http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8365967.stm

Read this article and then consider the following. Raikkonen won't accept a contract from Maclaren as they aren't offering enough money, but also has already earned enough money that he doesn't want to drive for a middle order team for money. So surely he didn't need Maclaren to offer him a high salary then? What a load of rubbish, sounds more like Maclaren didn't offer him a drive at all and he's made a press release to cover it up.

Raikkonen won't accept a contract from Maclaren as they aren't offering enough money, but also has already earned enough money that he doesn't want to drive for a middle order team for money.

Maybe he just felt that the amount Maclaren were offering showed they don't value him enough? I bet even multi millionaire racing car drivers like to feel valued.

Are you suggesting that he should drive for free because Ferrari have already paid him for 2010?

It seems like McLaren are short of cash and didn't offer enough. They've lost their main sponsor and need to find cash to pay to Mercedes.

From what I hear he's a fairly unlikeable chap who really couldn't be bothered with all that goes with F1 apart from driving the car, so I can see why big teams wouldn't want him. I don't think there are going to be many tears shed from either side. I wish I could get £20m to do nothing, Ferrari must have wanted shot of him pretty badly.

As Matthewjb says.

He would have earnt more from Ferrari by not driving in F1 next year than he would have done by driving for Mclaren,,,, Hummm let me think about this now, 52 weeks doing what i want or work for 52 weeks working and earn less money.

Its a tough one that 😉

no, i'm saying if he says he's not in it for the money:

He wants to be back in F1 in 2011 but with all the money he has earned he doesn't want to go in a medium-type team for money

why does it matter what maclaren were offering him?!?

BBC now reporting the extension to that story – Button to McLaren. That's going to be interesting, if frustrating for JB.

oh and as ddmonkey says he seems like a bit of an idiot anyway.

Raikkonen is being paid a sum believed to be in the region of 20m euros not to race for Ferrari in 2010

who do I call to get my 20m?! 😀

Great isn't it? Kimi is getting something like four times more money than JB for kicking back and indulging in his fave hobbies of a spot of rallying followed by a jolly good p!ss up. Whereas Jenson is getting a quarter of that sum to get his bum kicked by Hamilton.

theflatboy – It is euros not pounds. I refuse not to race for Ferarri unless they up there offer!

€20m is almost £20m now anyway!

I had read somewheer that Raikkonen gets €20 million from Ferrari if he doesn’t drive for someone else but only $10 million if he does. So any other team would have to offer him in excess of €10 million to make it worth his while. In todays economic climate and the withdrawal of big sponsors and manufacturers from the sport, the huge amounts of money for drivers salaries aren’t available anymore.
I think it is a shame he won’t be in F1 Next year. I would have loved to have seen him alongside Hamilton at McLaren.
As to ddmonkey's comments. I believe he is well liked by the engineers he works with. He is considered to be knowledgeable and able to give feedback to the engineers and of course, very very fast. He just doesn’t like the PR side of things so perhaps it is the sponsors who wanted shot of him.

In a way, I think you have to admire Kimi for that. He's got 20M coming in anyway but couldn't get the deal he wanted (I hear the sticking point was sponsor commitments he doesn't want to do) and said he'd rather walk than race for anyone other than McLaren (he's definitely got lucrative offers elsewhere).

Lots of drivers would take cash and tool around midfield making comments about how they were committed to "building the team" (see Timo Glock) whilst laughing all the way to the bank.

I would refuse not to drive for MCClaren for only £10M if that helps the situation

WorldClassAccident – Member

theflatboy – It is euros not pounds. I refuse not to race for Ferarri unless they up there offer!

haha, fair play – turn up at the first race and demand to be allowed to race until they accept your terms and pay you not to! 😆

I see no reason to doubt Timo Glock's sincerity. He's a good driver and any drive is a good thing at the moment. There are quite a few guys with nothing signed for 2010.

[pedant]

I would refuse not to drive for MCClaren for only £10M if that helps the situation

You might need too learn how to spell McLaren for them to take you seriously. [/pedant]

Whether you like him or not, it's always sad to see an ex World Champion leave the sport. But he has been talking about leaving F1 on and off for a little while now and rallying seems as good a home as any for him.

I dare say with his deep pockets and skill he'll have a riot in whatever level he races at in rallying. I'd suggest that Rallying is a lot more exciting than F1 for both driver and spectator anyway!

Rallying might be more spectacular to watch, but it certainly is a lot less demanding than F1 for the driver.

glenp – Member

[pedant]
I would refuse not to drive for MCClaren for only £10M if that helps the situation
You might need too learn how to spell McLaren for them to take you seriously. [/pedant]

you might need to learn how to spell "to". 🙂

I thought the WRC or whatever it's going to be called in future, was on the way down due to teams pulling out, etc.?

Perhaps as a driver he has realised just how dull F1 is !

Oops – I can spell, just can't typpe!

Rallying might be more spectacular to watch, but it certainly is a lot less demanding than F1 for the driver.

are you serious? more hours in the car, more days per event, more variables to deal with and more solid objects to hit if you get it wrong.

I was wondering about the rallying being less demanding post too… less G force so possibly less strain on the body, but far more moving about on the pedals twirling of the arms for much longer times.

A fitness trial between the two would be interesting I imagine that Seb Loeb is going to be pretty fit, never mind Nico Valuez (or however you spell it)

Yes I think its the whole PR side he had no time for, but if you are being paid that much money it goes with the territory I should think. I had heard an annecdote from a Renault engineer about him telling a small boy wanting an autograph to f-off, not sure how true but I can't think that kind of thing endears him to sponsors or team principals.

Totally serious. I think it was Seb Loeb who commented recently how much more physical F1 was than WRC. I think most people just don't appreciate what a demanding sport F1 is and how fit the drivers have to be to just drive the car. He was explaining how much more training he'd need to do just to make the grade, let alone excel.

I think it was the Hungarian GP this year when Coulthard was recalling that in his first outing at that circuit he got so knackered that half way through the race he couldn't hold on to the car any more and crashed.

Raikkonen? loss of desire and motivation i imagine. rich beyond his wildest dreams , young and has already been WC for ferrari. Why not kick back and enjoy life. Maybe he doesnt have the desire to be a multi world champion a la schumacher etc.