First we have all the test times combined below
- 1. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 1min 32.894
- 2. Daniel Ricciardo Australia Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1min 32.972
- 3. Carlos Sainz Jr Spain Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1min 33.016
- 4. Daniel Ricciardo Australia Red Bull-Renault 1min 33.187
- 5. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes 1min 33.242
- 6. Nicolas Prost France Lotus-Renault 1min 33.256
- 7. Carlos Sainz Jr Spain Red Bull-Renault 1min 33.546
- 8. Davide Valsecchi Italy Lotus-Renault 1min 33.554
- 9. Davide Rigon Italy Ferrari-Ferrari 1min 33.592
- 10. Kevin Magnussen Denmark McLaren-Mercedes 1min 33.602
- 11. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari 1min 33.624
- 12. Jean-Eric Vergne France Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1min 33.647
- 13. Paul di Resta Britain Force India-Mercedes 1min 33.774
- 14. Antonio Felix Da Costa Portugal Red Bull-Renault 1min 33.821
- 15. Oliver Turvey Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1min 33.864
- 16. James Calado Britain Force India-Mercedes 1min 33.957
- 17. Daniel Juncadella Spain Williams-Renault 1min 34.098
- 18. Pastor Maldonado Venezuela Williams-Renault 1min 34.116
- 19. Johnny Cecotto Venezuela Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1min 34.193
- 20. Robin Frijns Netherlands Sauber-Ferrari 1min 34.236
- 21. Nico Hulkenberg Germany Sauber-Ferrari 1min 34.224
- 22. Gary Paffett Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1min 34.294
- 23. Susie Wolff Britain Williams-Renault 1min 35.093
- 24. Giedo van der Garde Netherlands Caterham-Renault 1min 35.155
- 25. Daniil Kvyat Russia Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1min 35.281
- 26. Charles Pic France Caterham-Renault 1min 35.576
- 27. Kimiya Sato Japan Sauber-Ferrari 1min 35.642
- 28. Alexander Rossi America Caterham-Renault 1min 35.651
- 29. Will Stevens Britain Caterham-Renault 1min 36.082
- 30. Rodolfo Gonzalez Venezuela Marussia-Cosworth 1min 36.339
- 31. Tio Ellinas Cyprus Marussia-Cosworth 1min 36.676
- 32. Jules Bianchi France Marussia-Cosworth 1min 36.744
- 33. Max Chilton Britain Marussia-Cosworth 1min 38.347
Everybody was keeping an eye on Daniel Ricciardo and in my opinion he is not ready to challenge Sebastian Vettel with an identical car. Or is that what Red Bull is looking for? Is Ricciardo a better number two driver than Webber was? Maybe Räikkönen could be a very big threat to Vettel and maybe that is not what Red Bull is looking for.
Horner has said many times that they want Räikkönen but that they need to agree on some things. Räikkönen said that money matters but isn't that important anymore. In 2007 only Tiger Woods made more money than Räikkönen of all the athletes in the world so he doesn't need money anymore. He has even said after the Lotus finance problems that he has got enough money if they couldn't pay his salary.
If money isn't the issue with Räikkönen then what is? What do they have to agree on?
Lotus lets him have alot of spare time and he does much less PR than anyone else. Is that the main thing here? Is Räikkönen free when he is with Lotus and does he feel like a prisoner with the other teams?
I would be very happy to see somebody beat Vettel at last! It's like when Senna came to McLaren in 1988. He showed Prost who is who and won him on his first year at McLaren when people thought that Prost was unbeatable.
Some people said that Räikkönen could not be champion with any car cause he didn't win with McLaren. They messed up at least 2 titles for him and even Ron Dennis admitted that. After retiring all the time with McLaren he went to Ferrari and became world champion on his first year.
I believe he could win Vettel on his first year with Red Bull too if he got the chance! Webber was often close to Vettel in the races and qualifyings. Räikkönen is in my opinion a better driver than Webber even thou he is very good as well.
Red Bull is making their decisions in August. Let's hope they announce it as soon as possible. The last time we have had a showdown like that was in 2007 when Alonso and Hamilton were in the same team. Unfortunately (for their sake) Kimi won them both in the end with his red beauty.. Next year it's time for a Red Bull instead!
