Erkki Mustakari from Urheilulehti reminds that Williams is a very highly considered racing team.
Eki, what was the purpose of Räikkönen's Williams-visit?
Kimi Räikkönen is obviously interested about everything that is under development in the team. He might well see Williams as one of his options if he decides to come back to F1. We have to remember that continuing in rally, racing some races in the States and possibly even Indy 500 and Le Mans 24-hour race are all possible options for him. It's obvious that Räikkönen still wants to race but so far he hasn't made any public decisions.
Isn't Williams still quite a big step backwards from what Räikkönen has been used to in McLaren and Ferrari?
No doubt about that, but if he still has the urge to race then he should come back. And how does anyone even know what kind of a package Williams can put together for next season. It's true that this season's achievements can't fire up Räikkönen. The team's veteran driver Rubens Barrichello has not once achieved Q3 and his best results from races have been only two 9th positions. The rookie Pastor Maldonado has achieved Q3 three times but in the race scored points only once. So it's clear that there has to be other reasons for Räikkönen's interest in Williams.
What could they be?
When talking about Williams we are talking about the most successful F1-team of all times. The team is managed by Sir Frank Williams who lives and breathes motor-racing. His companion for many years has been Patrick Head, who is a petrol-head of the same caliber. For both of them running Williams-team and hunting for success has always been more than just a matter of heart. Next season the team gets Renault's engines instead of the current Cosworth-engines. It is a very significant matter in itself. They have also strenghtened the design-department and if the new men, with McLaren's ex-designer Mike Goughlan in the lead, succeed in creating a new package, then Williams can be tougher to beat next season already. Williams' stocks are without any doubt rising and if Kimi would go to the team then the end result could be dynamite.
Then from where does Williams-team imagine that they can scrape together the salary Kimi Räikkönen asks for?
Who knows what the price tag on Räikkönen is these days? Is it 5, 10 or 20 million euros per season? Or could it perhaps be for example 8 million euros and bonuses on top of it depending on the success? The only thing that is sure is that if Räikkönen would continue his F1-career in Williams, then the team would most definitely succeed in attracting those kind of companies as sponsors that Ruben Barrichello's attraction doesn't.
When will we get more light on the subject?
Only one person knows that – Kimi Räikkönen.
Source: UrheiluLehti
Courtesy: Nicole
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