Official: Ferrari extends Raikkonen's contract

wow big news! thanks, I just heard it on Speed

 

great news, hope he can prove critics wrong though.

 

Good, best thing for the TEAM!

 

I'm not sure if this is great news or not. I like Kimi alot, and will always been a fan of his due to his 2007 title! But, we have only seen fractions of the 2007 Kimi this year, to beat Lewis, Ferrari needs drivers at the top of there game for the whole season, hopefully this extension is what Kimi needs to get his focus back !

 

I think this is great news. If Ferrari/KR get the car to his liking, and he said as much at Belgium, then he will always be a WDC contender. Also, the driving duo of KR/FM is stronger, I think, than LH/HK...

 

Maybe thats what it took to bring Kimi back to life. He is flying in practice #2 today. I guess that will lay to rest the speculation that Alonso is coming to Ferrari. How many times did Ferrari have to deny that one. I guess the die hards will still say he is coming.

 

Ok who wants the job of going thru all the threads with ppl claiming 100% certain Alonso was gonna drive for Ferrari in 2009 or 2010

I'm glad he is staying on.

Looks like the announcement worked!

Fastest in the dry for Practise 2!!!

 

Right. I guess the scenarios about why Alonso would choose BMW over Ferrari just became moot.

 

How many teams has Alonso driven for and how many want him back? He is a great driver but I think he needs to learn how to be Humble and Wise.

 

Too bad. As much as I like Kimi, he is getting further and further away from being a complete package. The team needs a member with future potential. Kimi may have another championship left in him but at the rate he's going it won't be this year. The team could benefit from a newbie who will grow with the team and with Massa. Unfortunately I don't have the feeling Kimi is the answer. They probably would do better if they brought back Rubens.

 

Great news!

 

I'm not so sure. Wouldn't it have been wiser for Ferrari to wait and see if Kimi is able to solve his qualifying problems before even thinking about an extension? I mean, why the rush?

 

And how much will SpA be paying him for his services?

IMO, that's where the rubber meets the road. I like him at $5MM. I think he's a joke at $50MM.

CW

 

With his (Kimi's) apparent lack of focus this year it really seemed as if he would retire from F1 completely at years end and not finish out his contract. I understand he has other racing interests, such as rally and snow mobile. I do like Kimi when he is on his game, the best F1 driver on the track IMO. I was sort of hoping he would make an early retirement and MS would come back and fill his seat. Not a very likely situation and just very wishful thinking on my part!

 

I'll bet his new extended contract is tied more to performance. Maybe that will light a fire and end his sandbagging.

 

Best news of the day.

Thank you Ferrari !
And let's see what happens next year with new aero, slicks, Kers and Alonso to Bmw

 

Bad news!

He's not so fast as some keep saying and his behavior is not appropriate for a Ferrari driver....

 

LOL!!

 

You can add motocross to that list.

 

We all know that contracts in F1 can be broken as easily as they are created. I think it's good from a stability perspective and allows the team/drivers to focus on the job at hand. Obviously if Kimi continues to suffer performance-wise I don't see him in a red car through 2010.

 

I don't believe that's the case. It's possible to negotiate the termination of a contract (as in the Jensen Button case), but that's not the same as breaking it.

 

So Alonso would be better??

This news has made my week. Sorry Alonso!! haha keep going to the back of the pack buddy.

 

+1

sounds like Massa may be up for a significant pay increase if things remain as they have for the past few races!