Kimi Raikkonen To Earn More If He Does Not Race In 2010
November 6, 2009
Kimi Raikkonen stands to make more money in 2010 if he takes a sabbatical. Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reports that if the Finn accepts McLaren’s current offer, he will earn €15m in 2010, as opposed to €17m if he has a season on the sidelines.
According to his termination deal with Ferrari, the Italian team has promised to pay Raikkonen €17m if he does not race in F1 next year, and €10m if he finds suitable employment elsewhere.
Realising this, McLaren has reportedly offered Raikkonen just 5 million for the 2010 seat, concluding that €15m in total earnings is a very healthy amount for the 2007 world champion.
Presently, Raikkonen’s management team of Steve and David Robertson is demanding that McLaren pay a full retainer, plus agree to a reduced amount of sponsorship days for their charge.
Nick Heidfeld has been touted as McLaren’s ‘plan B’, and in an interview with spox.com, the German was asked about Martin Whitmarsh’s recent statement that the German veteran is perhaps F1’s most underrated driver.
“At the moment I’m not ruling out any team,” he answered.
Source: GMM via F1-Live
© CAPSIS International
Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images AsiaPac
What???
“According to his termination deal with Ferrari
, the Italian team has promised to pay Raikkonen €17m if he does not race in F1 next year, and €10m if he finds suitable employment elsewhere.”
this guy is over-rated anyway
Overated prolly yes..but still an Ex-World Champ. Excluding the current grid line-up beside Jenson and Ah-Long su…who else has the credentials?
Kimi is not over rated. In fact, he is the best out there. If not, why the hell Ferrari willing to pay 17m so kimi wont race next year. They knew that if kimi drives any “not-that-good-but-still-a-good” car, no one have chance to beat him. I believe given the ferrari to alonso or hamilton, they will not perform as kimi.
One of the mark of a great racing/f1 driver is the ability to pull out good results in races even in a bad race car. Look at how Fisi failed to get anything out of the Ferrari F60 and making himself look as bad as Luca Bardoer that he replaces. The fact that Kimi managed to steal a win in that F60 said a lot about his qualities of a great driver. When Kimi won In Belgium this year, Ferrari has already stopped developing the car to concentrate on their 2010 challenger. Man, I really wish I am in his boots especially if I can get paid handsome money for not doing a thing for a whole year.
Ferrari turn out to be wan***s. They get greedy for the money from Santander and bring a pr**k in, and then want to pay this guy to stay out of a racing seat.
Kimi, get in the McLaren and kill Ferrari next season. Period.
It doesn’t matter if he races or not. It matters that he has a damn good manager that everyone dreams of getting the moolah in.