Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsFerrari

Arrivabene using contract to motivate Raikkonen

Maurizio Arrivabene says he is using the prospect of a new Ferrari contract as motivation for Kimi Raikkonen.

Raikkonen's current deal expires at the end of the season, but has an option for a further year. Arrivabene challenged Raikkonen early in the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend to earn a new contract through his performances, and when asked if the Finn's second place increased his chances of staying or if Ferrari holds an interest in Lewis Hamilton, Arrivabene replied: “Does Lewis Hamilton call you? Because he never calls me.

“Every driver here in the paddock wants to drive for Ferrari, this is normal. Even guys that were quite a lot of time world champion. I’m happy with the drivers that we have. This does not mean that I am going to sign with Kimi tomorrow. We are very clear, I repeat again: I said to Kimi ‘Look, It depends on your performance' and he has demonstrated that he’s a great driver.

"So if you ask me now, does he deserve to renew the option, now today I am going to say yes. But if I am going to say yes, I don’t want the driver to fall asleep. So I want to keep him up. Kimi is giving the best when he is a bit in trouble. This is a psychological approach. So the paper at the moment is white. Sometimes I have to take the pen, then take it back. And Kimi is going to the podium."

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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.