Kimi Raikkonen keen on williams move

Former McLaren and Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen could return to Formula 1 next season with Williams.

The Finn quit F1 at the end of 2009 to try his hand at world rallying but after two frustrating seasons he has had talks with Williams about joining them for 2012.

BBC Sport understands that Raikkonen is keen to join the team and Williams are weighing up the idea.

Raikkonen, 32, would partner Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado at Williams.

Maldonado is in his first season, but the team's sponsorship with his country's national oil supplier is understood to guarantee him a seat.

The veteran Brazilian Rubens Barrichello is Maldonado's team-mate this season, but his future with the team looks shaky.

The 40-year-old wants to stay on for a 20th season in F1, but sources say Williams are leaning towards not retaining Barrichello.

Williams were unavailable for comment.

One potential stumbling block is whether Williams and Raikkonen can come to an agreement on the size of his salary, but the team is hoping that his presence could attract new backers, which could help the move make financial sense.

Williams are having the worst season in their history in 2011 and currently lie ninth in the world championship with only five points.

Only the three teams who were new to F1 in 2010 are beneath them.

But it is believed that Raikkonen is serious about returning to F1 after failing to match the pace of the front-runners in the World Rally Championship and he has few options.

There is no space at any of the top four teams and although Williams are struggling they have strong engineering depth and are restructuring their team and Raikkonen is believed to consider that they are a good option for him.

The Finn left Ferrari at the end of 2009 after the team paid off his contract to make room for Fernando Alonso.

He won the world title for the Italian team in 2007, but his form dipped in the following two seasons and he was beaten by team-mate Felipe Massa.

After making his F1 debut for Sauber in 2001, he won 18 races in five years at McLaren and three at Ferrari.

source: bbc

There's nothing worse than a great driver returning to drive in a poor car. Williams may improve in 2012 but are they suddenly going to be competitive with the likes of Mclaren, Ferrari & Red Bull......No! I love Kimi and his aggressive, risk taking style, he is a pure racing driver like Hamilton and makes the sport exciting. I hope Kimi does return but in replace of Webber as Vettel needs to be pushed and tested to prove that this untouchable reputation is wrong. I've said for a while that the current f1 grid lacks the exciting drivers of the past and Kimi & Kubica have been a huge miss for f1.

I would think neither Red Bull or Kimi would be interested in pairing up. Vettel is their number 1 driver. Everything in the team is geared towards turning him into a multi WC. Even when Webber was leading the WDC last season, that was still the case. Furthermore, I think the current F1 rules would work against Kimi, in the same way they have Hamilton, Webber and to a certain extent Ferrari.

Good points liverbnz. Although he's only been away a couple of years, the sport has changed quite dramatically from what he was used to...although I don't think it would completely rule out a comeback.

I couldn't see Kimi settling for being No.2 to Vettel either.

Still doubtful about whether joining Williams would be a good deal for either party. His last season with Ferrari was patchy at best and Williams are a good way below their standard.

If he's interested in a long-term project and doesn't expect to be challenging for titles for a season or two then it could work. He'd also need time to get used to driving the new cars. I imagine he could still command a fair amount of sponsorship, which would obviously benefit the team in terms of car development.

Much as I like Barrichello I can't see him staying around much longer. I think he's done all he can for Williams and is just treading water now. I think Kimi could be useful here too in providing a new benchmark for Maldonado. So far he's been competing with a team mate who is very similar in performance. He needs to be pushed if he's going to improve.

Totally agree with the majority said above, however it saddens me that Red Bull basically is a one driver team now as they know Webber isnt a match for Vettel. They will no doubt replace Webber in 2013 with a young driver coming through their young driver scheme who again won't be a match for Vettel. Everything is geared at Red Bull to create a multi-world champion in Vettel and they will do everything in their power to succeed, albeit having a negative effect upon f1 as a whole through not giving Vettel a true test of a teammate. You say Kimi wouldnt settle for being no.2 at Red Bull but Kimi on song in a Red Bull with the challenge of taking on a two time world champion with an untouchable reputation must make someone like Raikkonen excited. Lets face it f1 maybe less suited to Kimi than a few years ago but this a world champion in itself and how long does it take to master pushing a fee more buttons. Kimi on song with a fresh hunger for racing beats Vettel all day long, it maybe a controversial opinion but all these people saying 'he's lost it' is ludicrous, the guy is only 31! Don't hate Kimi because of his attitude, admire him for his speed and aggression that could trouble Vettel all ends up. That is what we ultimately want in f1....competition. Sadly though Red Bull understandably will never put a driver like Raikkonen or Hamilton alongside their precious talent as his reputation would crumble.