Kimi Raikkonen is being touted as spending 2010 on the sidelines after contract talks with McLaren hit the rocks.
The Finn has been ousted from his seat with Ferrari a season early after the Italian car manufacturer opted to bring former two time world champion Fernando Alonso to the team.
If Raikkonen spends 2010 without a race seat, Ferrari are set to pay Raikkonen some €17million, but if he gets a seat they will pay him just €10million. The latter figure sounds a lot, and McLaren think so too with Raikkonen’s contract offer being at just €5million, it means he could spend the season on sabbatical and earn more than if he were driving.
With Raikkonen’s commitment to F1 at a low, he could spend the season out of racing or perhaps trying his hand at WRC, both Citroen Motorsport and Ford have expressed interest in the 2007 F1 Champion.
Whatever happens, McLaren are now looking for another potential driver now it looks like Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg will be forming a partnership at Brawn, as Mercedes Benz look set to pay the salaries.
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