The 2016 Formula One driver market has taken a massive swing as Scuderia Ferrari announced today via a team statement that Kimi Raikkonen will be retained for another season, as per the option on the Finn’s contract.
Despite the poor form shown by the Finn this season, taking just one podium to team mate Sebastian Vettel’s seven, the 2007 World Champion (and the most recent for Ferrari) will start his sixth season with the team in 2016, and the third since he rejoined them last season. In addition, he has less than half the number of points that Vettel has accumulated thus far in the 2015 season.
The news today means that Ferrari will run with the same driver line-up for the first time since 2013, where Felipe Massa partnered Fernando Alonso. Many drivers were linked with the second Ferrari seat, including Raikkonen’s countryman Valtteri Bottas, Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo.
With the news that Ferrari confirm Kimi Raikkonen, we now wait to see what the future holds for the likes of Valtteri Bottas and Nico Hulkenberg, who are both out of contract at the end of the year if sources are to be believed.
Sebastian Vettel will remain with the team for at least another two seasons, whilst Raikkonen will remain for at least one more. The Finn has previously said that he would “probably retire after the current contract expires.”
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