Raikkonen: ‘there is too much politics’ in F1
February 9, 2010 by Negative Camber
Filed under Other Racing, Parc Fermé, People & Events, Top Story
Former world champion and new Citroen World Rally Championship driver Kimi Raikkonen seems to be settling in to the more relaxed environment of the WRC world. The former Ferrari F1 driver sat down with Robin Scott-Elliot at the Independent for a chat about the start of his rallying career.
While F1 is on the verge of a much-needed infusion of excitement with the return of 7-time world champion Michael Schumacher, new teams and a possible eight drivers that could challenge for the title, the World Rally Championship is also poised for a similar infusion of excitement.
The arrival of Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen signals a reinvigorating attention and scrutiny to the sport which has been languishing under the dominion of brilliantly talented and egregiously dominant Frenchman Sébastien Loeb for the last six years. The quiet Finn has been the talk of the WRC paddock of late and who can blame them? Raikkonen gave F1 plenty to talk about while he was there and yet said very littl to garner such attention.
Th story is a nice piece on Raikkonen and does suggest his hopes and realistic expectations for the upcoming season. Raikkonen’s presence in the WRC may just increase the viewer numbers for teh sport as F1 fans of Raikkonen who miss his presence in F1 seek him out in another series. At least that is what the WRC is hoping. I know they have gained one viewer but that’s just because they have chosen to show the series in the US this year. Raikkonen is a bonus thrown in at no extra charge.
Check out the aricle and come back to let us know if you will be watching WRC this year and what your expectations for the flying Finn will be agains teh veterans like Loeb and Sordo.
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will the WRC be on speedtv this year?
I certainly hope so. I got hooked on it when I lived in Europe and would love to see it again. What would it take for it to be aired in the U. S, I wonder? If there is enough band width for shopping channels, it seems there should be enough for WRC.
I may be mistaken but I think the WRC is on HD Theater this year. Not Speed.
That is correct, HD Theater (which is the Discovery Channel), not SpeedTV this year. The only thing I can’t figure out is whether or not the races are going to be broadcast live. I’m not sure HD Theater is setup for live broadcasts…anyone know?
I didn’t realize it was available here. Terrific!
I’m really going to follow WRC closely, I just want (still) my favorite driver to get the crown someday in WRC! :)
That would be terrific! Imagine Kimi switching series and winning the title there as well. :)
“…and a possible eight drivers that could challenge for the title…”
Eight? OK, I’ll play… Alonso, Massa, Hamilton, Button, Schumacher, Vettel, seven and eight are tough, but I’ll say Webber and out on a limb Rosberg.
Soon as Kimi drives his first rally, I’d argue that makes him the best driver in the world, over Montoya. As measured by car-control skills.
According to Castrol its Button… ;-)
I called Discovery (HD Theater) – they “don’t know if we’ll broadcast with a delay or continue only with our round up two montha after each event, catching up to the final rally, well, a week or so after.”
Discovery – they really understand fans, eh?
On French TV, Loeb was asked about Kimi’s arrival: “He’s really nice and he is talented. It will be fun racing against his times.”
A slight (sarcasm) change from F1, isn’t it?
Miko ftw. Nice to have it back in the US, now hopefully we get it before the end of the season.