Former F1 team principal Otmar Szafnauer has revealed he was in discussions to sign Kimi Raikkonen when the Finn made his return to the sport.
After departing F1 at the end of the 2009 season to dip his feet into rallying, Raikkonen targeted a comeback to F1 in 2012.
Among the teams interested in Raikkonen was Force India, where Szafnauer worked in a senior management role.
The Silverstone-based squad had just come off the back of its most successful season to date with a run to sixth in the constructors’ standings.
However, Raikkonen ultimately chose to return to Lotus, where he picked up two victories across two seasons before returning to Ferrari in 2014.
Detailing his late-2011 encounter with Raikkonen, Szafnauer told High Performance Racing: “I nearly signed Kimi Raikkonen to Force India before he went to Lotus.
“[It was] Brazil – can’t remember the year – last race, I had to meet Kimi at the Hyatt in Morumbi. It’s where we were all staying.
“I met him with two of his buddies, trying to convince him to come to Force India.
“He said, ‘Okay, at the end of the season, come and talk to me’. His two buddies, I think, were the founders of Angry Birds, the game.
“Raikkonen says, ‘Let’s go talk at the Red Bull party’. Red Bull were having a massive party at the end of the season. We get there, and I’m thinking, ‘We’re not going to get in, the crowds are huge’.
“We couldn’t get in, but they recognised Kimi. So [they said] ‘Kimi, right this way’ and they opened up all the [doors] they had there.
“Kimi waited for every one of us to get in before he stepped through.”
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Raikkonen’s future lay elsewhere
In 2012, Force India retained Paul di Resta and paired him alongside Nico Hulkenberg, who was promoted from a test driver role.
Szafnauer conceded that Force India did not have the performance to attract the 2007 champion at the time.
“As it turned out, I couldn’t convince him to come to Force India,” he said.
“It was a bit of everything. You have to convince drivers, too, that the future looks rosier than the other offers that they have.
“And to be fair to him, he went to Lotus at a time when they won more races than we did. They were better at that point; they still had James Allison there at that time.”
