Kimi Raikkonen says he hasn’t decided whether he wants to continue racing in Formula 1 in 2021 after his current two-year deal with Alfa Romeo ends.
The Alfa line-up is one of the remaining question marks in the current F1 driver market, with both Raikkonen and team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi’s futures unclear.
Asked by The Race if he wanted to be on the F1 grid next year, Raikkonen replied: “I haven’t decided yet”.
“There’s going to be a point where I want to be home and do other things” :: Kimi Raikkonen
He suggested it was more a personal matter of concluding whether he wanted to race on than whether Alfa chose to keep him.
“First of all I need to decide what I will do and then we will see,” said Raikkonen when asked if his F1 future was likely to be Alfa or nothing.
“Right now, that’s the first thing to decide and then I don’t really see that it would change anything if I race with them.
“Until I decide what I do those things are just not really in my list.”
Although Raikkonen has yet to score a point in the 2020 season, he arrives at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix fresh from a strong drive to 14th in Spain in which he finished on top of the ‘Class C’ group of three tail-end teams for the third time this year.
The Race says
– Edd Straw
While some way short of his spectacular pomp, Raikkonen’s performances this season have been decent enough. He’s usually a little off Giovinazzi in dry qualifying but has executed some effective race drives.
He leads the unofficial ‘Class C’ championship comprising the group of three teams at the back, but while his average level is decent he hasn’t turned in any drives where he has wrung every last bit of potential from the car – for example, a first-lap error costing him a place to Kevin Magnussen on what was otherwise a good race drive in Spain.
The team values Raikkonen’s precise feedback and what he offers on that side, but he is felt to lack the edge of pace that he needs even over a race stint.
Missed opportunities, such as the podium finish that was up for grabs at Interlagos last year had he been able to convert his tyre advantage into a pass on Carlos Sainz Jr at the final safety car restart, exemplify that even though fourth was still a fine result that day.
Given Alfa Romeo is understood to have been interested in the idea of signing Nico Hulkenberg for this season had Raikkonen not been locked-in on a two year deal, and there’s the possibility of Sergio Perez being on the market, it’s reasonable to conclude that the alliance won’t continue.
But Raikkonen is not without his positives, especially if an inexperienced Ferrari Driver Academy prospect from Formula 2 is promoted into the second seat in place of Giovinazzi.
So he remains a credible option if the team wants a safe pair of hands in the other seat. And, of course, if Raikkonen wants to keep going.
Asked by The Race how big a factor enjoying races as he had in Spain was to his decision, Raikkonen replied: Obviously that depends, it makes a difference [because] you’d much rather race in good positions and fighting for the points but honestly it’s never guaranteed wherever you go in the new year that it’s going to be good or bad.
“The bigger picture is much more important for me.
“First of all comes family. Obviously the kids are getting bigger and this year I’ve been able to be more home, so it’s great, but I think that’s really what makes [the decision] if I race or not.
“There’s going to be a point where I want to be home and do other things but I don’t know yet.”
Now 40 years old and in his 18th F1 season, Raikkonen brushed off a suggestion that he might think it was time to create a space for a younger talent – as his fellow Finn Mika Hakkinen’s retirement did for Raikkonen at McLaren in 2002 (pictured below).
“I doubt that he left just for me,” said Raikkonen when that comparison was put to him.
“I’m pretty sure he had other things in his mind than what happens to me, I had a three-year contract anyhow in Sauber so really I don’t think he purely left for being a nice guy and giving me the position. It just doesn’t work like that.
“My decision is based on what I feel like is right for me and nothing to do with if it helps somebody or not.
“If you want to do it, fine, but that’s not how I make my decisions.”
