Ferrari has ended the hot debate about their 2019 driver lineup, defining Kimi Räikkönen’s future with the team. There was a lot of debate from people who believed that Räikkönen would have been signed with the team and there were others who were rumoring Charles Leclerc would join the team.
Over the Formula One summer break, many sources revealed that Kimi Räikkönen had signed a two-year contract extension with Ferrari that would see him on the team until the end of 2020. The deal was expected to be announced at the Italian Grand Prix, the home race of the Prancing Horse.
However, despite a great qualifying performance and solid race result, an announcement from the team never came, leading many to question the legitimacy of the two-year deal rumors. Some outlets even went as far as to say that Ferrari had terminated the contract ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, citing that as the reason that the two Ferrari drivers didn’t swap positions in the first corner of the race.
While there’s likely little merit to that speculation, Ferrari has confirmed that they have signed a contract with Charles Leclerc to join Ferrari in 2019 to race alongside Sebastian Vettel. Rumors of the unconfirmed deal hit the press on Thursday, with the details of the deal having been worked out in the day that followed.
Ferrari has been eyeing Leclerc for quite some time and shows a lot of potential for the team. Former Ferrari CEO and Chairman, Sergio Marchionne, was a strong supporter of putting Leclerc in the team’s car. In the aftermath of Marchionne’s tragic passing at the end of July from surgery complications, there was a lot of uncertainty about the direction of the team under new management, with many suggesting that the team would not hire Leclerc because he lacked experience and that he would be giving a seat on the Haas F1 Team, which is often considered a Ferrari B team.
As reported by Racing Clothesline, the odds of a Ferrari seat for Leclerc were never very high, with Ferrari’s hiring history showing that inexperienced drivers were a rarity. Leclerc is only the third driver in the past four decades to get signed with Ferrari with less than two years of experience (Gilles Villeneuve and Stefan Johansson are the other two). The average Ferrari driver has four seasons of Formula One experience when they are signed for the team, making Leclerc a risky exception to the rule.
As for Kimi Räikkönen, he will be returning to Sauber one a two year contract with the small team. Like many drivers on the grid, he made his Formula One debut with Sauber way back in 2001 before getting called up by McLaren. His new contract will see him on the grid for the 2019 and 2020 season, after which he is likely to retire.
