I fully agree, but Williams will seriously need to up their game because even Schumacher is merely making up the numbers since his comeback, in what is a 4th-5th best car. Right now, Williams have the 9th best car, and if no progress is made then the novelty will fade quick, along with Raikkonens motivation.

What's with this Schumacher-Raikkonen comparison? Schumacher is a 42 year old nanny. Raikkonen is still at the prime age.

Nothing to do with the drivers themselves, (merely they're both seemingly making comebacks) but the teams they're driving for.

The problem is that this has been said every year since 2004.

[moved]

This thread is already going downhill simply based on the rumors alone. I shudder to think what will happen when he actually starts racing.

If this deal goes through: Luckily he's worked with Coughlan before and I hope they can get the car pointy enough for Kimi with the Pirelli's.

Yes.... ever since Patrick Head stepped down, it really hasn't been pretty.

also Adrian Newey, of course, leaving in 1997.

Raikkonen Poised to Return To F1 with Williams
23 September 2011



"Kimi Raikkonen is on the verge of signing a deal to return to F1 with Williams.

The 2007 world champion has been in discussions with the team for several weeks, following a recent visit to the factory in Grove. Sources suggest that discussions are going the right way and they are now close to a deal.

It is understood that the Finn, who will be 32 next month, is keen to get back into F1 competition after two years on the sidelines in rallying. The timing is significant as Williams are on the look out for a bold move to boost the team and Raikkonen can see that the F1 driver landscape is likely to change a lot at the end of 2012 and a strong season, reminding everyone what he can do, might open some doors."

Full story: www.jamesallenonf1.com/2011/09/raikkonen-poised-to-return-to-f1-with-williams/

Yeaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!.. Great updates guys..

this is a miracle!

the presence of Coughlan has to be a key factor..Raikkonen feels more comfortable with him that anyone else..

Well, as far as Raikkonen is concerned they're not winning the championship so they're not good enough for him, not to mention being full. The only choice was Red Bull (they opted to keep a driver who likes crashing into things) or to try and catch a team on the up. He's trying the latter.

James Allen doesn't mean done deal........still skeptical unless I see it on Ofcourse Autosport.com....
Would watch F1 religiously again doesn't matter where he fights for position....
Although I would be obsessed with 1 driver, I have enjoyed watching F1 the last 2 years without any allegiance towards a driver or team.

which has been kind of fun too..no real emotional attachments..no lets downs

but nothing like having him back..

True, but lets face it they have for the most part produced solid, if unspectacular cars since then. 2005 average, 2006 started with good pace but poor reliability, 2007 solid but unspectacular. 2008 rubbish, 2009 probably 5th best car let down by a poor driver, (Nakajima) mistakes (Rosberg penalty at Singapore) and strategy (various). 2010 had a decent car once they sorted out the drivability and were able to qualify about 4th best for much of the second half of the season. 2011 worst ever but they have a new team for next year so it could all change now they have made a difference back at base

I will cream my pants if this happens.

"Yea, I say unto you: on that day a multitude will cream their pants, and legions of unfaithful will shit their pants. And no pants shall remain unsoiled."

Eeeew, messy

I think its a partnership that could be great for F1, and hugely beneficial for both Williams and Raikkonen, I dont see race wins on the immediate horizon but if Raikkonen has a point to prove i can easily see him proving it, its a prospect that gets more exciting as more news (or rumour) emerges.

somebody good with photoshop do a kimi in a williams kit and a williams cum Kimi helmet design.

Well, I'm not going to get THAT excited, but it'll be nice to see another World Champion and a fast an talented driver to-boot on the grid next season.

Whether Williams will survive is another matter,

How can tomorrownewsf1 write that BBC confirmed that ???

edIT : here it is...and it´s shaky for RB.

Here's a quick photshop job. Sorry for not bothering with the helmet...

thanx man! looks awesome already..

Im the same. I didnt think i would enjoy F1 as much, when i dont have favorites, but last two years have been awesome. More awesoem if Kimi comes back of course.

Kevin Eason (The Times)
Rumours fly that Kimi Raikkonen is on his way back to F1 with Williams. The sage of Finland, Heikki Kulta, chuckled. Here's hoping
http://twitter.com/#!/easonF1

Don't do it Kimi : (

I'd hate to see Kimi stuck in a crap car like Williams. I'd rather stab myself blind than seeing Kimi struggle to get the car into Q3, plus getting lapped on Sunday's race.

Problem is, Williams aren't on the up. They're in terminal decline. I can only assume Kimi sees it as a 1-year deal and will try and impress to get a better seat in 2013. Will be very intriguing to see how he copes if he comes back.

Relax, its not like he is "stuck" there. And if he does it, its most likely only for a year. Even Alonso and Hamilton has gotten lapped. And Alonso spent two years in a mostly midfield team to get the seat he wanted.
For all we know, the Williams might be a strong car next year.

Raikkonen himself said he decides(aka publishes) what he will do in 2012 on january, so thats 3 months of speculation here

But this is a good place for Kimi to step in.

If the team improves he will look great and will get a good deal of the credit. If the team stays the same or declines it is just a continuation of Williams producing inferior equipment. Kimi though would need to be totally focused on adapting to those Pirelli's as soon as possible and must beat Maldonaldo over the season.

Well if Kimi can't beat Maldonado than I would be pretty dissapointed.

my first ever photoshop try with Rosberg's old car... I could not figure out how to paint his hat blue...


original pictures: Car, Kimi

So were Renault at the start of the last decade. Catching a team like that when new people have been recriited, the focus is on you and the politics are zero is what you'd like.

If Sam Michael was still running things and they still had Cosworth engines then that would put a bit of a different complexion on things. As it is, it's a very long road back but they at least have a chance they have to grasp.

sorry guys....but this make me laugh....don't know 'why', but the first I thought was in Enterprise

Knowing Kimi, we will be battling about his future in this forum along the leaves fall and then the Halloween, the first snow, Christmas, New Year's champagne...

This!

Kimi has really showed NO interest in F1. He has shown more interest in doing Lemans then F1. Most of these stories are 30% speculation and 70% wishful thinking. For the the most part you see people substantiating their opinions with the fact that Kimi hasn't done well in rally, that is completely inaccurate especially this season. Just a month or so ago Kimi said that he didn't like the new overtaking rules in F1. He just doesn't sounds like someone who want to return to F1. I just hope people are not going to be too disappointed when the inevitable happens and Kimi doesn't return.

+1

+1 (btw miss you at the coffee forum)

I like your "Trust" in Kimi.

(Question) :- Can someone please give Kimi Raikkonen's remaining Rally schedule for 2011??

What are the Rally's he's taking part this season/ how many remains in total and when is the rally season ending? Dates?

I went fishing for it but can't figure it out

PS- Kinda important in Williams/Kimi deal. My thinking is can they bring in Kimi Raikkonen this season itself.... maybe from India onwards. That ways Williams, Mike Coughlan & Kimi will benefit by giving inputs for next years car. As well as learning a lot more about the notorious Pirelli Tyres. So next year, both Kimi & Williams would have ironed out some basic flaws and get the season running confidently.

This move would be awesome for his beloved fans. Kimi in 2011 itself. And I'm attending India GP

There're 3 rallies left in the season, and Kimi is supposed to take part in the 3 of them:

Rally France: Tarmac, next week.

Spain: Tarmac, 18-23 October

GB: Mud, 8-13 November

EDIT: plus, possibly, some testing days, especially before Rally GB

Newey on Kimi and Their Shared Time at McLaren
24 September 2011

Kimi Raikkonen followed Hakkinen to McLaren at age 22. Do you think that Kimi was too young when he came to Woking?

- I don't think so. I was very much on behalf of hiring Kimi at McLaren. However my relationship with Kimi never became as close as it was with Mika. That's partly due to the fact that I didn't take part in the race engineer's jobs anymore.

- Kimi is born racer, entirely his own master and a brilliant talent. In my opinion he got frustrated and thus he never truly maximized that amazing talent of his, Newey says.

http://www.ts.fi/moottoriurheilu/f1/260219.html

Thanks a ton for the info.

If Kimi has made up his mind to return to F1... And has got a deal going on with Williams; I can imagine him being offered a role to play this season itself. Why not! Rubens & Williams are not going to achieve anything in the remaining races... So practical, technical & marketing sense dictates that Kimi Raikkonen might as well be given a couple of races in 2011 itself. Get the cart running so to speak.

Wouldn't be a bad move from any angle.

Well, given that the visit to Williams was just before Monza we now know why he was completely OK with no turning up to Australia...........

No what I was expecting at the time I'll admit, but still.

All of a sudden a lot of people seem to want to comment on Kimi's return, and most of them have been engineers in the know as to how good he really is. I find that curious.


If he had been involved I wonder what might have been.

Fixed.

Nope. Take a look at who is commenting................

????

You look at the people who are commenting and they are all technical people - Sam Michael and Adrian Newey. They are not normally the people who provide soundbites on a driver returning, which is why I wrote this in my original comment:

Autosport article, although half of it is meaningless twaddle about Singapore, confirms many of the things that have already been said:


I've heard this school of thought many times, and personally I worry about a team with 300 - 400 people putting two cars on the grid having to be lead by a driver. Alonso can't miraculously add downforce on to the car by magic and Michael Schumacher's late nights at Maranello counted for absolutely nothing until Rory Byrne got on top of the regulations and the aerodynamics from 2000 onwards. It's a mirage.

All a driver can do is tell you what he likes and what he wants doing with the car and for the engineers to go away and do it and make it faster for the driver to then go out and drive the wheels off it. Kubica did that at Renault. You need a car to work with and you need people doing what you say though.


Check. We know that.


I can certainly buy Raikkonen's personal persona not being quite what he's really like underneath. Of course Raikkonen didn't feel comfortable when he felt Massa was being favoured, as we all know he was now, and we all saw how Alonso felt about that situation the season before at McLaren. The difference with Raikkonen is he kept his trap shut and got his head down and people filled the vacuum with stories. Ferrari just didn't listen to Raikkonen and his performances suffered, although he was still good enough for them to win the constructor's title.

Every driver needs to feel supported and feel that the team is listening to what you say - Alonso as much as anyone else.


We all know this as well. I'm also puzzled by it as well, because we've been told that Raikkonen wasn't a team leader like Alonso and yet once the focus was on him he took on that role perfectly and was 'awesome' in a pretty terrible car? You can't have it all ways I'm afraid.