Kimi Raikkonen to join Ferrari in 2007?

According to the Finnish press, Kimi Raikkonen is set to race for Ferrari in 2007.

7 March 2006
MUMBAI, INDIA

The European press is awash with rumours that McLaren-Mercedes F1 superstar Kimi Raikkonen is joining Ferrari next season. Rumors about Raikkonen's future have been doing the rounds since McLaren announced the signing of world champion Fernando Alonso for 2007, and was further fueled after Raikkonen was reported to have turned down an offer by McLaren to extend his current contract that expires at the end of the year.

According to F1 Central, the Finnish sports press is reporting that Raikkonen's Ferrari contract is a done-deal. However, Alonso's former manager is reported to have said "Kimi will not be Fernando's teammate next year, that's absolutely for sure." An unnamed Ferrari engineer has also told a German paper that Raikkonen was coming to Ferrari, saying "...we do not want to make the mistake that McLaren made [with Alonso] of announcing it too early."

Kimi Raikkonen on the other hand has half-heartedly countered the rumours about the supposed switch. Raikkonen, 26, apparently said: ''I'm not a Ferrari driver -- not yet.'' More vehemently, he squashed the speculation that where he ends up will depend on Michael Schumacher's mid-year decision about his own career at Ferrari. ''What Schumacher does has no influence on my future,'' Kimi is said to have added.

As of now, things remain wide open given that Raikkonen does not yet have a 2007 contract with McLaren, while neither Michael Schumacher nor Felipe Massa are confirmed at Ferrari in 2007.