Raikkonen denies reaching Alfa Romeo agreement
Friday, 9 October 2020
The Finn is in the final year of his contract.
Kimi Raikkonen has denied reports he has agreed to stay with Alfa Romeo next season and says he has not decided whether to continue in Formula One®.
Raikkonen is in the final year of his contract but it was claimed this week an agreement has been reached for the 2007 F1® champion to stay on for another year.
Yet the Finn, who turns 41 a week on Saturday, on Thursday revealed no decision has been made over his future ahead of the Eifel Grand Prix, where he will break the record for most F1® starts when he is on the grid for a 323rd time.
He said in a news conference: "I don't know. Nothing's been decided so far. We'll see. Obviously, we have some talks with the team and it's nothing to do with Fernando [Alonso] coming back or not.
"It's my decision in the end and we'll see what it comes to."
He added: "I never had an option in my contract [to sign for another year] so I can tell you that it's not true. No, I haven't. I haven't signed anything last week, a month ago or yesterday or today, so we'll see."
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Raikkonen said he never imagined being in F1® for so long as he prepares to surpass Rubens Barrichello's tally of starts.
Asked if his 21-year-old self could have envisaged achieving such a feat upon his debut in the sport in 2001, he replied casually: "Definitely not. But then I never had really, let's say, longer plans. It's just how it has worked out."
