McLaren not interested in bidding war

[fat jez]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/79720

Looks like Kimi is out of the running then, with his high salary and low sponsorship demands. I'd also debate whether he is still hungry enough, but that remains to be proven.

 

[teabagyokel]

They should try Kazuki Nakajima, there's unlikely to be a bidding war there...

 

[Brogan]

I'm confused

Wasn't Kimi paid off by Ferrari so in effect he has already been paid for 2010?
Surely then he can afford to drive for a relatively low salary?

It looks like the teams are starting to clamp down on salaries.
First Brawn and now McLaren.

Or is it just that Jenson and Kimi are not valued as highly as some other drivers?

 

[fat jez]

Wasn't Kimi paid off by Ferrari so in effect he has already been paid for 2010?
Surely then he can afford to drive for a relatively low salary?

That would only cover his salary for the first year though, he'd not want to be earning peanuts in 2011.

I think it's somewhat inevitable that the teams start clamping down on drivers salaries and start looking for value for money. You only have to look at BAR and Villeneuve to see the effect on paying somebody over the odds for past success. In fact, looking at the grid now, I'd say it's probably only Ferrari who have many to waste on driver salaries, the other teams are probably being a lot more canny with their cash than they used to be.

 

[fat jez]

Raikkonen has now stated that McLaren are his only real option to remain in F1 next season.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/79831