Leclerc to Ferrari deal was agreed upon by Marchionne while he was still the Ferrari CEO and Ferrari find themselves in a fix now.
Kimi Raikkonen’s historic lap at Monza caught the imagination of the F1 fraternity yesterday, when the Finn dug deep during Q3 and dished out one of the most memorable laps in F1 history.
The crowd was ecstatic as their ‘Iceman’ had pulled a rabbit out of the hat in what could be his last Monza qualifying in a Ferrari car.
The Ferrari camp was thrilled to bits with a front row lockout but the management was sent into a massive fix because of Kimi’s outstanding lap.
Reports in the AMuS state that Leclerc had sealed his move to Ferrari when Sergio Marchionne was the CEO of Ferrari.
Now, the new Ferrari CEO, Louis Camilleri has stated that no decision has been made on Raikkonen’s future yet.
“Nothing has been decided yet. There is no time window for that either. Kimi has been a loyal friend for a long time.” Camilleri said.
However, AMuS reports that Ferrari now don’t really know how to go about the Leclerc to Ferrari announcement, considering Kimi’s fan following and the strong performances that he has put in this year.
The new management wants Kimi to stay for another year but they can’t just throw the agreement between Leclerc, Sauber and Marchionne out of the window.
The report also states that the Arrivabene would be taking the final call on this tricky situation. Arrivabene shares a good relationship with Kimi, but he might have to respect the agreement made by Marchionne.
The situation is one that is extremely tricky for the Ferrari management. And while Leclerc would be thrilled to drive for Ferrari this early in his career, he might not want the move if the new management doesn’t totally desire it.
