Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsFerrari

Raikkonen open to extra year at Ferrari

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Kimi Raikkonen says he could stay at Ferrari beyond the end of his current contract which expires at the end of next season.

Having re-joined Ferrari at the start of 2014, Raikkonen signed a two-year deal with an option for a further season which was activated by the team this summer. Having previously said he is likely to retire at the end of his Ferrari contract, Raikkonen told the official Formula One website the improvements at the team have made life much more enjoyable for him.

Asked if he can see himself remaining in F1 for another year beyond 2016, Raikkonen replied: “Why not?

“It is still some time away. I enjoy it here - and I will enjoy it even more when we get even better results. Being on top always makes it more fun. I love to be with my team and would love to fight for championships with them.”

And Raikkonen feels he is likely to finish his career in F1 racing for Ferrari, though doesn’t completely rule out driving for another team.

“When you are racing in F1, Ferrari is the best team to be with. When I quit the first time I said that it is Ferrari or nothing - and I say it now: it will be the last team in F1 I will be with. But in the end you never know. Life is rather unpredictable…”

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.