Raikkonen wants to do Finland Rally in August break

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In the round-up: Kimi Raikkonen says he wants to compete in the Rally of Finland, which is held during F1’s August break.

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Raikkonen hoping to compete in Rally Finland (Racer)

“I’d like to do Rally Finland this season as it fits with the calendar, but you’ll have to ask the team if it fits in my contract.”

FIA have key role for F1 future, says Mercedes boss (Reuters)

Ross Brawn: “I think what’s got to be factored in… is the role the FIA play in the future and how they are involved in the sport. They have been quite quiet so far but they will have an involvement in the sport and I’m reasonably confident that we’ll find sensible solutions in the future. I don’t think things are closed yet…”

IPO alert over Ecclestone’s key F1 role (FT, subscription required)

“‘Our success to date has depended to a significant extent on Mr Ecclestone, our chief executive officer, who ?óÔé¼?ª has been responsible for the growth and strategic development of Formula 1,’ a draft prospectus seen by the Financial Times explains.”

Lewis Hamilton contented in Monaco after getting rid of his baggage (The Guardian)

“I don’t want to speak too early but something has definitely changed this year. It’s just the work that I’ve been doing. Whatever I’m doing is working. Things are a lot better. Just in life. That’s enabling me to get on with my job without having any baggage. I don’t have any baggage this year.”

Button hopeful of better balance (Sky)

“Looking at the data with my engineers there are a few things that we think maybe we did wrong, but still we have to wait and see, see how the car feels here.”

McLaren frustrated with mistakes (BBC)

“We are confident the issues we have had so far have been dealt with and are in the past.”

Monaco GP – Conference 1 (FIA)

“Personally, I enjoyed the sprint races and the refuelling, probably all of the drivers did, but the racing was not super-exciting. It was more precise, you had to be more precise, you had to be more on the limit and really really feeling the car for the whole two hours, but that’s not how it is now. We have a different set of challenges and that’s what we’ve got to do.”

Vettel confused by shifts in form (Autosport)

“At the moment and it is difficult for us to understand why sometimes we are quick and sometimes we are slow and why the pace changes, [but] it is not only us struggling a bit at the moment.”

Brawn back in action (GrandPrix)

“Brawn said in Monaco that he had been diagnosed with an irregular heart beat and that doctors wanted to determine the cause, which they have now done, and are happy for him to travel again.”

Schumacher gets Brawn backing (The Telegraph)

"I think he has actually been very good this year. We have not achieved the results we wanted to but if you look under the surface, he has been pretty good this year.”

Sergio Perez Q&A: No Ferrari move in 2012 (F1)

“Q: How will you go about that corner?
SP: I definitely will try to brake later – but in the right position! Maybe I will say goodbye to the wall. (laughs)”

Williams alter pit proceedings as Spain fire razes 90 per cent of garage infrastructure (Daily Mail)

“[Chief operations engineer Mark] Gillan has revealed 90 per cent of the garage infrastructure, including everything IT related – radios, intercom equipment and IT storage systems – was destroyed by the fire that began in the fuel-handling area.”

Troubles at Monza (Joe Saward)

“The Italian financial police, known as the Guardia di Finanza says it is investigating seven people involved with the operation of the circuit and suspects tax offences and false invoicing.”

Monaco: glamour and grind (ESPN)

“Stories of getting lost are legion. Or, of knowing your way but unable to gain access. There’s the true tale of Eddie Jordan’s team manager/chief mechanic in EJ’s early F3 days. Having been happily detained in a night club the previous evening, this man eventually found himself in a bed that was, shall we say, not the one his boss was paying for.”

Talks to extend hosting of F1 Singapore Grand Prix under way: Iswaran (Straits Times)

“Talks to extend the Republic’s hosting of the Formula One Singapore Grand Prix are under way but taking longer than expected.”

F1 Fanatic via Twitter

“Atonal noise-makers Linkin Park partner with Lotus to plug new single “Burn it Down”, presumably about Heidfeld’s car in Hungary last year.”

Comment of the day

Matthewf1 looks ahead to this weekend’s race:

Really looking forward to this race. I wasn’t sure how I felt about this year’s Pirelli Lottery, but after watching the 2007 Mocano bore-fest on Sky this week, I know I definitely prefer things as they have been this season.

Winner could be anyone really. McLaren seem to be going backwards, certainly Button, though I think Hamilton could win. Lotus have been the most consistent team in terms of race pace so far, either one of the drivers would be among the favourites I think. Alonso will be up there, as always, and I think Vettel could be handy as the lack of Red Bull top speed is a non-issue this weekend.

Strategy will be interesting, I think a one-stopper could be tried out by several drivers. Last year Vettel showed that track position is crucial, while McLaren decided they wanted to make three stops seemingly without thinking about how the tyres were or what their competitors were doing. Obviously qualifying was crucial to Vettel’s success as well.

If I had to guess I would say Grosjean could win this week, maybe from second on the grid, behind Hamilton.
Matthewf1

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On this day in F1

Jenson Button won the Monaco Grand Prix today in 2009. Unfortunately he forgot to park his car at the finish line afterwards and had to go for a sprint around the pits!

Image © Lotus F1 Team/LAT

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38 comments on “Raikkonen wants to do Finland Rally in August break”

  1. I have said this before but I think Lotus won’t let him do it. There is just too much risk; especially considering that they have a strong shot at 3rd in the WCC and at the moment Raikkonen is 4th in the WDC standings.

    1. With what happened to kubica, although unlucky, there’s always a risk. They’d be foolish to let him, any team would

      1. Well, Rallies aren’t exactly a rare event, and what happened to Kubica was quite a shocking thing, and not altogether common.

        To be honest, I think they are better off letting him do whatever he wants.

        1. I agree, people are overreacting as always. He probably has more risk every time he drives a normal car home.
          Just because an unlucky event happened doesn’t mean they should start acting all US government on their drivers.

    2. I think they have a shot at both WCC and WDC to be honest. They’re probably the dark horse out of the more “regular” contenders, but yeah.

    3. And Kimi is doing it for fun, not even a a Lotus commercial campaign. That’s too risk.

    4. i think he will do the rally. after all, he raced in the snowmobile race which is arguably even more dangerous. driving in a rally less dangerous than driving on public roads. there are no cars going in the opposite direction, cars are driven by professionals who are not drunk/stoned/old/tired/distracted, etc. the cars have better active and passive safety than normal road cars, and so on and so forth. what happened to Kubica could have happened to him in a normal accident (like with Frank Williams). People die on public roads every day but no one is debating whether or not to allow F1 drivers to use them given the risk. if we thought that way, we would not be able to leave the house.

      I say let him do the rally otherwise he will just get grumpy and bored again.

  2. Dear Kimi, I am sorry to inform you that your contract strictly forbids you to engage in other forms of motor-sport, you also appear to have overlooked the clause that says you have to pay me $10,000 for every point you score, I will send you Bank details under separate cover so you can fulfill this obligation.

  3. Time to put a tenner on the mysterious “James Hunt” in the Finnish rally then…

    https://www.racefans.net/2007/08/04/kimi-raikkonen-and-james-hunt/

  4. From the FIA Monaco GP conference:

    Q: (Alexandar Tabakovski – Vecer) Michael, first of all, I saw you in Le Mans last week for the MotoGP race and you witnessed that Casey Stoner announced that he was retiring from the sport, stating that he was not content with the rules in MotoGP and in the motorcycling world, how the sport has developed. Can you tell me your feelings about that move and draw a parallel with your feelings about how Formula One is evolving in the situation whereby you are not liking it too much?

    Could this be the most leading question a journalist has ever asked?

    1. He should get an award for effort.

      1. What was the answer?

        1. The first part I can certainly answer, as to what is my feeling, and my feeling is that most of those who have a little bit of involvement were surprised. So was I but then you have to respect that and I don’t know his reasons or his detailed reason but he’s young enough to have a sabbatical rather than a total stop and we’ll see. There’s definitely no parallel to me; it’s just that each one is very individual, why and for what reason he decides on his retirement. Mine, at the time, had nothing to do with any other reason than I wanted it to because I felt like I was tired, three years ago. That’s it.

  5. Of course Raikkonen could repeat what he did in that snowmobile race in ’07 and not tell the team he was entering. But in light of what happened to Kubica and the fact that Kimi broke his wrist in the offseason, Lotus probably won’t allow it.

    1. How do they disallow something they don’t know isn’t happening? Ferrari couldn’t go and block every Tom, Dick and Harry from competing on that snowmobile race. How were they to know James Hunt was Kimi?

    2. How do they disallow something they don’t know isn’t happening? Ferrari couldn’t go and block every person from competing on that snowmobile race. How were they to know James Hunt was Kimi?

      1. Well for Ferrari there really wasn’t any way of knowing at the time. Technically I guess the most Lotus can do is say “please don’t do that” or bring up a contract clause, if it exists.

      2. …and the answer is – ‘close-quarter surveillance’. I often hear about such things in American NFL, where the bosses make sure their star player/s dont end up at/in wrong places/company.
        and if i;m not wrong, that’s exactly what was alleged about Ron Dennis in having hired surveillance experts to track down Mosley’s private life over a year!!

        and given Kimi’s temperament – which i find absolutely refreshing – it would have only felt prudent to the Lotus bosses to keep a tab on him, which given his social lifestyle, would hardly be a challenge!

    3. Abstention clauses are not un-heard of in sport.
      The team has made a huge investment in the player/driver, and they have an obligation to protect that investment. Even in my own job, I sometimes have to sign “non-compete” or “ownership of product” clauses. Many players are banned from dangerous things, Skydiving, kayaking, other contact sports. I guess thats just a price you pay for a multi-million dollar contract.

  6. Happy birthday Rubens Barrichello!

    1. +1, good luck at Indy RB

  7. If I was Eric I wouldn’t allow Kimi to go rallying. Kubica’s injury was a great loss to the sport and a gigantic loss for Lotus.

    This year Lotus, and especially Kimi, has a shot at the WDC and I wouldn’t want to take any risks regarding the health and fitness of the drivers.

  8. Eric in a recent interview said that they had been giving Kimi pretty much of a free hand and allowing him to work in a way that he finds most comfortable. I don’t think they’d disallow him to Rally.

  9. Well, Kimi has.certainly picked one of the more dangerous rallies to want to compete in. It’s a tough decision for the team unfortunately, though at least Kimi is giving a nod to his contract.

    Brawn makes a valid point about the FIA involvement in F1. They were incredibly quiet throughout the Bahrain ordeal and I think regardless of your view point on the matter, they should have been more vocal.

    1. “Brawn makes a valid point about the FIA involvement in F1”

      Im not sure i understood correctly as to how this is relevant to allow/disallow Kimi from Rallying. Im sure you were trying to make a valid point here, but i just couldnt match this statement to the topic.

  10. It’s not a case of being carried away by Button’s form in the second part of last season, but his current form is not what I was expecting. It’s clear that McLaren is not that good as it looks but his drive is completely against all the predicates that gained him numerous fans last year. Where’s the guy who could treat his tyres as his own baby?

    1. Even Button cannot beat someone who’s car happens to hit the sweet spot at a given moment. if you don’t have a perfect setup there is very little you can do to prevent your tyres from going off other than driving even slower, going on to the throttle later and braking less heavily or earlier, and/or not fighting for position. All of the above make you go slower which doesn’t win you races. So Button’s skill of looking after his tyres is outweighed by the emphasis on perfect setup and balance. (which doesn’t seem to work for button since Australia)

  11. You’ll have to ask the team if it fits in my contract.

    Hasn’t Kimi read his contract himself? I guess we’re talking about one of the most important paragraphs in every F1 driver’s contract.

    1. I guess he knows he has a clause that provides for the team having to consider if such an engagement does or does not fit within their contract @girts

    2. Yeah I was a bit surprised by that, particularly as he’s obviously rather keen on his extra-curricular activities.

      Two explanations occur:

      1. His contract doesn’t say he can do it and he knows this, and he’s publicly putting pressure on Lotus. I doubt this is it though, seems a bit unsubtle.
      2. His contract says other events may only be permitted at Lotus’s discretion, so it’s up to them whether he’s allowed to or not. This seems more realistic.

      1. Or, he just wanted to drive in F1 and let the Robertsons do their job without getting too involved with all the details and therefore he genuinely doesn’t know what his contract says about it and only thought of looking into that when asked about his thoughts about entering the Finland rally.

        1. For the record, while their drivers’ happiness is obviously a factor in their performance and one could always get hit by the proverbial bus on the way to the shops, there has to be a limit to how much danger they put themselves in voluntarily. Given their history, I can’t see how Lotus would be happy to allow this. And to his credit, I think Räikkönen realises this and wouldn’t press the matter too hard if it came to it.

  12. It’s really going to be the race of completely different minds isn’t it?
    Hamilton having his head cleared, being a collected and focussed driver. You know what, I think it was a good thing he had such a bad year last year. It was really confronting for him and made him change for the better. Still, we have to be carefull because last year up until now he also drove superb.
    Maldonado is coming back from a stunning race in which he not only get the title of spanish GP winner, but also as THE national hero of Venezuela! I can’t stop myself from thinking he now has the auro of him of a real great racer. It’s like the bloodfueled and hotheaded rookie of last year suddenly became a calm and epic driver.
    On the other end we have Button and Vettel, drivers who drove almost faultless last year. Vettel certainly isn’t that driver of last year anymore, that could turn mistakes of the team into GP winning feats. He suddenly now makes his own mistakes again (like ignoring yellow flag last race) and he really has not the car to be as dominant like last year. Button on the other hand is struggling with the car; suddenly he finds himself to deal with a machine that is not suiting his driving style. it’ll be something to watch how he copes with that.

    1. Hamilton has yet to win this year, while Button already has. there is not much between them in terms of points (all of them for that matter) so i wouldnt say Button would be in a bad state of mind. He did top friday practice and knows how to win in monaco. This season is so up and down that its hard to see any pattern emerging yet. just look at Vettel – winning in Bahrain so convincingly and then struggling in the next race.

      i think all the drivers will be in the same frame of mind this weekend and that is of anticipation and confusion.

  13. Nothing is stopping Kimi :) Then again, what happened with Kubica may make Lotus prevent his entry

  14. I think Lotus should allow Kimi to go rallying, What happened to Kubica was simply a very misfortunate & very rare accident.

    I remember the days where it was commonplace to see F1 drivers running other series including doing the odd bit of rallying. Watching F1 drivers try there hand in other categories was fantastic to watch & seeing them go up against the best drivers in those categories was equally exciting.
    I think its a real shame that teams now often refuse to let F1 drivers run elsewhere & think its a bigger shame than many fans here seem to not want to see it just based off 1 extremely unfortunate freak accident.
    Afterall its not as if what happened to Kubica happens every few rally’s, Injuries of any kind are just as rare in Rallying thesedays as they are in F1.

    1. Yeah I think that is well said. The odds of KR getting hurt are fairly slim, especially getting hurt in the same way RK did. I guess it comes down to how the team feels and how badly KR wants to do this, and both sides considering whether it is a distraction from F1 that they don’t need, or perhaps it would be a distraction from F1, given that it is after all a ‘break’, that would recharge KR’s batteries.

      Perhaps the level of distraction will come down to whether or not KR is fighting for the WDC by the August break. I would say that perhaps if KR is fighting for the WDC with a third of the season to go, they shouldn’t take any risks, and KR should just concentrate on F1. If they are not looking to be vying for the WDC, then perhaps there is no harm no foul in him going rallying.

  15. Didn’t he do some rallying in China this year? About 15 minutes before Rosberg finished the race perhaps?

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