Raikkonen to replace Webber at Red Bull?

Filed under: Motorsports, Hirings/Firings/Layoffs



If you were watching the British Grand Prix this past weekend, you may have noticed a little friction in the Red Bull Racing team. And we're not talking about Sebastian Vettel and his team's jammed wheel gun that cost him the race.

In the closing laps of the race, Mark Webber had closed in right on Vettel's tail in a close fight for second place. But then the team radioed Webber and instructed him to back off. Webber ignored the team orders and kept pressing, and while he didn't manage to get by and didn't cause either to crash, it undoubtedly caused some consternation on Red Bull's pit wall.

Now rumor has it that the team is so angry with their No. 2 driver that they're preparing to give him the boot. In his place, according to reports, the reigning champions are planning on bringing in Kimi Raikkonen.

Of course this isn't the first time Raikkonen has been linked to an F1 return with Red Bull Racing. The 2007 champion left F1 a couple of years ago after Ferrari shoved him out the nest (with a big golden parachute, mind you), competing since in the World Rally Championship and in NASCAR, but has never ruled out a grand prix comeback.

Kimi's long been sponsored by Red Bull (the energy drink company that owns the F1 team in question), and apparently has close personal ties to Vettel. But few people know for sure whether the team orders incident at Silverstone was enough to break the proverbial camel's back in the often strained relations between Webber and RBR's management.Raikkonen to replace Webber at Red Bull? originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 14 Jul 2011 09:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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