Kimi Raikkonen will remain at Ferrari alongside Sebastian Vettel next season.
The 2007 world champion’s future with the Italian team had been in doubt with Williams driver Valtteri Bottas heavily linked with taking his seat, but Ferrari have confirmed their driver line-up will remain unchanged.
A short statement from the team released ahead of this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix read: “Scuderia Ferrari announces that it has renewed its technical and racing agreement with Kimi Raikkonen.
Scuderia Ferrari – Raikkonen’s contract extended http://t.co/KMm7SCFgoe #redseason #Kimi7 pic.twitter.com/QybmtlZJJQ
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) August 19, 2015
“The driver line-up next season will still consist of the Finnish driver and Sebastian Vettel.”
Raikkonen has been overshadowed by team-mate Vettel, who was victorious last time out at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The Finn has scored only 76 points in comparison to Vettel’s 160 after 10 races but the announcement should ease the pressure on the 35-year-old ahead of the second half of the season, which gets back under way in the idyllic setting of Spa-Francorchamps this weekend.
And it is a track where Raikkonen has fared well. He has won in Belgium on four previous occasions – more than any of the current crop of grands prix drivers.
With his future settled by a resounding vote of confidence in his ability, Raikkonen is eager to demonstrate his worth to the Ferrari cause on race days. And he stressed he has no desire to race for any other team.
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Raikkonen said on the Ferrari website: “What can I say… For me, to be able to stay another year at Ferrari means that the dream goes on. The Scuderia is my family, as I always said, it’s here 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. Also, a big thank you goes to all my Ferrari fans for their continuous support.”
Ferrari’s team principal Maurizio Arrivabene 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 Seb. On our side, this shows our great confidence in him, and I expect this confidence to be well rewarded.”
