Commercial side key to Raikkonen fate

By Jonathan Noble Friday, September 17th 2010, 16:24 GMT



Renault F1 chairman Gerard Lopez says Kimi Raikkonen's approach to the team will not sway it from making a decision on its 2011 line-up based on what makes most sense commercially.

Although the signing of a former world champion would be a big boost to Renault's aspirations of fighting for the title next year, Lopez says that the outfit will not be blinded by the prospects of being able to lure a star name like Raikkonen back to F1.

In an exclusive interview with AUTOSPORT, Lopez said that it was far too early to suggest the outfit was keen to pursue the Raikkonen option - and his team still had to balance out the financial attractions of having a driver like Vitaly Petrov against the benefits of paying for a big-name star.

"It's funny because people now think things are going well and we're going to change drivers," he said. "There's a certain rally driver that wasn't interested in Formula 1 but now has made contact and is interested in coming back to F1, funnily enough with us, but we're not there yet."

Lopez says that the team's decision on its second driver will still be motivated by financial factors - as the outfit seeks the levels of sponsorship and investment that it believes it will need to fight for the title next year.

"It's very important, " he said when asked if financial considerations were still important. "As I said, we use Formula 1, and we have to push our team to succeed because we use the platform to do business. And you know, it's a question of image.

"People like to do business with winning teams, so it goes hand in hand. For us still, the main consideration in this outside of Eric's [Boullier] mission and the team's mission to start winning races again, is the business one. And it has become more important now that we've solidified the team, that we've found the sponsors, that we're bringing the sponsors, that we're doing whatever needs to be done.

"It's even more important now to build the team, to use that platform for the business side of it. And the fact that we're doing more and more deals with companies that come through Renault Formula 1 because we provide other things, I think it's even more important for 2011 than it was for 2010. In 2010 we had to rebuild. In 2011 we can focus on business."

Although the sponsorship opportunities that came from signing Vitaly Petrov at the be...

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