Niki Lauda thinks Raikkonen is the best driver on the market.
Photo: nanopress.it

Formula One legend, Niki Lauda, has advised Red Bull to go ahead and sign Kimi Raikkonen for next season.

Lauda, who is currently the Mercedes chairman and co-owner, is known to have enticed Lewis Hamilton into switching to Mercedes from McLaren.

He now thinks that Red Bull Racing should snap Raikkonen up for the 2014 season.

The Finn is currently only three points away from the lead of the drivers championship standings and his consistency is proving to be unmatched.

Dr Helmut Marko, and even team owner Dietrich Mateschitz, have both already spoken about their interest in Raikkonen as Mark Webber’s contract is set to run out at the end of the season and the driver has already been linked to rumours of leaving Formula One. His recent spats with Sebastian Vettel are also fuelling the rumours about his exit from the team.

Lotus’ Eric Boullier said “It is not the question of how I am going to keep him (Raikkonen),it is a question of does he want to stay?” Boullier, of course believes it would not be a great move for Kimi to move away from his comfortable seat at Lotus to Red Bull where he will have to “race against Vettel”.

But Niki Lauda thinks Red Bull should absolutely target Raikkonen. “He is sensational, a cool guy, and absolutely on the level of Vettel, Alonso and Hamilton,” he told Germany’s Bild newspaper.

“Kimi is definitely a title contender. If I was Red Bull and I wanted to change something with the drivers, then I would definitely go for Kimi.”

“He is the best driver on the market by far.”