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F1: Angry Raikkonen Rules Out F1 Return With Renault, Whitmarsh Thinks FIA Tests Have Slowed Red Bull

Kimi Raikkonen has broken his silence to scold Renault and reveal he will not be joining the Enstone-based Formula One team in 2011.

Team chiefs Gerard Lopez and Eric Boullier have said numerous times in recent days that the 2007 World Champion, wh


Kimi Raikkonen has broken his silence to scold Renault and reveal he will not be joining the Enstone-based Formula One team in 2011.

Team chiefs Gerard Lopez and Eric Boullier have said numerous times in recent days that the 2007 World Champion, who switched to world rallying at the end of last year, is a candidate to race alongside Robert Kubica next season.

Boullier told F1's official website this week that despite being unsure if the Finn is sufficiently motivated to return to the sport, his interest is flattering.

"Yes it is because it shows that the work we've done this season is noticed and that we are considered a challenger for the championship in the future," said the Frenchman.

But Raikkonen, 30, has angrily revealed he will not be driving for Renault in 2011.

"I am very disappointed with the way they have used my name for their marketing," the former McLaren and Ferrari driver is quoted by Turun Sanomat newspaper.

"I have never seriously considered driving for Renault, and I can assure you 100 per cent that I will not be driving for them next year," Raikkonen added bluntly.

He said his management contacted Renault once "weeks ago and that is all".

(GMM)

Whitmarsh Thinks FIA Tests Have Slowed Red Bull

Martin Whitmarsh insists it would be a strange coincidence if Red Bull's weakened dominance is not connected with the flexible bodywork saga.

Just two months ago in Hungary, the RB6 was utterly dominant, but at the subsequent Belgian, Italian and Singaporean rounds, it was Red Bull's rivals that took the chequered flag first.

Lewis Hamilton said last week that Adrian Newey's car was slowed by the FIA's more stringent front wing and floor flexibility tests -- a claim denied by Red Bull.

"It (the end of Red Bull's dominance) may be a coincidence, but that would be quite strange," McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh told Germany's Auto Bild Motorsport.

He said that while the wings on the Red Bull and also the Ferrari cars were visibly bending, those two teams "had some very strong races while we were at a loss".

Whitmarsh confirmed he was involved in the push to clamp down on the visible flexibility of Red Bull's car.

"I asked (the FIA) whether we could design wing endplates that touch the ground, and the clear answer was no.

"So if we can't do it, then the others can't as well, because endplates that are 20 to 30 millimetres lower to the track equates to about one second per lap," he said.

He thinks that, without the latest flexible bodywork saga, McLaren's championship situation might be very different with just four races now to run.

"Maybe we weren't clever or bold enough," Whitmarsh said. "But if a system is not legal, then nobody should be allowed to use it."

(GMM)

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