Raikkonen: Decision to extend stay in F1 'wasn't difficult'

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Kimi Raikkonen says his decision to embark on a nineteenth campaign in F1 next season was in the end a "quite straightforward" choice.

The 41-year-old Finn who recently snatched the record for the most Grand Prix starts - 323 - from Rubens Barrichello is showing no signs of leaving the fast lane, committing on Thursday to another campaign at the highest level with Alfa Romeo Racing.

"I don’t think it was anything difficult," Raikkonen explained. "We signed it yesterday. You keep asking always about the future but if we haven’t signed anything, I wouldn’t start lying either way.

"There were many aspects from the team’s side, on what they want to do, and what I want to do, and obviously there’s other things in a life that you need to look into.

"But in the end, it made sense from my side and obviously for their side, and once we started to talk about it, it wasn’t such a long process. So, it was quite straightforward in the end."

Read also: Raikkonen and Giovinazzi retained by Alfa for 2021!

Alfa's 2020 season has fallen short of the Swiss outfit's expectations, the Hinwil squad scoring just 5 points so far this year. But Raikkonen believes the team will improve its fortunes in 2021.

"As a team none of us are happy where we are but unfortunately this is the situation right now and the aim is to improve and be a lot better off," he said.

"But there is no guarantee on anything so we have to simply do a better job overall and hopefully next year we’ll be a bit happier with things and be where we expect to be."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.