Unfortunately Kimi Raikonnen has been signed by the Lotus Team for next year, leaving only one seat still to be filled in the team. Even though Vitaly Petrov has a contract for next year his position in the team is not guaranteed. Though Kimi Raikonnen fans will be angry with the usage of the word “unfortunately” we do indeed believe that this is an unfortunate development with Kimi having been kicked out Ferrari due to his lack of motivation and non-performance. Many a time Raikonnen has shown that he lacks in motivation though not in greed for lucre which he has in plenty. After being in the wilderness for two years, it would have been best for Raikonnen to stay away from F1 for good and enjoy doing something else.
Michael Schumacher has demonstrated that he is no longer in a position even to fight for a podium leave alone win races and dominate the championship. Ideally he should have hung up his helmet. However, he seems to be in no mood to do so, which is really a shame, not for him but for the fact that a younger driver could have taken his place – someone like Paul Di Resta. Pedro De La Rosa’s signing by HRT is another unfortunate thing. Just look at the number of drivers over 30 years of age. Micheal Schumacher, Pedro De La Rosa, Jarno Trulli, Mark Webber, Kimi Raikonnen, Jenson Button, Felipe Massa, Fernando Alonso, and Heikki Kovalainen, while Timo Glock will soon be thirty. Perhaps drivers such as Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso are driving well so there is sense in their being on the grid for 2012. Felipe Massa will be out of Ferrari by the end of next year and hopefully he will not be signed on by some one else. The others have no business being on the grid especially Schumacher, De La Rosa, Trulli, Raikonnen and maybe even Webber and Kovalainen.
There are young guns such as Daniel Ricciardo, Jean Vergne, Paul Di Resta, Nico Hulkenberg, Jules Bianchi and Adrian Sutil (not too young at 28) who are struggling to find seats. At Williams Pastor Maldonado is a pay driver who has retained his seat and if Rubens Barrichello retains his seat at Williams it may well mean that this a sport for the geriatrics. Geriatrix in the Asterix comics will be pleased with this situation while Fulliautomatix will be completely disgusted and disillusioned. And with good reason.