TBK-Light.com

Williams has confirmed that Kimi Räikkönen paid a personal visit to their factory last week. The speculations in Finnish media are wild at the moment.

So far we know that:

- Ice One Racing has withdrawn from WRC and has given a fine and has been excluded from the teams championship points
- No new NASCAR deals that anyone would know
- For 2013 season, Massa, Schumacher and Webber will see the end of their current contracts

Therefore if Räikkönen would race in 2012 season for any team, the managers of the current top four teams would see that Kimi still has it and is motivated to be racing again.

Then again, it could be like what Renault did with Kimi last year - pump up the hype and get more money from the sponsors backing their pay-drivers seat which was never threaten in the first place.

Or it could be like Senna at McLaren in 1993, race by race deal until something much better comes around.

But two things are certain: We need Kimi and Williams back to the top! Seal the deal Kimi!

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"Indy doesn't give you a second chance. You have to earn it."

I was never much of a Kimi fan when he was in F1, but I have to say it would be great to see him in a Williams next year. Williams need to do something to start bringing in sponsors from someone other than Maldonado (who seems to be negating the money he brings in by building up massive repair bills on a bi-weekly basis).

Having a superstar name like Kimi in a Williams would surely be a boost to the team finances and, hopefully, see them climbing the ranks that the team deserve.

Can you honestly imagine Kimi going to Williams (currently 9th) when he wouldn't go to Toyota or Mercedes?

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Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011

In all honesty, no, I can't. But I never said I did see him doing so either

Yeah, but the things have changed. For 2011 there was no free seats and neither is for 2012 in top teams. Now Rallying isn't interesting for him anymore, he wants to be winning and competing on the track again. If he wants to comeback for a top team in 2013, he needs to have another year in some other team to convince top teams that he's a good choice fo them. Would Horner or Brawn hire him after being three years away from F1? Not likely. Would they hire him if he scores regularly with Williams in 2012? More likely so.

Also, I don't recall him ever going for Toy-Yoda since Kimi was in Ferrari for 2009 while Toyota had already left F1.

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"Indy doesn't give you a second chance. You have to earn it."

I'd love it to happen. But he's been out for two years and he's what, 32 now? In his prime, he was sensational. But once he joined Ferrari in 2007 he seemed to just give less of a shit than usual. For me he seemed too calm at Ferrari, yet at McLaren he was always wrining the neck of the car and it looked awesome. Although if he could come back and revive Williams, then he'd be the stuff of proper legends. Williams has had an awful season, their worst ever (best result of 9th for christ sake!) but they have a new design team and the Renault engines are returning. Get rid of Rubens (please, he is properly past it now) and try and nurture Maldonado and his money and you could have a top 5 team. They have the resources to beat Force India, Sauber, STR and the new teams and with Renault currently in the shitter (or approaching said shitter when GLotus run out of money), they could - finally - revive the team.

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Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011

I hope you have a good bomb shelter.

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If Kimi wants to win again, then he would be best served by giving NASCAR a proper go. Williams Grand Prix Engineering is being run purely as a business venture and not as a racing team, and has been so since Parr was appointed CEO. There is minimal money being spent on the team in order to try and repay the debts the team has, and the Renault engine is not a great one. Next year will be another year of purgatory for Williams, and it will not give Raikkonen the platform to showcase his talents.

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Dan Wheldon ¦ 1978-2011
Marco Simoncelli ¦ 1987-2011
Jules Bianchi ¦ 1989-2015
Justin Wilson ¦ 1978-2015

Yeah, I know he's mad and I don't care. I do not care. I did not care then. I do not care now. I'm here to race him.

I don't see an issue with his age. Jenson Button will be 32 by the time 2012 starts. Alonso is 30, and 31 by the time 2012 ends and yet with the exception of Sebastien Vettel those two have been far and away the best drivers in the field. Alonso should not be 2nd in that average Ferrari and were it not for two mechanical retirements out of his control Button would have scored at every race this season like Vettel. I'd actually argue an F1 drivers "peak" is from 28/29-32/33. Only problem for Raikkonen is that he's wasted his own rallying, racing Nascar trucks and whatever else.

I think the bigger issues are he doesn't know the tyres at all. As Jaime Alguersuari repeats in all his interviews with the BBC understanding the tyres is basically everything this year. It's why Webber looks like a lost little schoolboy half the time. Whatsmore I can't see Williams improving massively. Between Carlos Slim's millions, Vijay's money into Force India and the new middle eastern investors for Toro Rosso their direct competitors have a lot of clout and Toro Rosso will have a lot more money to play with going into 2012.

That's true with the tyres. Only one driver went to visit the Pirelli factory at the end of last year. No prizes for guessing which one.

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Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011

Williams line-up 2012: Kimi Räikkönen and Valtteri Bottas.
A man can dream, right?

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I shagged a couple of loose balls for her in warmups.

Kimi back in F1 would be a waste of a seat. He's had his turn, give the seat to someone else with who gives a shit, is a good young talent and has a future in sport.

If you are a fan of Bottas, a better dream would be 2013. If you want him to succeed in F1 that is.

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Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011

I can't see Kimi coming back to F1. I see Williams keeping their current lineup for 2012 and then when Rubens retires at the end of 2012, Bottas takes his seat.

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"Many people ask me why I always sign off Till We Meet Again, because goodbye is always so final. Goodbye Dan Wheldon." -Marty Reid

Yeah, Bottas will more likely to join the grid in 2013 rather than next year.

But like many of you mentioned the tyres, there's the main point for Kimi to join Williams. It's a team with good engineers and testing is banned. So IF he want's to make any comeback at all, it's probably going to be a 2012 with any seat that goes if he wants to have a seat in top team for 2013 - or at all.

Sure, he says he's not interested in F1, but F1 is very interested of him. And as mentioned, the age is not a problem, Alonso is still there. Schumacher made a comeback from out of nowhere, and with his age and after his performance in Monza, I think we can all say that it takes a year to learn all the tricks again but the talent is still there. If Barrichello and Schuey can do it, why Kimi couldn't? He's one of the fastest drivers on the planet and should be racing in proper series, not playing around with Rally and NASCAR.

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"Indy doesn't give you a second chance. You have to earn it."

One possibility is the Jaguar/Williams Le Mans concept. Perhaps some sort of investment or simply leading the team.

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Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011

Which driver did that?

Sebastian Vettel.

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Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011

Who?

Rubins is'nt looking good and Bottas needs more experience.
I think kimi is just trying to get back into F1 after realizing he misses it, i dont know if Williams would pay him much.
What about Grosjean to Williams on loan from Renault?

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http://www.youtube.com/user/scarsurfing?feature=mhee

what about grosjean to renault, and senna moved to williams.... wow