Excluded: Boullier responds to Räikkönen

Eric Boullier, team manager of Renault F1, returned to the recent comments of Kimi Räikkönen, who told the Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat that he never seriously considered teaming up with the French manufacturer's team. “ I have never seriously considered driving for Renault, and I can even say that I am 100% sure that I will not drive for Renault next year. I am very disappointed that they are using my name for marketing purposes », declared Kimi.

However, in recent weeks, there has been a lot of talk about such a rapprochement, with Eric Boullier confirming his desire to probe the motivation of the 2007 World Champion regarding a possible return to F1. This Thursday, for AUTOhebdo.fr and exclusively in France, the boss of the team d?enstone wants to clarify its position since Suzuka, while responding to Iceman's rather harsh comments.

"JI am now forced to respond to Kimi?s comments even though it was his entourage who contacted me in the first place, after Spa, he explains. There were several discussions and several exchanges of messages. They had even already laid the foundations of a contract with quite a few details. When this exchange between Renault F1 and Kimi Räikkönen's managers was made public, they themselves confirmed it. »

If Kimi Räikkönen did not directly contact Renault F1 Team, there is no doubt that the actions of his managers can be considered as an interest of the Finnish driver. From then on, any contact made had to be taken seriously. “ It's true that being asked by a World Champion was flattering but I had been very clear from the start, because as long as Vitaly Petrov's evaluation had not been completed, we would no longer enter into the negotiations with the Räikkönen clan. This contact between the two parties was widely reported in the press and this is what perhaps ended up tiring Kimi, but we did not use his image or his name for marketing purposes. We don?t need this for our stable. »

And, for his part, Kimi Räikkönen, after several weeks of speculation, preferred to put an end to the possibility of a return to Formula 1 via the Renault team. Eric Boullier takes note and removes the Finn from his list of potential successors to Vitaly Petrov. “ It was perhaps a little rant on his part, following a media overdose and a little too many requests during the last rally of France. Now at least Kimi's position is clear and we won't waste time. »