Formula 1: 5 possible Ferrari drivers for 2021
By Asher Fair
Kimi Raikkonen
Regarding number two drivers and good team players, is there really anybody better than Kimi Raikkonen?
Raikkonen’s deal with Alfa Romeo Racing expires at the end of the 2020 season, and there is nothing shored up about his future, be it with the Swiss team or in Formula 1 at all.
Retirement has been rumored, and it makes sense given the fact that he is the oldest driver in Formula 1 by more than five years at 40 years old as well as the fact that he is slated to become the sport’s all-time most experienced driver at some point in the 2020 season.
But he is still driving because he enjoys it. So would he fancy a third stint at Ferrari?
Raikkonen won just one race in his second stint, a five-year stint, at the Maranello-based team, so it’s not like him staying in Formula 1 hinges on whether or not he is winning races — even when he is in a race-winning car.
He drove alongside Sebastian Vettel for the final four of those five seasons, and Vettel won 13 races in those four seasons without ever finishing behind Raikkonen in the driver standings.
Yet many fans questioned Ferrari signing Charles Leclerc over him for the 2019 season. This was because in terms of developing Ferrari’s cars, Raikkonen proved paramount during his time with the team, especially in 2017 and 2018 as they worked their way into the picture as potential threats to Mercedes at the top of the sport.
How ironic it would be if Raikkonen replaced his former teammate to become a teammate to the driver who replaced him and who he replaced. But he could very well be the veteran presence that Leclerc needs to truly solidify himself as a top driver and to truly solidify Ferrari as a top team.