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Ferrari says only Massa secure for 2010
Wednesday, 23 September 2009 16:54
Ferrari has admitted for the first time that Kimi Raikkonen doesn’t have a guaranteed seat at the team for next season – Luca di Montezemolo saying it is still deciding who will partner the returning Felipe Massa.
Although Raikkonen last year penned a 12-month extension to his initial three-year deal with the team to take him through to the end of next season, speculation has been rife for months that the Italian squad is keen to move him aside to make way for Fernando Alonso.
Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali only served to increase the uncertainty surrounding the Finn’s future following the last grand prix at Monza when he refused to confirm whether he will drive for the team in 2010 when asked directly by journalists.
But speaking in Italy on Wednesday, its president Di Montezemolo finally publicly admitted that Raikkonen isn’t assured of retaining his seat at the Scuderia into a fourth season.
The Italian said that only Massa would definitely be driving one of its cars in 2010 – the team having confirmed several weeks ago that it expects the Brazilian to return to 100% fitness for the start of the new season following the head injuries he sustained in his Hungarian GP accident in July.
"We will have a Brazilian driver because he deserves another chance given that, thank God, he is fine,” Reuters quotes di Montezemolo as saying.
“Otherwise, we are mulling the best choice but we still have time.
“We will decide in a few weeks.”
With other teams’ driver moves likely to be made once Alonso and Raikkonen’s destinations are officially known, Ferrari’s plans therefore hold the key to the market.
Media reports in recent weeks have linked the in-form Raikkonen with moves to championship-leader Brawn, Renault and even a shock return to McLaren, the team he joined Ferrari from in 2007.
Double world champion Alonso, meanwhile, is believed to have had a 2011 Ferrari deal in place for some time, with the possibility that he could join a year earlier if there is room in its line-up.
Should Raikkonen remain at Maranello, then it is unclear whether Alonso will commit to Renault for another year with the team having recently been engulfed in the race-fixing scandal which resulted in the demise of his team boss and personal manager Flavio Briatore.
Ferrari says only Massa secure for 2010
Wednesday, 23 September 2009 16:54
Ferrari has admitted for the first time that Kimi Raikkonen doesn’t have a guaranteed seat at the team for next season – Luca di Montezemolo saying it is still deciding who will partner the returning Felipe Massa.
Although Raikkonen last year penned a 12-month extension to his initial three-year deal with the team to take him through to the end of next season, speculation has been rife for months that the Italian squad is keen to move him aside to make way for Fernando Alonso.
Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali only served to increase the uncertainty surrounding the Finn’s future following the last grand prix at Monza when he refused to confirm whether he will drive for the team in 2010 when asked directly by journalists.
But speaking in Italy on Wednesday, its president Di Montezemolo finally publicly admitted that Raikkonen isn’t assured of retaining his seat at the Scuderia into a fourth season.
The Italian said that only Massa would definitely be driving one of its cars in 2010 – the team having confirmed several weeks ago that it expects the Brazilian to return to 100% fitness for the start of the new season following the head injuries he sustained in his Hungarian GP accident in July.
"We will have a Brazilian driver because he deserves another chance given that, thank God, he is fine,” Reuters quotes di Montezemolo as saying.
“Otherwise, we are mulling the best choice but we still have time.
“We will decide in a few weeks.”
With other teams’ driver moves likely to be made once Alonso and Raikkonen’s destinations are officially known, Ferrari’s plans therefore hold the key to the market.
Media reports in recent weeks have linked the in-form Raikkonen with moves to championship-leader Brawn, Renault and even a shock return to McLaren, the team he joined Ferrari from in 2007.
Double world champion Alonso, meanwhile, is believed to have had a 2011 Ferrari deal in place for some time, with the possibility that he could join a year earlier if there is room in its line-up.
Should Raikkonen remain at Maranello, then it is unclear whether Alonso will commit to Renault for another year with the team having recently been engulfed in the race-fixing scandal which resulted in the demise of his team boss and personal manager Flavio Briatore.