After much deliberation Ferrari have decided to retain Kimi Raikkonen, 35, for the forthcoming Formula One season.
The Finn will once again partner his younger German team-mate, Sebastian Vettel as the Scuderia outfit can now look to put their efforts towards 2016.
“The Scuderia is my family,” said the Finn, who has driven for the Prancing Horse from 2007-2009 and once more after returning from a two year sabbatical away from the sport before returning to Lotus in 2012. “It's here I want to end my career.”
Best Yet To Come From Kimi
The team have to decided to reward Raikkonen for his efforts, despite a season which has seen his team-mate, Vettel romp to victory twice whereas Kimi has only been on the podium once, let alone the top step. Although, some of his results have been plagued by poor reliability, in races such as Monaco and Hungary. Unusual for the Maranello based squad.
So far this season, Vettel has 160 points beyond the halfway point, more than double that of Raikkonen, who is on a disproportionate 76, leaving him fifth in the drivers championship.
Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne had recently told the Finn that “his future was in his own hands,” perhaps indicating that he was unhappy with his Grand Prix performances, most notably in qualifying, having only outperformed Vettel twice of the ten sessions this year.
However, the decision is of little surprise when looking back on the team's history with regards to driver selection. The Scuderia have a keen need for stability with regards to having an unchanged driver line up. The team retained the immensely successful Michael Schumacher-Rubens Barrichello combination between 2000-2005 and the dominant Fernando Alonso-Felipe Massa duo for four seasons as well. The Italian team seem to think continuity is a key to success in F1.
Ferrari Settling For Second Best?
Earlier last month, after the terrible tragedy which saw Jules Bianchi, 25, pass away, Ferrari's former chairman Luca di Montezemolo revealed they had chosen Bianchi as their driver for the future, had he not passed away after his accident in Suzuka last year.
“Once the collaboration with Kimi Raikkonen came to end...Bianchi would have been a Ferrari driver.” he said in tribute to the late Frenchman.
These words, kind or not, suggest this contract is Kimi's second chance that he may never had gotten if things had turned out differently, but at the same time stressing the responsibility that lies with the veteran racing driver.
In addition, this decision is the first major call in regards to next year's driver line-up, but could mean more up and coming drivers could miss out of a leading drive for another season. Most notably Valtteri Bottas, who will have to settle for another year at Williams and Nico Hulkenberg, who has long been submerged in the murky quagmire that is the mid-field teams, and is favourite to drive for newcomers Haas-F1 in 2016.