Kimi Räikkönen: « McLaren-Mercedes or nothing »

The driver Kimi Räikkönen, who will participate in his last race this weekend with Ferrari, revealed in Abu Dhabi that his only real chance of staying in Formula 1 next year is to sign a contract with the McLaren Mercedes team. The Finn will be free from any driver contract after this weekend’s race, following an agreement for the early termination of his contract with Scuderia. The 2007 world champion has been linked with moves to both McLaren and Toyota for next year. However, he revealed in Abu Dhabi that there was only one real chance for him to stay in F1.

« There are no discussions with Toyota », Kimi Räikkönen told the Finnish television channel MTV3. « If I stay in Formula 1, McLaren is my only option. I would like to resolve my situation in the coming days. »

The Iceman declared at the official press conference that there were other options for him outside of F1, such as rallying or even taking a sabbatical year: « Basically, I have several different options and we will see which is the best to take. » On the subject of rallying, Kimi Räikkönen stated: « It’s definitely still an option, but rallying isn’t Formula 1. There are other things I could do and we will see what happens. » Speaking about the possibility of taking a sabbatical leave, the Finn said: « I can do what I want, but as I said before, I haven’t made my decision. »

Kimi Räikkönen has decided not to accept Toyota’s offer, leaving the Japanese manufacturer with increasing difficulties in finding a Number 1 driver for 2010. Robert Kubica has also rejected their offer to sign with Renault.

The Japanese team seems to have made an offer to Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock for next year, but it seems likely that both drivers will leave Toyota. Jarno Trulli is reportedly close to Lotus and Timo Glock is at the top of the list at Renault. For Heikki Kovalainen, the manufacturer Toyota could be an option. Adrian Sutil is also in the good books of the Japanese team. Driver Kamui Kobayashi would also be on the list if he impresses once again this weekend after his encouraging debut in Brazil.