Raikkonen to stay at Ferrari

Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne said earlier in the summer Raikkonen’s future lay in his own hands, which was interpreted as a clear signal for the Finn to make improvements amid what has been a mediocre start to his second spell with the Italians.

Kimi Raikkonen will remain a Ferrari Formula One driver and partner Sebastian Vettel until the end of the 2016 season.

It effectively seals off any “big move” hope for the likes of Bottas and Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg, meaning that Bottas is likely to stay with Williams alongside Felipe Massa, whose option from the team’s side to re-sign him expires next month. That rumor has yet to be confirmed, though Bottas did allude to it being a possibility, saying fans “just need to wait and see what happens”.

There was significant talk of Raikkonen’s growing unhappiness with team directions, and he was said to have felt that his racing was stifled by the instructions he was given.

“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 told the team website after an announcement that caught the sport off guard. “The driver line-up next season will still consist of the Finnish driver and Sebastian Vettel”, Ferrari said in a release. The Scuderia is my family, as I always said, it’s here I want to end my career.

“This (stability) has been our guideline, also considering the very good relationship between Kimi and Seb”.

Vettel has won two grands prix, in Malaysia and last time out in Hungary, as well as stepping on to the podium on five other occasions.

At present Vettel has scored more than double the number of Raikkonen’s points total – 160 to 76.