Fulcrum wrote: ↑12 Jun 2018, 19:06
ace456 wrote: ↑12 Jun 2018, 14:10
As much as I love Kimi. His time at a top team is done. Its been over 100 grand prix's since he's won a race. Even if we consider the alleged no 2 driver status at ferrari, barrichello/massa won races at ferrari and kimi hasnt since he returned to Ferrari.
Now it might seem that the only reason ferrari are hanging on with Kimi is because of team harmony and balance which definitely contributes to overall competitiveness of team. But he is also bloody quick and a good marketable driver with a lot of fans. Its just he isnt a 'complete racing driver' at the moment. And hella expensive at $40 million i think. And seb is at $ 60 million. Thats $100 million only on drivers! Red bull spends almost 10 times less. Mercedes is also nowhere close to this.
So in conclusion best driver for ferrari at the moment with qualities of Speed, marketability, team player, Experience and salary is Ricciardo. And there is leclerc who has the speed and is a team player and can pay him less. But he doesnt have the experience and marketability. Unless ferrari does a red bull and markets him like brand verstappen.
Hulk is quick and smart, blocked at renault for the future. He is a team leader at renault whereas at ferrari he wont be a team leader. Plus 2 germans in one team isnt good for global marketing!
So the Italian Australian for ferrari or they take a punt with Charles.
Raikkonen isn't paid anything remotely close to that amount.
I checked a couple more websites. Some mention $7 million plus bonuses (sounds more believable) and some mention $40 million total. I guess the former is correct! Apparently he took a pay cut after his latest one year extension.
But then again, Lotus paid him $6 million plus 50,000 euros per point. It doesnt add up to his ferrari salary. Ferrari should have deeper pockets because he made close to $15 million with lotus. Maybe with Ferrari the bonus is paid out if he gets a win or a podium. He got 7 podiums in 2017. Anyway, Ricciardo is good ROI.