Sergio Marchionne, the president of Ferrari, has rejected claims that Fernando Alonso or Max Verstappen may be joining the team in 2018 whilst also giving Kimi Raikkonen a nudge, questioning the driver’s commitment to the team in 2017.
Kimi Raikkonen must increase his commitment – Sergio Marchionne
“We have not reached out to Red Bull about Verstappen and we are not interested in Alonso,” said Marchionne at the Austrian Grand Prix. “We have received some suggestions about Alonso’s return, but we have two good drivers. So we are not interested – it is not possible now for Fernando to come.”
Both Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen are out of contract at the end of the year with Ferrari, but Marchionne has said that it was only Vettel that he was happy with so far, issuing a warning to Raikkonen:
“He is a good guy and he is working, but we need him to [help] win the Constructors’ Championship,” said Marchionne when speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“I think Kimi has to show a higher level of commitment to the process. There are some days when he is a little sluggish, but we’ll see,” Machionne added when speaking to Finnish broadcaster, C More.
Responding to Machionne’s statement, Raikkonen responded: “I would of course prefer better results but I cannot do any more than my best. Unfortunately in Formula 1, everything does not always go as expected.”
A decision regarding Ferrari’s 2018 driver lineup is expected to be announced in September according to Marchionne, and a number of drivers may be in a position to join the team in the event of either Vettel or Raikkonen leaving the team at the end of the year. Names include Romain Grosjean, Sergio Perez, and Carlos Sainz Jr, as well as Formula 2 driver and Ferrari junior, Charles Leclerc.
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