After weeks of rumours about a possible deal between 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen and AT&T Williams for 2012, a new wave of rumours say the negotiations fell apart last week.

According to respected German magazine Auto, Motor und Sport, two different stories are being told in the paddock to explain what went wrong. Some say, Raikkonen’s managers asked for more money than Williams was willing to offer. But others think Williams did not want to cede the 20% of the team Raikkonen wanted to buy. The Finnish driver should already have tried to buy a 20% of another two teams before contacting Williams.

Also according to Auto, Motor und Sport, if it is true that Raikkonen stopped the negotiations with Williams, it could mean that some other team is now interested in selling shares to the ‘Iceman’. It is not clear if that team could be Renault, since the driver and some team officials had a loud quarrel in the media last year. Nevertheless, Raikkonen’s manager is thought to have phoned Renault’s Eric Boullier before the Abu Dhabi GP, as the Frenchman confirmed to Formula1.com… source