Kimi Raikkonen broke his silence to say he was bemused by Red Bull’s claims that he remains a contender to partner Sebastian Vettel next season. The Lotus driver, whose agent Steve Robertson earlier this week said that Red Bull were no longer an option for the Finn, said he had no idea of what was happening.
He said Red Bull had stopped responding to their negotiations and made it seem clear that Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo was set to replace fellow-Australian Mark Webber next season.
Raikkonen, who missed his media duties on Thursday due to illness, told reporters: ‘I had no answer from them. We will see what happens. ‘You have to ask them what they will do. I don’t know any better than you guys! ‘We never heard anything for a while, which is not the ideal situation, but that’s how it is.’ Raikkonen, who was a distant sixth fastest behind Vettel and Webber in his Lotus in Friday’s practice for Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix, has also been linked with a possible vacancy at Ferrari.
‘There is no different answer I can give you. Until there is anything 100 per cent sure, I’ve nothing to tell. ‘There is a lot of talk -- I’m supposed to go to McLaren, I read somewhere, then there’s Ferrari, and then there’s Lotus. I still don’t have a contract so what else can I say? ‘Until I can tell you anything 100 per cent, you keep asking and I keep saying the same things.’ There must be much more news.’