Kimi could switch energy drinks next year..
Kimi Raikkonen could partner Ken Block in the Monster World Rally Team next year, as the 2007 F1 champ looks around for options for 2011.
One thing Raikkonen won't be doing next year is going back to F1. Kimi had been rumoured to be working on a deal with Renault - but that has been confirmed as dead by Raikkonen's manager, Steve Robertson.
"We're no longer looking at opportunities in F1," Robertson told Finnish television channel MTV3. "Kimi seems to be focused on rallying at the moment."
Block is said to be keen on getting Raikkonen on board - as the signing-up of a former F1 champ would bring great publicity for team sponsor Monster (the 'other' energy drinks supplier that backs motorsport) and would represent a bit of a coup, 'stealing' Raikkonen from rivals Red Bull.
But the Monster team is hardly the best-funded outfit in the WRC, and a decision on running a second car won't be made until early next year.
However, "nothing's been decided yet," says Robertson. "We'll let you know when there is something to say. At the moment nothing has been signed. We're talking to several teams."
Among the other possibilities for Raikkonen is a move to Mini, although that would only get him sporadic rallies and Raikkonen is keen to do a full season.
Raikkonen could also stay with the Citroen Junior WRC team, but word is that he would have to take a significant pay cut from the rumoured 5 million-pound deal that sponsors Red Bull had with the Finn for 2010.
And what about an eventual return to F1? "Never say never," says Robertson, "but right now our eye is not on F1."
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