Parr amused by Kimi 'tittle-tattle'

Williams chairman Adam Parr remains coy over the team's 2012 driver line-up, but admits some of the reports regarding the Kimi Räikkönen deal are "absolute drivel"

Williams shareholder Toto Wolff admitted last week that they are in negotiations with the 2007 World Champion and the latest paddock rumours claim the team are awaiting upon investment from Qatar to help fund the deal.

Parr, though, remains tight-lipped about talks with Räikkönen and says some of the rumours have brought a smile to his face.

"I read stuff and I just want to laugh because people construct these conspiracy theories from tittle-tattle and nonsense, and it's absolute drivel on all fronts," he said.

"I understand everything people are saying, but unfortunately it doesn't mean you can draw conclusions from it."

Parr appears in no hurry to confirm next year's line-up, stating it will be done "as soon as we can".

He added: "We have not made a decision yet about the future. When we have we will discuss it with the people concerned and then we'll announce it."

Source: Planet-F1

Mandatory question

Turun Sanomat 28.10.2011 20:23:54

Column 28.10.

I have to say that the international F1-media is feverishly interested in hearing if Kimi Räikkönen comes back next year to F1.

FIA:'s press manager Matteo Bonciani came personally to make sure that I would definitely participate in Friday's team manager interview and he let me understand that he expects me to ask a question about the matter from Williams F1-team's CEO Adam Parr.

I fulfilled his wish although I would have gone there to ask my question in any case. I emphasized to Parr that five million Finns are eagerly waiting if Räikkönen is possibly driving for Williams next year.

Parr was sorry in the typical Williams low profile -style telling that nobody can answer a question like that, but if and when changes to the current driver-duo are made they will announce it in an appropriate way.

Parr praised Räikkönen in the tv-paddock telling he was one of the best drivers from the last years and someone who everyone surely would like to see come back, when replying to a similar question asked by MTV3.

Several colleagues still claim that Parr had talked nonsense when replying to my question because they know that the contract is already made. We even placed a small bet which I have to redeem if it is revealed that Räikkönen's possible contract with Williams would have been signed already before this GP-weekend.

The whole F1-people - with the exception of McLaren - is located in the surroundings of the new and splendid Buddh-track. Hence I had dinner with Sebastien Buemi and his trainer Antti Kontsas on Thursday evening.

Buemi is the latest F1-driver who has learned a few words in Finnish. For a smart guy like him it is easier. When we talked about the Finnish F1-history, Buemi praised the magnificent statistics when three out of seven drivers had won the WDC.

I added that out of these seven four are also GP-winners, to which Buemi added that actually there are five of them since Mika Salo had to give away his only victory in Germany 12 years ago.

Quite an information-bank this 23 year old protegé of Kontsas, don't you think?

Turun Sanomat, Greater Noida

HEIKKI KULTA

Courtesy: Nicole

Parr doesn't deny the interest in Räikkönen

Turun Sanomat presented Williams F1-team's CEO Adam Parr a question.

– Five million Finns are eagerly waiting for the information if Kimi Räikkönen races next year in Williams?

Parr replied:

– I'm afraid that nobody can reply to this. Our racing drivers at the moment are Rubens Barrichello and Pastor Maldonado. We will make an official announcement if and when changes are made.

MTV3 asked him about Räikkönen in their own tv-paddock.

– Kimi has been one of the most talented drivers during the last years and I'm sure everybody would want to see him back in F1, Parr replied.

Turun Sanomat, Greater Noida

HEIKKI KULTA

Courtesy: Nicole

Fierce fight in Williams - How will it go for Kimi?

It's boiling inside Williams' camp and it can affect the situation of Kimi Räikkönen and Valtteri Bottas.

Williams CEO Adam Parr and the team's second biggest owner Christian Wolff have had a fierce fight before Singapore GP.

Parr and Wolff strongly disagree over the future of Williams and in matters concerning the team's driver-choices.

The founder of the team and the main owner Frank Williams still trusts in Parr's ability to make right kind of decisions, but other than that Parr has become quite unpopular in the team.

The power battle between Parr and Wolff has been going on for some time already. Wolff would have financial possibilities to better get the team back on track. He would also want to take quite soon his protegé Bottas to F1 as a racing driver.

- Personally I think that Valtteri is ready to succeed in F1 very soon, Wolff told IS.

The most logical would of course be to still keep Bottas, who is a test driver, in Williams. But it could also happen that Räikkönen or someone new pay-driver prevents the rise of 22-year old Bottas in Williams.


Janne Aittoniemi

Source: Ilta-Sanomat
Courtesy: Nicole

Barrichello doesn't believe that Räikkönen is a threat to his seat in Williams

Williams-team's highest management is not present in Singapore's Grand Prix -paddock. CEO Adam Parr has just returned home from Venezuela and Frank Williams didn't take a long trip to the Far-East.

Statements about the team's driver situations for next year are not to be expected - at least this weekend.

The Brazilian reporter Livio Oricchio from Sao Paulo's O Estado -paper asked Rubens Barrichello about the things concerning Kimi Räikkönen's visit to Grove factory.

– Everyone of us knows that Kimi visited the factory. I don't think the visit had anything to do with him becoming a driver for the team. The team is trying to save costs and as far as I know, Kimi is a driver with a high salary, Barrichello replied to the familiar reporter.

Oricchio didn't write anything about it in his own paper.

Turun Sanomat, Singapore

Courtesy: Nicole

Comment: Could Williams interest Räikkönen?

So Kimi Räikkönen has then visited Williams' F1-team head quarter last week

In F1-circles they see it unlikely that Räikkönen would go to Williams, because the team is only 9th in the WCC-serie and their point score to Red Bull is 5-451.

Kimi has said that he only accepts a seat in a top team. At the moment Williams is not one of them. Could Williams still interest Räikkönen?

Williams is however one of the big names in F1, despite their poor last seasons. The team has won 9 WCCs during their history and only Ferrari has done better, hence representing Williams would be honorable even for a championship-level driver.

A big dealing in the top teams will take place for season 2013, since Felipe Massa's, Michael Schumacher's and Mark Webber's contracts - and most likely also F1-careers - end after next season. Räikkönen would now have a year to restore his racing- and driving-feeling in Williams before a possible top seat. At the same time team managers would see that Räikkönen still is fast and motivated, which would lower the threshold to hire him.

Next season Williams gets similar Renault-engines as Red Bull does, hence at least that area is in order. Williams' new head designer Mike Coughlan worked in McLaren as head designer during Räikkönen's McLaren-years and he could create competitive cars for the Finn. Since Räikkönen's former race engineer Chris Dyer is on the free market after being sacked by Ferrari he could go with Kimi to Williams. It would hence be possible for Räikkönen to put up a team in Williams which he earlier also has succeeded with.

Williams' owners have lately been selling their team's shares to investors through the stock market, so why couldn't it be possible to take care of Räikkönen's salary at least partly through the shareholders, if Kimi would be interested in going to Williams for a longer time as 'his own' team. Räikkönen already has a team in Motocross and WRC.

However Williams is much more than just a F1-team, it's a diversified motorsport-racing company, hence Räikkönen's Ice One Racing –team might be up to something completely different than co-work in F1. For example, Williams designs together with Jaguar a C-X75-supercar, in which Räikkönen could fit in as a testing driver or as a commercial figure.

By Jani Merimaa

Source: MTV3
Courtesy: Nicole