The Iceman cometh back to Italy for the 2014 F1 season.
The official announcement for Kimi Raikkonen’s move to Ferrari should come within the next few days, but here’s what we know so far. Before last week, it was rumored that the very average rally driver and really horrible stock car racer might be replacing Mark Webber at Red Bull, but those rumors turned out to be short lived when it was announced that Daniel Ricciardo would be promoted up from Torro Roso.
Rumors continued to swirl during the Italian Gran Prix weekend, but Ferrari Team Principle Stafano Domencali gave a non-answer when asked about it, “We will announce and say something on that as soon as we have finalized it. It’s not an easy decision for us.” Today, Felipe Mass gave us what will likely be the next to last piece in the puzzle, when he announced today on Instagram that he would not be driving for Ferrari next season.
Raikkonen’s current team, Lotus, also made headlines a few months back when it was reported that they were late in paying Raikkonen’s salary on a few occasions. Raikkonen, apparently, also has concerns over the competitiveness of next year’s Lotus.
If the deal does go through, and it looks like a near certainty, it will also mean that Raikkonen will be rehired by Ferrari, who bought out his contract a year before it ended to make way for Fernando Alonso. Next season will be very interesting at Ferrari.
News source: ESPN F1