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Mercedes-Benz
motorsport boss Norbert Haug says McLaren has no qualms about
slotting in Kimi Raikkonen alongside Lewis Hamilton next year - as
it closes in on a deal with the Finnish driver.
With
Ferrari in the final stages of completing moves that will end
Raikkonen's Ferrari deal a year early, and open the way for
Fernando Alonso to join the Maranello-outfit, sources have
confirmed that the 2007 world champion and McLaren are keen to
renew their partnership.
And
although the signing of Raikkonen for 2010 would give McLaren one
of the strongest driver line-ups on the grid, it could also leave
it exposed to the problems it has faced in the past in managing
two top-line drivers.
However,
Haug thinks that McLaren will have no trouble in dealing with such
a situation – and does not risk a repeat of the problems that
marred the outfit when Hamilton was partnered with Fernando Alonso.
"Whatever
you can do to get the best available drivers, that is what you
have to do," said Haug. "It's a question of money, it's
a question of capability, a question of the amount of talent.
Managing two megastars, I don't think that honestly it was a
problem. With Alonso there were some noises to the outside world,
but in reality inside the team everybody did his job and in
reality we should have won the world championship. But it was not
due to not having team orders. You can imagine what would have
happened in Fernando would not have blocked Lewis in Hungary, no
penalty, one point more and you are there. This is how it goes
sometimes. We won it by one point and we lost it by one point. I
stress, I do not confirm that there is change. This is very
important. But managing drivers ifs and whys is the name of the
game and we are qualified to do so."
Although
Raikkonen did not enjoy the best of relationships with former
McLaren team principal Ron Dennis, Haug says that the team would
relish the opportunity to have the Finn back.
"Reflecting
on our co-operation which was five years, I think that it was
positive," explained Haug. "We should have won at least
two world championships. I have to say we missed one with two
points in 2003 but I think an engine failure was one of the
reasons, so without that he could have done it. In 2005 he could
have done it, in fairness. The engines at that stage were not as
good and reliable as they are now. To have Kimi in our team
winning two world championships would certainly have been a fair
outcome for him. I have a good relationship with him and I'm sure
he would say the same."
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