Kimi Raikkonen to stay at Ferrari for one more year as the management have found a middle ground with respect to Leclerc.
Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, Leclerc and the F1 fraternity wait with bated breath for the announcement of the Ferrari 2019 lineup.
Rumours going into the Monza weekend suggested that Elkann(the Ferrari chairman) had had a conversation with Kimi and had informed him about Ferrari’s decision of bringing Leclerc on board.
The decision was made for Ferrari during Marchionne’s time as Ferrari CEO, when he had agreed a two year deal with Leclerc, one that was scheduled to kick in from 2019.
However, Marchionne’s sad demise meant that the deal was left hanging in the air and all the stakeholders were left looking for answers.
Now, according to the Italian Media, Raikkonen is almost certain to leave Ferrari, because of that agreement between Marchionne and Leclerc, despite the new management wanting Kimi to continue for another year.
An announcement was expected to come through on Thursday, but Ferrari did not come up with anything, and the fans were left with more anxiety than before.
Following yesterday’s events, Grand Prix Diary(affiliated with Drivetribe) have come up with a report stating that a middle ground has been reached, one that will see Leclerc joining Ferrari, but in 2020.
Moreover, Leclerc will be paid the amount that was agreed upon for his 2019 Ferrari tenure(that reportedly being $2 million).
Ferrari want him to get some more F1 experience under the belt before coming on board and hence Kimi is set to be at Ferrari for another year.
