Things were further clarified on the F1 transfer market during the Austrian Grand Prix with the remarks of Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne in the Spielberg paddock.
The Italian responded to rumours that sent McLaren-Honda driver and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen instead of Kimi Raikkonen in 2018. Both drivers are frustrated in the current team and the Spaniard would consider a return.
Speculation is getting more intense as both Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and his team-mate Kimo Raikkonen, they would not have a contract for the 2018 season. Alonso’s contract period at McLaren will also be exhausted by the end of this year.
“We have several options for our drivers for next year. You know we have no drivers under contract yet,” Marchionne said.
“We have a world championship at stake and we want to arrive at the end of the season with the position we have now in standings.” he added.
Alonso or Verstappen is being rumored to be replacing Raikkonen in the Ferrari cockpit. Ferrari president Marchionne later kept pressing Raikkonen to give better results if he still wants to stay at Ferrari.
“As for Sebastian Vettel, I clearly told him that if he wanted to stay there would be a place for him. On the other side we have to see the situation with Kimi Raikkonen and continue to negotiate with him.” Marchionne said.
“Alonso may well have shown his desire to come back to us he did not find the answer he expected from us. We are not interested. As for Verstappen, we have not signed any agreements with.” he added.
Meanwhile, Verstappen wants to leave Red Bull Racing team for 2018, with his poor form at Austrian Grand Prix, he was angry at the performance of his car.
Kimi Raikkonen’s contract will expire at Ferrari team at the end of 2017. (Source:www.thisisf1.com)
The Dutchman has suffered a pretty bad start which frustrated him in the 2017 championship. His efforts to participate in the struggle for the 2017 F1 world title have been undermined by the reliability of the engine.
Although there has been no official confirmation from the Red Bull Racing team, Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne already claimed they not interested to Fernando Alonso and the Dutchman Max Verstappen in 2018.
