Renault offer Kimi 4-yr deal !

[Hatari]

here it is..
http://f1.racing-live.com/f1/en/head...10090544.shtml

its a $143 million ( $36 million per yr ) deal..

very suprising to see renault willing to pay a driver so much.. its pretty much been against their policy..
proves that there are only three drivers capable of winning a championship..
michael, alonso & kimi

these three i believe will drive anything on 4 wheels better than the rest

michael is staying at ferrari.. so kimi aint goin there..
that leaves renault.. possibly toyota (unlikely, as he really wants to win the WDC.. and it will take time with toyota)

interesting few months ahead !

[aZa]

Now thats really interesting ... !! The 2k7 season is gonna be really interesting with Kimi and alonso switching teams if this deal goes through

[sridhar24]

It will be very interesting to see these top three drivers i.e., Schumi, Alonso and Kimi in top three teams fighting it out on the track. So it will be an interesting move if Kimi really joins Renault.

[spdfreak]

Kimi will have a real chance of winning the championship if he goes to renault. The renault cars are more reliable. If this happens it will be a interesting battle.

[Fuelled]

Finally poor Kimi will be in a position to win a championship.
The mercs had the potential but that just seems to be dwindling away.. much to his frusration if I may add.

Still would have liked to see kimi be in a ferrari with schumi as his team mate.. cause there would have been fireworks all year round

But in the end of the day. All i want is my fav kimi to win the drivers title.

[Mpower]

This sounds good. I hope it happens. They should also retire Fisi and bring in Sebastian Bourdais from Champ cars as the 2nd driver.

But is it confirmed that Schumi is staying with Ferrari? Jean Todt needs to find a star driver to replace MS eventually.

[islero]

I want rubinho to come back to ferrari after MS leaves. Then they will have a good team of Felipe Massa and him.

[killjoy]

Originally Posted by Hatari

these three i believe will drive anything on 4 wheels better than the rest

are you sure you are considering drivers in other areas of motorracing when you say the above?

[Hatari]

Originally Posted by killjoy

are you sure you are considering drivers in other areas of motorracing when you say the above?

that will start a whole new discussion, so lets say i mean any F1 car..

[5u3zEr0]

This is better than Kimi in a Ferrari....A driver I admire so much and Ferrari a team, I totally detest.

But you cannot really confirm anything unless there is a statement from the team or the driver. This speculation will keep going on.....

[RacingForIndia]

Theres no ways Renault can afford to pay so much. Mr. SG has already told them that their budget from next year will be about 140Milion $$ and they will have to raise their money from sponsorships. Telefonica and Mils Seven are leaving this year so it wil be a difficult task for Renault to fins replacements, leavealone better them.
It aint happening. Kimi will go to Ferrari if he leaves McLaren.

[Hatari]

Renault want a top-line replacement for world champion Fernando Alonso, and are prepared to pay whatever it takes to get one, team President Alain Dassas said today in Spain.

Alonso, who won his home Spanish Grand Prix, will join rivals McLaren Mercedes next year, leaving Renault without an established number one driver for 2007. And Dassas made it clear that the French manufacturer will stop at nothing to continue their run of success, after earlier confirming the team's commitment to Formula One until at least 2012.

"Flavio will make proposals and selections but we are ready as Renault to do what is necessary to have a good driver," said Dassas. "We are committed for a long period of time. We have stated clearly that next year we want to have a driver who is able to give a top performance."

With only three truly front-line drivers on the Formula One grid, and one of those leaving the team at the end of the year, Renault appear to have narrowed their focus to Kimi Raikkonen and Michael Schumacher.
Both are out of contract at the end of the year, as is Renault's current Italian driver Giancarlo Fisichella, who has been told that a decision on his future will be made before the end of June.

Renault earlier confirmed that they would remain in Formula One until at least 2012 after signing a contract with Formula One's commercial rights holders CVC to continue in Formula One.

Speculation had mounted over the past months that Renault would leave Formula One at the end of 2007, which Dassas believed may have been a factor in Alonso's decision to leave. "I was not there half a year ago but I guess Alonso has left the team for several reasons," said Dassas.

source - F1 live


thats answers the question..
not sure about telefonica leaving renault..
but a team which will most probably win 2 world championships in a row will have no problem attracting new sponsors

i'm not saying that kimi is definately going to renault..
what i'm saying is that renault are prepared to pay for his services
which wasnt the case in the past

[sujaylahiri]

The way things are going this season for McLaren Mercedes, I won't be surprised if Kimi leaves the team. In fact, McLaren might leave Mercedes and choose a different engine supplier. The team has become quite unreliable and uncompetitive this season.
Kimi might join Honda for all you know. It might be McLaren Honda once again. Sir Frank Williams had always wanted Jenson Button to join Williams.

[RacingForIndia]

Mercedes has 40% share in McLaren. They wont leave in a hurry.

[ksethuram]

There are already rumors floating around that Kimi has signed a deal with Ferrari... now renault is offering a 4 yr deal.... I am sure that Ferrari will pull up it's socks to any level to catch hold of Kimi...

He is the driver next to Schumi who has more face value... This will be in turn used by Ferrari to negotiate with it's sponsor's. So to whatever extent Renault goes it is of no use to them..