Ferrari’s Formula One driver lineup will remain unchanged next season after the Italian glamour team ended uncertainty surrounding Kimi Raikkonen on Wednesday.
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In a typically short statement, the team said today, “Scuderia Ferrari announces that it has renewed its technical and racing agreement with Kimi Raikkonen“.
Williams had been holding out for about £10 million (S$22 million) to release Bottas from his contract, with rumours that Ferrari thought it too high a price to pay for a driver who has had an unconvincing season.
Dogged by a litany of poor performances in qualifying, Raikkonen has consistently struggled to keep pace with Vettel this term, scoring just 76 points compared to the four-times world champion’s haul of 160. “On our side, this shows our great confidence in him and I expect this confidence to be well rewarded”, Arrivabene said.
Raikkonen was set to be out of contract at the end of this season and facing an uncertain future. Since few genuinely knew which way Maurizio Arrivabene was going to lean on this and given he was hinting at retirement had Ferrari not taken up its option on him, this really is a moment for his army of fans to rejoice. “I want to be in a quicker auto but I think for next year we can do with it Williams if I stay here”.
“Obviously we want more wins, me and the team”, he said ahead of this weekend’s Belgium Grand Prix.
Raikkonen has teamed with Vettel (who’s third in driver’s points) to key the Scuderia’s bounce-back season. Pure talent tends to ensure a de-facto No 1 driver in a team but the process of natural selection goes a step further at Ferrari, thanks to the awesome commitment and political skills their superstars also tend to possess.
But it is believed that Raikkonen is merely warming the coveted seat for compatriot Valtteri Bottas, now with Williams.
Next up, following the sport’s summer break, is this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, where Alonso is hoping to add to his career 32 race victories – although he admits such a result would be something of a surprise.
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“Ferrari has made a decision, and that’s fine, but for us it doesn’t change things”, said Coton.
