‘Silly season’ revs-up Juan, Kimi, Heikki
While most players on motor sport's highest stage enjoyed a weekend off ahead of the American double-header, speculation about the future of drivers including Juan Pablo Montoya, Kimi Raikkonen and Heikki Kovalainen has continued to gather speed.
Montoya, who has reportedly been told to pack his McLaren bags, was photographed in conversation with Honda's Nick Fry at Silverstone last weekend. It is also suggested that his management may have staged talks with Chip Ganassi about an emergency-return to the US, as well as with Renault, Red Bull and Toyota.
The rumors about Finnish pair Raikkonen and Kovalainen, however, are even hotter.
The respectively Spanish and Italian newspapers 'AS' and 'Gazzetta dello Sport' have reported that Renault's Flavio Briatore is making an 'almost irresistible' bid of up to $64 million to repel Raikkonen from the grips of McLaren and Ferrari for three years.
'AS', moreover, contends that the deal – allowing Kimi to also generate his own income through personal sponsors – is now done and could be announced formally at Magny Cours.
Rumors surrounding the future of Kovalainen are equally sensational. If Raikkonen is heading to Renault, then Briatore will be looking to place his new protégé at a lesser team in 2007.
Complementing speculation that Renault could supply engines to a second team in 2007, then, is the suggestion that Kovalainen is part-and-parcel of a deal with Red Bull.