Raikkonen’s F1 future looks a little uncertain at this moment with the Finn not able to give Ferrari a lot of consistent results.
The rumour mill suggests that one from Leclerc and Ricciardo could replace Raikkonen at Ferrari next season.
However, amidst all those speculations, Raikkonen managed to land a podium finish at the French GP last weekend, fighting off that lap 1 commotion and overpowering Ricciardo at the end to get his first podium since Baku.
Raikkonen has been linked with a WRC return with Toyota and the team principal Tommi Makinen has further fuelled the rumours by making a test available for him.
“He hasn’t tested anything now, but why not?” Makinen said, as quoted by Motorsport.com
“If he wants to drive the car I can let him, no question.
“I know how he is driving. He drives very well, he’s not crazy,” he added.
Raikkonen had taken to WRC during his sabbatical from F1 in 2010-11 and has in the past spoken about return to the world of rallying sometime in the future.
Kaj Lindstrom, Raikkonen’s co-driver in all his rally races is now theToyota WRC sporting director has said that nothing has really been confirmed as of now but it could become a reality in the future.
“You know Kimi, when we drove before he said we would do a few rallies in the Fiat…” Lindstrom said.
“He hasn’t said anything yet. He might say he wants to do one rally or something and it would be interesting to see him in the car, but nothing has been talked about.” he added.
Lindstorm then went onto comment on the Kimi-Makinen relationship and how it could pave way for potential return for the Finn.
“Tommi knows him well and Kimi knows me well,” said Lindstrom.
“But this kind of story has to be really careful. If we say anything then it goes on and suddenly [it is written that] we have Kimi in the car and in the team for the whole season.
“This kind of thing can get a little bit silly.” he added.
Sebastian Oggier, the 5 time WRC champions feels that a brand like Kimi could do a whole lot of good for WRC and that he would welcome him back into the rallying world.
“If he wants to [come back], then I am sure he can be good,” he said as quoted by Motorsport.com
“It’s just a question of whether he wants to – we know he’s not a big worker.
“But a name like Raikkonen is never bad for the sport, that’s for sure.
“We remember when he came several years ago, he struggled and now, after being out [of rallying] for some time, it won’t be easier – especially now as I feel the level is even higher than when he was there before,” he concluded.
With reports suggesting that Hamilton has already signed a bumper contract with Mercedes, the driver movement in F1 is sure to begin within the next few months.
Ricciardo too has suggested that he wants to get done with his decision before the summer break. Thus, WRC or not for Kimi, I think we’ll find out pretty soon.
