Ferrari Retain Raikkonen for 2016

Chris · Aug 20, 2015

After a somewhat inconsistent season, and rumours aplenty, Ferrari have confirmed that Kimi Raikkonen will be kept on the team for the 2016 Formula One season.

The team issued a statement on Wednesday stating that "Scuderia Ferrari announces that it has renewed its technical and racing agreement with Kimi Raikkonen." And that, "The driver line-up next season will still consist of the Finnish driver and Sebastian Vettel."

The reclusive Finn has endured a rather forgettable season, one which has been plagued with bad luck, inconsistent performances, poor decision making from both himself and the team and a teammate who has rekindled the spirits of the Scuderia with two race wins to Raikkonen's nil.

However, despite his recent on-track struggles, Raikkonen remains positive and seems delighted by his new contract signing by stating, "... to be able to stay another year at Ferrari means that the dream goes on... I am more committed than ever and I want to say thank you to the people who gave me this chance".

With the assurance of a race seat for next season, Kimi will no doubt have his full attention focused solely on Spa-Francorchamps after the four week mid-season break. A track that he is renowned for having strong performances, the Finnish driver will be looking for a strong result to not only show the team they've made the right decision by re-signing him for the following year, but to get his own season back on track after a turbulent year so far.

Make sure to stick and stay with RaceDepartment.com for all the news on the coming Belgian Grand Prix this weekend.

Deleted member 161052 · Aug 20, 2015

Remembering that Häkkinen told that he doesn't need to retire after 2015, this happened IMO.

Bram Hengeveld · Aug 20, 2015

Good combo this year, so no reason to change an almost winning team.

Tim.E · Aug 20, 2015

He's just had some bad luck, that's all. He's a very solid, consistent driver imo.

brooptss · Aug 20, 2015

Tim Engberink said:
He's just had some bad luck, that's all. He's a very solid, consistent driver imo.

Agreed, between bad luck and poor team calls, quite consistent, and quick.

MoerasGrizzly · Aug 20, 2015

Chris Stacey said:
"... to be able to stay another year at Ferrari means that the dream goes on... I am more committed than ever and I want to say thank you to the people who gave me this chance".

That doesn't seem like Kimi at all, did someone write that for him?

ScrolllockG27 · Aug 20, 2015

MoerasGrizzly said:
That doesn't seem like Kimi at all, did someone write that for him?

Yeah, he would say "I don't care"

Celtic Pharaoh · Aug 20, 2015

As much as I used to like him in the older days of McLaren when he seemed to perform at the top end almost every weekend (2003 and 2005), he seems to have lost some of that spark ever since 2005. Granted, he won the 2007 championship but had Hamilton and Alonso had a calmer time, rather than bicker all season, surely one of them would have won it.

He reminds me of my fellow countryman, Eddie Irvine, in his ways. Blisteringly quick and consistent but only on a good day. Overall, from race to race, he's just not there I'm sorry to say. He needs to ease up on the Vodka.

LacSlyer · Aug 20, 2015

Tariq Gamil said:
As much as I used to like him in the older days of McLaren when he seemed to perform at the top end almost every weekend (2003 and 2005), he seems to have lost some of that spark ever since 2005. Granted, he won the 2007 championship but had Hamilton and Alonso had a calmer time, rather than bicker all season, surely one of them would have won it.

He reminds me of my fellow countryman, Eddie Irvine, in his ways. Blisteringly quick and consistent but only on a good day. Overall, from race to race, he's just not there I'm sorry to say. He needs to ease up on the Vodka.

I disagree. He may not be as consistent as he used to, but you can't tell me he didn't put Lotus back on the map with his drive in 2012 with an inferior machine. His recent problems have been more of a team issue in performance rather than his doing.

As well, any time someone mentions Hamilton and Alonso as the reasoning why Raikkonen won in 2007 I can't help but roll my eyes.

luis.s · Aug 21, 2015

MoerasGrizzly said:
That doesn't seem like Kimi at all, did someone write that for him?

haha I thought the same.

Celtic Pharaoh · Aug 22, 2015

LacSlyer said:
I disagree. He may not be as consistent as he used to, but you can't tell me he didn't put Lotus back on the map with his drive in 2012 with an inferior machine. His recent problems have been more of a team issue in performance rather than his doing.

As well, any time someone mentions Hamilton and Alonso as the reasoning why Raikkonen won in 2007 I can't help but roll my eyes.

When you compare him to other great drivers, he is not there. There are a few drivers on the grid who deserve that Ferrari seat over him. Hulkenberg, Perez. When you compare him to other champions in the sport (Alonso, Vettel, Hamilton), they all share the same quality of being quick, at least in regards to their own car's performance at each weekend, always close to their team mates, rarely having an "off day".

Raikkonen was sometimes ahead of Alonso when Alonso was at Ferrari and sometimes he's ahead of Vettel now but 9/10, the other driver out performs him. But most weekends are forgettable for him. And I don't care if people start blaming Ferrari or whatever because other drivers made it work before him.

I'm not saying he's a bad driver, I did say in my last post that he is "blisteringly quick and consistent but only a good day". I used to be an avid supporter of his back when he was in McLaren and I was delighted when he went to Ferrari in 2007 and won the championship. But I've lost respect for him over time. He's just not the same as he used to be.

LacSlyer · Aug 22, 2015

Tariq Gamil said:
When you compare him to other great drivers, he is not there. There are a few drivers on the grid who deserve that Ferrari seat over him. Hulkenberg, Perez. When you compare him to other champions in the sport (Alonso, Vettel, Hamilton), they all share the same quality of being quick, at least in regards to their own car's performance at each weekend, always close to their team mates, rarely having an "off day".

Raikkonen was sometimes ahead of Alonso when Alonso was at Ferrari and sometimes he's ahead of Vettel now but 9/10, the other driver out performs him. But most weekends are forgettable for him. And I don't care if people start blaming Ferrari or whatever because other drivers made it work before him.

I'm not saying he's a bad driver, I did say in my last post that he is "blisteringly quick and consistent but only a good day". I used to be an avid supporter of his back when he was in McLaren and I was delighted when he went to Ferrari in 2007 and won the championship. But I've lost respect for him over time. He's just not the same as he used to be.

I don't disagree that he's lost some of what made him so great when he was younger, specifically like when he was at McLaren. But I do disagree that when compared to other drivers on the grid he's not as competitive, because on some weekends he's as good as the others can be. Notice though, you're also comparing him to his teammates that are two of the best drivers of this generation.

I will also say that I highly disagree that others may deserve his position at Ferrari over him, because Ferrari knows more than we do about why they kept him and didn't pick up someone like Hulkenburg who wouldn't hesitate at all to join Ferrari. I keep hearing this from people but just don't agree at all that he's more deserving based on what little we know about why Ferrari kept Kimi.

More importantly though, I think a big reason he's staying is because he's content being the #2 while providing as good driving as the mid-level stars consistently while being able to provide the Vettel/Hamilton-like day a few times a season. For instance, it was obvious he was struggling with what Ferrari was doing all of last season which we've heard was design specifically for Alonso, yet you didn't hear a word from Raikkonen about that. Or when the team blew his qualifying in one of the races last year by calling him in too early. Because when it comes down to it he just wants to drive, and when he's on he can be as good as anyone else in the field without all the drama. That's a great #2 driver to have.