Spa Francorchamps, Belgium - Kimi Raikkonen expressed his love for Ferrari on Wednesday after the team announced he would be staying with them for 2016 in an unchanged lineup with Sebastian Vettel.
“What can I say?...for me, to be able to stay another year at Ferrari means that the dream goes on,” the 35-year-old said after an announcement that caught the sport off guard.
“The Scuderia is my family,” he added. “As I always said, it's here that I want to end my career. I am more committed than ever and I want to say thank you to the people who gave me this chance.”
Raikkonen would have been out of contract at the end of 2015 and facing an uncertain future, with media speculation already focusing on who might replace the 'Iceman' in one of the most coveted seats on the grid.
Instead, a short statement from Maranello forced a rethink.
“Scuderia Ferrari announces that it has renewed its technical and racing agreement with Kimi Raikkonen,” the team said as the paddock regrouped at Spa Francorchamps for Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix.
“The driver lineup next season will still consist of the Finnish driver and Sebastian Vettel.”
Raikkonen, the 2007 world champion who returned to Ferrari in 2014, had always made clear he wanted to stay but team principal Maurizio Arrivabene had been keeping his options open on one of the sport's highest paid drivers.
PROVIDING STABILITY
Arrivabene, well aware that an announcement now would relieve Ferrari of unwanted hassle at next month's Italian Grand Prix, said: “We believe that extending Kimi's contract into the next season will provide further stability to the team.
“This has been our guideline, also considering the very good relationship between Kimi and Sebastian,” he added. “On our side, this shows our great confidence in him and I expect this confidence to be well rewarded.”
Had Raikkonen been dropped, it would have triggered a driver merry-go-round as well as the likely farewell of one of Formula One's most popular, if least talkative, drivers.
Raikkonen's compatriot Valtteri Bottas, currently with Williams, had been considered a frontrunner with speculation in the Finnish and Italian media having suggested Bottas has an agreement with Ferrari for 2017, if not next year.
Italy's Corriere dello Sport newspaper claimed in July that Ferrari had agreed to pay Williams about €12 million (R173 million) for releasing Bottas early from an option on his contract.
That is clearly not the case, and Bottas is likely to remain at Williams for at least another year.
Raikkonen, eclipsed by Fernando Alonso at Ferrari lastv year, has been outperformed by Vettel in 2015 with the German scoring 160 points to the Finn's 76.
Four-times world champion Vettel, who moved from Red Bull at the end of 2014, has already won two races for Ferrari while Raikkonen has not triumphed since he was at Lotus in 2013.
The Finn, who can now look forward to his sixth year at Maranello after first joining from McLaren in 2007 and then being dropped at the end of 2009, has made just one podium this year - second place in Bahrain.
Reuters