The never-ending story

Posted on 06/10/2010

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The will-he won’t-he surrounding Kimi Raikkonen and a possible return to F1 which has rumbled on all summer has been as tedious to write about as it must have been to read. And before you ask, we do have to report it because everyone else is, and were we not to we would be accused of missing out. Damned if you do …

Every few weeks there’s a quote from someone saying he is being lined up to drive in 2011. But just read a few things Raikkonen himself has said.

April 28: “"If the F1 world could go back 20 years, it would be the same as rallying now," he said. "It [rallying] is still professional but in just a bit more of a relaxed style.”

July 16: “I don't miss Formula One and I am enjoying what I am doing now.”

August 20: “If I had wanted to be there now, I am sure I would have been driving. But there was nothing sensible, so I chose something else.”

His latest response to speculation appears unequivocal. “"I am very disappointed with the way they [Renault] have used my name for their marketing. I have never seriously considered driving for Renault, and I can assure you 100% I will not be driving for them next year.”

So it seems clear. Raikkonen won’t be in F1 next year. But then again, everyone has his price and as he himself said at the tail-end of 2009: “"I think when there is enough money involved, you can always change anything.”

This is one saga that won’t go away, however much we might want it to.