“Raikkonen to announce retirement at Monza”– French source drops major Kimi Raikkonen, Valtteri Bottas and George Russell update

Tanish Chachra | 29/08/2021
"Raikkonen to announce retirement at Monza"– French source drops major Kimi Raikkonen, Valtteri Bottas and George Russell update

“Raikkonen to announce retirement at Monza”– French source Canal+ drops in a major update on another reshuffle and Kimi Raikkonen exit.

Kimi Raikkonen has served Formula 1 for almost two decades, and for long, questions on his retirement have loomed around the major discourse in F1 over the last couple of years.

Canal+, during its F1 broadcast, speculated that Kimi Raikkonen will be announcing his retirement in Monza, which is two weeks from now, and his announcement will trigger a transfer of Valtteri Bottas to Alfa Romeo.

Therefore, it will pave a clear way for George Russell to get the second seat in Mercedes. Though, there are no concrete reports but rather an inside rumour.

However, Canal+ has been viewed as a reliable outlet in F1, and it only remains to be seen what happens in Monza, as Raikkonen is surely stepping towards the twilight of his lengthy career.

Are there any other contenders to replace Kimi Raikkonen?

Ferrari bosses have expressed their displeasure with the youth drivers in F2, so there is no prominent candidate to enter into Alfa Romeo for Ferrari.

Meanwhile, Mick Schumacher will probably stay in Haas, so it is unlikely that Ferrari would be arm-twisting any possible deal between Alfa Romeo and non-Ferrari academy drivers.

Though Alfa Romeo recently claimed its autonomy from Ferrari over the drivers’ selection. Thus, any young driver would never be preferred over Bottas if Alfa Romeo could make their own decisions.

Now, it only remains to be seen whether these speculations further gain ground, with Mercedes also looking for an opportunity to announce Lewis Hamilton’s partner for 2022.

Post Edited By: Tanish Chachra
Alfa Romeo George Russell Kimi Raikkonen Mercedes Valtteri Bottas Williams

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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