Renault not blinded by Räikkönen spotlight
Renault have issued a response to speculation surrounding a potential signing of former Formula One champion Kimi Räikkönen, stating that the ultimate decision will rest on the commercial stability of
the situation.
Räikkönen, who took the F1 championship title in 2007 with Ferrari, expressed interest in a return to F1 earlier this week, eyeing a potential spot in the 2011 Renault line-up. The 30-year-old is currently
driving for the Citroën Junior Team in the World Rally Championships, but would be prepared to leave for a chance to reignite his thrill of F1 racing.
Räikkönen’s management spoke with Renault Team Principal Eric Boullier, who acknowledged that, “he is on the radar because he contacted
us,” yet would not cast aside Russian rookie Vitaly Petrov – whose place Räikkönen would take – for the sake of celebrity.
Renault F1 chairman Gerard Lopez expressed his caution in approaching the situation in an exclusive interview with AUTOSPORT. “It's funny because people now think things are going well and we're going
to change drivers," he stated. “There's a certain rally driver that wasn't interested in Formula 1 but now has made contact and is interested in coming back to F1, funnily enough with us, but we're not there yet.”
Lopez revealed that Renault’s success in finding viable sponsors and investors would have considerable impact on their ultimate decision. “[Sponsorship] is very important. We have to push our team to succeed
because we use the platform to do business. It's a question of image. People like to do business with winning teams, so it goes hand in hand. The main consideration in this outside of Eric's [Boullier] mission and the team's mission to start winning races
again is the business one. And it has become more important now that we've solidified the team, found the sponsors, [and] that we're doing whatever [else] needs to be done.”
Lopez also stood by Vitaly’s potential, praising the 26-year-old’s impressive progress this season. “He's a good driver. Vitaly was second in the GP2 championship last year and could easily have won that
championship if he hadn't had six failures last year. On top of all that, he is a driver that has 250 million Russian-speaking people that are convinced in him, so we'd be stupid not to assume that there is a business behind that. But we have to build the
driver. He is to us a very important element, just as Robert [Kubica] is.”
The chairman added, “Jumping too quickly to conclusions, assuming certain things like a team is not interested long-term, or that a team is just two guys that came in, just had a little bit of fun and
they're already bored with their new toy and they're moving on to something – these are shortcuts that people shouldn't take. Pride pushes us to prove even further the opposite.”
Renault is likely to make a decision only after the end of 2010, eager to keep an eye on Vitaly’s progress in the five remaining races. If Vitaly maintains his consistent form and progresses further, Renault
will be reluctant to let the driver go and have the worry of funding a high-profile star such as Räikkönen.
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