Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen rubbishes Formula One retirement rumours

Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen rubbished talks that he is considering retirement since he is in the last year of his contract with the Italian Formula One (F1) outfit.

Raikkonen, 38, who finished a surprise second in a dramatic race at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix behind Lewis Hamilton last week, has not been consistent with the results compared to his Mercedes rival or his Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel.

Moreover, Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo, who has shown tremendous potential, is being rumoured to make a move to Ferrari next season.

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Raikkonen has shot down the rumours by saying, “It’s been the same story every year since I can remember, maybe 15 years, every year I’m out.

“I’ll do my stuff on my side,” Raikkonen was quoted as saying by express.co.uk. “I enjoy the racing, that’s the only reason I’m here. The rest, we’ll see how it plays out. In the team we know what we want to do and if all those things fit together with all our feeling we’ll see what happens. Right now all I want to do is well it’s a long season and a long way until the end of the year.”

Raikkonen’s claim was backed by his teammate and German driver Vettel, who would like the Finnish driver to be around for another year.

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“We’re a good pair, a good match. There’s no problem at all between us, ever,” Vettel was quoted as saying by Motorsport.com.

“I think that’s a really big bonus for the team and for us to just enjoy our job. It’s been incredibly close this year so far. To be honest, most of the Fridays I think he had the upper hand so far. Here and there I was struggling to understand the car and feel the car. Knowing him, knowing his strength, he’s incredibly talented and able to drive around problems,” Vettel added.