Christian Horner says Kimi Raikkonen an option to replace Mark Webber – Formula 1 News
Christian Horner has said that Red Bull will definitely consider Kimi Raikkonen as a replacement for outgoing driver Mark Webber only if the former of the two is
available for the 2014 Formula 1 season.
There were a lot of rumours surrounding Webber’s exit from the team since the Malaysian GP controversy, where Sebastian Vettel ignored team orders to overtake his
partner in the final stages of the race.
However, the Australian driver said that he was not bothered by past incidents and was considering his options for next year. He claimed that the decision to stay
with the current team was entirely up to him whereas he also had the option of moving to another competitive team like Ferrari.
Now, when the veteran driver has decided to quit Formula 1 at the end of this year, it will be interesting to see whether who replaces him.
Looking at the situation, Horner said, “Kimi would have to be an option, if he were to be available. We’re in the fortunate position that there are an awful lot
of people who would like to drive a Red Bull Racing car.”
When asked about Webber, Red Bull’s team principal said, “We’ve agreed year-on-year deals with him as we did with David Coulthard at a similar stage in his career.
The pairing we have has been tremendously successful. From our perspective we will only change for something better than we currently have.”
Other than Raikkonen, both the Toro Rosso drivers Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo have also shown interest in joining the reigning world champion team. They
will definitely be looking to deliver some solid performances in the upcoming races, as that might help them get the attention of their sister team.
Some of the rumours also suggested that Jenson Button could also replace Webber next year. However, Horner denied such reports straightaway saying that the McLaren
driver was committed to his current team, thus there was no point in considering him.
Looking at the overall situation, it seems that Raikkonen would be the ideal man to partner Vettel at Red Bull. Both of them are very good friends off the track
and they can help the team dominate rivals in the coming years.
Tags: