Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, Monza, 2018

Ferrari yet to decide Raikkonen’s future – Camilleri

2019 F1 season

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New Ferrari CEO Louis Carey Camilleri says the team is yet to take a decision whether Kimi Raikkonen will drive for them again in the 2019 F1 season.

Speaking to media at Monza, Camilleri said “We have not taken a decision yet.”

“When we take that decision yet, and there is no timeframe, you will be the second to know.”

Raikkonen said yesterday he doesn’t know when he will learn about his future. “Probably you can expect anything in here, that’s what I’ve learned over the past. So we’ll see, I don’t know.”

The 38-year-old hasn’t won a race since he returned to Ferrari in 2014 but said he wants to continue in Formula 1. “I enjoy the racing,” he said. “I don’t think that’s a secret. The rest not, but that’s part of the job.

“Do I want to race? Yes, otherwise I wouldn’t be here today. I don’t see that’s suddenly going to disappear. Who know, it might be, but I doubt it. Like I said, I don’t know, so we’ll see what happens.”

Camilleri took over as CEO at the team following the unexpected death of Sergio Marchionne earlier this year. Marchionne was believed to favour promoting Ferrari development driver Charles Leclerc, who races for Sauber, to replace Raikkonen.

“I know Kimi very well,” Camilleri added when asked abut his relationship with Raikkonen, who first drove for Ferrari in 2007. “He’s a dear friend, has been for a long time.

“As for the decision-making process, it’s a team decision. Maurizio [Arrivabene], who’s our team principal, will ultimately take the decision but he and I will discuss it.”

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20 comments on “Ferrari yet to decide Raikkonen’s future – Camilleri”

  1. Vettel would cruise to easy victories with Perez in the 2nd Ferrari defending.

    1. Can you honestly see Perez accepting being a second driver and happy to play rear gunner?

      1. Kimi’s seat is for a number 2 driver. Ferrari 1 and 2 ahead of Merecedes is the best result for the team.

    2. Is Perez a shareholder of Racing Point Force India? If he is then he won’t be racing for Ferrari.

      1. He won’t be racing for them anyway after he dumped Ferrari to go and join McLaren.

  2. F1 couldn’t handle losing Alonso and Kimi, Rosberg last year and Lewis doing his music and fashion faux pas… We’re then left with Ric and Vettel and bad-boy Max and then the others.

    1. What’s wrong with a grid consisting of Vettel, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Hamilton, Leclerc, Ocon, Vandoorne, Gasly and Perez?

  3. No fun seeing a guy who used to be so exciting and quick reduced to a No. 2. But it’d be even worse if a young talent like Leclerc had his motivation (and potentially his career) shot to pieces if he was shunted into a similar role. Which, given standard Ferrari procedure, he would be.

    So while I’d really, really love to see Leclerc get the seat, I’m erring towards it being a good idea to let him develop first in a smaller team (maybe Haas) for at least another year. Vandoorne and Kvyat have shown what can happen when a promising driver ends up in the wrong environment too early in his career… I worry something similar could happen to Leclerc if he went to Ferrari next year.

    1. Leclerc could actually benefit from a Schumacher-Massa dynamic in 2006… On the other hand, I concede he would suffer in a Schumacher-Barrichello scenario of 2000-2005, which is more likely given Vettel’s current age and hunger…

    2. @neilosjames, in the past, it seemed Marchionne was the strongest supporter of Leclerc and the keenest to see him being promoted to Ferrari – it was suggested he was the one pushing for Leclerc to replace Kimi as soon as next year, to the point where it seemed that it was almost signed off.

      Since he has passed away, it looks as if Leclerc has now been slightly marginalised and the team is reverting to a more traditional and conservative approach under Camilleri, where they put the emphasis on older and more experienced drivers and on something of a “steady the ship” attitude as they suddenly have to take on a role that they were not expecting to deal with.

      With that in mind, the likelihood is that Leclerc will probably be passed over in favour of Kimi in the short term. In the longer term, what happens to Leclerc is unclear though – with the loss of the man who was his biggest supporter, I can see a situation arising where he ends up bogging down in the midfield as newer potential candidates are picked up by Ferrari and win more support from the current leadership.

  4. I’m of the belief that Leclerc should not go to Ferrari next season. There are a few things to consider.

    Although he may be a Ferrari Academy driver, we dont really know what that system looks like. There hasn’t been a whole load of loyalty to the previous academy drivers as far as I can remember. The point is, Vettel runs Ferrari, he is the number 1, and that isn’t going to change anytime soon. It will be undeniably difficult for a young guy who is quick, but quite green to walk in there and be “quick” straight off. If he gets demolished by Vettel, which is possible considering there’s more to being competitive and quick that just raw speed, Leclerc’s reputation could take a hit.

    Of course I’d like to see him go head to head with Vettel, but I doubt we will get the chance if he goes to Ferrari. It makes more sense to drop into a seat at Haas. They’ve got a good car, and if they continue their current trajectory, they could be closer to the top 6 next season. Scoring regular points and possibly mixing it with the big guns every now and again will provide Leclerc will further enhance his reputation. 2021 is a clean slate, that may be the best time to move to Ferrari.

  5. Kimi is driving well. Ferrari have been letting him down this year (and previous).

    It seems people are realising his technical feedback is amazing, which it always has been.

    I say give him another chance, it’s not long before he is too old and Leclerc et al are experienced enough to step up.

    1. Well something must keep him at Ferrari alright but its not his driving.

    2. If I was Mercedes or RBR I would prefer to go up against the under performing Kimi or the unknown F1 talents of LEC instead of someone like Perez who in a midfield Sauber 2012 was very close to winning two races.

  6. Put MAG in that Ferrari – great defender and a stable driver too… Only problem: he is faster than VET..

    1. Phahahaha

  7. Ferrari may keep Kimi after he wins a race (or 2) in the 8 races remaining this season. 1 win will happen for sure. This is not far fetched. Stay tuned.

    1. For sure? I’d like a raikkonen victory but doesn’t seem likely in recent times, not even bottas was able to win a race so far this year, but at least he would have were it not for bad luck, raikkonen had a chance in austria after a good start.

      1. @esploratore – It will happen. Ferrari is strong now. There will come at least one race where circumstances will be just right and Kimi will win.

        Possibly – Kimi is ahead with no team orders (might happen).

        Maybe Vettel mechanical failure, or race incident, and Kimi wins. These latter scenarios may be more likely, obviously.

        Look at it this way, is Vettel likely to be perfect in all 8 remaining races? Doubtful.

  8. This is not same situation where they kept Massa around for three years longer than they should have. Kimi is a fully serviceable number 2 and Ferrari shouldn’t bother rocking the boat, he still has the speed. I hope they can keep things together and bring home the Constructors championship this year.

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