Noticias de F1: Iceman se unirá a McLaren, ¿o Ferrari seleccionará a Charles Leclerc para reemplazar a Kimi Raikkonen?
The oldest driver on the grid at the moment is Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 Formula One World Champion, who turns 39 in October. The Finn, also referred to as the Iceman, placed third in the French Grand Prix last week, but it doesn’t appear that he has a confirmed spot in the Scuderia Ferrari for the 2019 campaign.
According to a rumor on Motorsport.com, Ferrari is prepared to send young driver Charles Leclerc in Raikkonen’s stead for the upcoming Formula One season. The Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team is now driven by the 20-year-old graduate of the Ferrari Driver Academy, who has enjoyed an outstanding start to the season, having earned points in four races thus far. Although a final choice has not been made, Ferrari is reportedly supporting Leclerc’s departure.
Raikkonen, meanwhile, had a successful debut to the 2018 Formula One season. In the season’s first four races, he finished on the podium three times and kept his incredible speed close to that of teammate Sebastian Vettel. However, Raikkonen failed to place on the podium in Canada and Monaco, where Vettel won both races.
It appears that Kimi Raikkonen continues to struggle with consistency, something that Sergio Marchionne, the president of Ferrari, requested of Kimi in December 2017. Despite Kimi’s one-year contract extension from the previous year, Marchionne has issued a warning, saying that “this (2018) is probably the last season to find the right key.”
Rumor had it that Ferrari was interested in signing Daniel Ricciardo, the Red Bull driver whose contract expires at the end of 2018. The Australian will, however, be an expensive choice given that the Maranello-based team currently pays Vettel astronomical salaries.
According to a rumor in Sky Sports News, if Fernando Alonso is not able to drive for McLaren in 2019, Kimi would be taken into consideration as a backup. Alonso’s poor vehicle performance this year has led to several rants at his crew. Rumors are rampant that Alonso will depart McLaren at the end of the current campaign; in that scenario, the Woking-based team might try to acquire Kimi to bring in some much-needed experience.
Leave a Reply