a chance. I'm sure someone will take him.

I think it is really unfortunate that Kimi will not compete in 2010. It will definitely hurt F1.

It appears that Ferrari made Kimi an offer he could not refuse. At least compared what others offered.

Mclaren's offer would made him a pay driver. Meaning that Kimi would have to pay (or lose) Ferrari's salary to drive for them. I am not surprised at all he did not take that deal. Who would anyway?

Would Bernie come up with a Grand Prix for 88% of what another guy will pay him not to run it? No way in hell.

Would a F1 reporter work for a full year for a 12% salary cut while somebody else pays him full to stay at home? No way.

I would have done the same. Besides, it may be a good time for him to relax and kill the Rally bug. The economy is likely to be in better shape by 2011.

I have no doubt that if he wants to come back to F1, there will be plenty of teams willing to match what he now wants from Mclaren.

racing is life - 17 November 2009 06:25 PM

I'm not joking now. Kimi is way better than Nico but he is not German.

Meanwhile, Mercedes keeps repeating that they're not looking for an "all-German" team. That appears to be a media construct, perhaps created specifically as a counterweight to the "all-British McLaren" that Vodafone has been floating for weeks.

ktsayshi - 17 November 2009 06:36 PM

racing is life - 17 November 2009 06:25 PM

I'm not joking now. Kimi is way better than Nico but he is not German.

Meanwhile, Mercedes keeps repeating that they're not looking for an "all-German" team. That appears to be a media construct, perhaps created specifically as a counterweight to the "all-British McLaren" that Vodafone has been floating for weeks.

^^That will increase the animosity between the Brit & Germ.

racing is life - 17 November 2009 06:41 PM

ktsayshi - 17 November 2009 06:36 PM

racing is life - 17 November 2009 06:25 PM

I'm not joking now. Kimi is way better than Nico but he is not German.

Meanwhile, Mercedes keeps repeating that they're not looking for an "all-German" team. That appears to be a media construct, perhaps created specifically as a counterweight to the "all-British McLaren" that Vodafone has been floating for weeks.

^^That will increase the animosity between the Brit & Germ.

Which is, perhaps, the object of the construction.

It's a shame I'll miss him is my favorite driver. Hopefully he'll come back in 2011. Who knows Mika said was a sabbatical and never came back. Hope is not the case.

Now i'll cheer in my second fav Nico Rosberg in the new silver arrow.

jfme - 17 November 2009 06:26 PM

I think it is really unfortunate that Kimi will not compete in 2010. It will definitely hurt F1.

It appears that Ferrari made Kimi an offer he could not refuse. At least compared what others offered.

Mclaren offer would made him a pay driver. Meaning that Kimi would have to pay (or lose) Ferrari's salary to drive for them. I am not surprised at all he did not take that deal. Who would anyway?

Would Bernie come up with a Grand Prix for 88% of what another guy will pay him not to run it? No way in hell.

Would a F1 reporter work for a full year for a 12% salary cut while somebody else pays him full to stay at home? No way.

I would have done the same. Besides, it may be a good time for him to relax and kill the Rally bug. The economy is likely to be in better shape by 2011.

I have no doubt that if he wants to come back to F1, there will be plenty of teams willing to match what he now wants from Mclaren.

Kimi and his management team should have thought about all those things before he accepted a buyout at 50% of his 2010 contract without a new contract in hand.

I don't see his value increasing at all. If anything it reinforces a notion (true or not) that driving an F1 car is no longer his top priority.

With the money he already has in his bank account, getting a tiny bit less to drive should not be that big of a sacrifice.

I have been a long time fan but if this is true my respect level certainly is reduced. (not that he cares)

chevyc2 - 17 November 2009 06:51 PM

i'll cheer in my second fav Nico Rosberg in the new silver arrow.

I don’t see Nico setting the Grid on fire, but as long as he has a weak teammate, he will look good. Can you image Kimi or Kobayashi in the other seat. Both of them would wipe the floor with Nico.

anzie - 17 November 2009 05:16 PM

Kimi's manager Steve Robertson has confirmed to Turun Sanomat that Kimi won't be in F1 in 2010.

They were not able to reach a deal with McLaren.

I guess the ######## here at this forum can now celebrate really hard and have a good laugh - you got what you wanted, I suppose, so you can now go and ##########.


There are talks of rallying and Le Mans.

They say Kimi will be the "highest-paid F1 driver" in 2010.

A return to F1 in 2011 is possible.

Well Kimi ###### himself by asking for too much. Now he can enjoy it at home...

He can always find his way at RBR and push Webber to STR should he take 5 mill. I think he got what he asked for. Sad but...

Kimi has done what he wanted to do, become WDC. Unless he can challange for that he's straight up not going to race. All of the reports of what his buyout from Ferrari was, are just that, reports. I suspect that the numbers being thrown around are what he gets if he DOES race next year, and likely gets the rest (or close to the rest) of his 2010 contract if he sits out.

On a side note, unless Kimi is Nico's teammate, I do expect him to wipe the floor with his teammate. It would make for quite and interesting year if Kimi went to Mercedes, and Button to McLaren. 4 WDC on three teams and Red Bull likely to be really strong as well.
But I still see this:
50% Kimi sits out F1 for 2010
30% Kimi to McLaren
20% Kimi to Mercedes-Benz