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Williams boss: Kimi Räikkönen would electrify the entire F1 team
Noncsi 2011.10.31. 15:13
Adam Parr smiles mischievously when BBC asks him about Finnish former F1 Champion.
The Finnish former Formula One World Champion Kimi Räikkönen’s return to the F1 circuit looks certain, at least if the British Williams team boss Adam Parr’s answers and especially his facial expressions are anything to go by.
Parr seemed to find it difficult to keep a straight face when Eddie Jordan, commenting for BBC television, asked him after yesterday’s Indian Grand Prix whether the team’s second driver for next year was going to be Räikkönen or Adrian Sutil.
Parr assured Jordan and other listeners that the Williams team was still thinking about what to do next year and that no decisions had been made as yet.
His mischievous smile nevertheless strongly suggested that Räikkönen might be seen in a Williams helmet in the 2012 F1 season.
Williams is one of the most successful teams in F1 history.
It has won the Constructors’ Championship nine times. Finnish driverKeke Rosberg, among others, won his drivers’ title (in 1982) when driving for Williams.
This season, however, has been lamentable for Williams.
Collectively the team’s pilots Pastor Maldonado and Rubens Barrichello have managed to rustle up only five points.
Parr admitted that Räikkönen would be the right person to help to solve Williams’s problems.
“Everybody knows that Kimi is one of the most talented drivers who has been involved in Formula One in recent years. From what we can all see, he is very hungry to come back. And I think having a World Champion in your midst of course energises people”, Parr offered.
According to Parr, Williams does not need more sponsors to hire a new driver. This strengthens Räikkönen’s position, as his salary expectations are known to be high.
“We need to get the best driver line-up for next year”, Parr said in India.
Bernie Ecclestone, who owns the commercial rights to the Formula One circus, would also be happy to see Kimi Räikkönen resurface as an F1 pilot.
“It would be nice to see him do it”, Ecclestone answered when the Finnish commercial television channel MTV3 asked his opinion with regard to Räikkönen’s return to the sport after a recent spell in the World Rally Championship.
“I am not sure if he is serious about it”, Ecclestone continued.
In its latest issue, the F1 Racing magazine revealed that Räikkönen has trained hard for the past four months in order to be in top shape for the start of the winter’s tests.
For the past two seasons, Räikkönen has driven for Citroën on the WRC circuit.
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