Kimi Raikkonen might already be regretting his impending return to Ferrari, according to a pundit. The Finn had a particularly bad-tempered weekend in Abu Dhabi, starting with his no-show on Thursday and ending with a rare first-lap crash and rapid return to the airport in flip-flops. Former driver Christian Danner, now a pundit for German television RTL, thinks Raikkonen is not simply annoyed at his situation at Lotus, but also with his impending move to Ferrari. Kimi is annoyed that his manager is sending him back to Ferrari, Danner told the German newspaper Bild. He sees that Alonso at the moment is driving for the golden pineapple at best -- far away from winning, he added. Danner thinks Raikkonen will also not be looking forward to the environment at Ferrari. Lotus gave him all the freedom he wants, and at the moment quite clearly a better car as well, he said. Whats he going to do when Luca di Montezemolo tells him hes going to too many parties? Danners comments are interesting, but in light of Lotus well-document financial problems, returning to Ferrari is probably a good move for Raikkonen -- particularly with 2014 tipped to be an engine-dominated championship. Reports are also questioning the legitimacy of Lotus new backers, Quantum, who promised to buy 35 per cent of the team months ago, but are still yet to deliver a single euro. Germanys Sport Bild also claims Quantum chief Mansoor Ijaz has often been behind shady deals that ultimately did not happen. And Livio Oricchio, the correspondent for Brazils O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper, said the American-Pakistani was even in court last year, for not paying back huge loans. Der Spiegel magazine reports that one possible solution for Raikkonen is that Bernie Ecclestone will direct Lotus official prize-money straight to the 2007 world champions account. Indeed, the reality of Raikkonens Ferrari return is that the Finn rightly wants to cash in on his status as one of the best drivers in F1. Timo Glock was a paid driver for Marussia until the end of 2012, when he lost his seat to a pay-driver. He is now a paid front-runner in the German touring car series DTM. When asked about Raikkonens threat to strike over his unpaid wages, Glock said: It shows what really is going on in formula one. The sport needs to have a real think in order to keep itself alive, he told German radio Sport1. Apart from Ferrari and Mercedes, everyone is having difficulties, Glock continued. They need to think about whether its right that drivers arent being paid. Ferrari, meanwhile, is happy with its top lineup for 2014, with Alonso alongside another former champion. Kimi suddenly and unexpectedly became available in the summer, team boss Stefano Domenicali told Welt newspaper. We had to take the opportunity. It was almost not a conscious choice we had to make, he added.
Posted on: Wed, 06 Nov 2013 16:20:52 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015