Kimi Raikkonen has insisted he still has the desire and the belief he can compete for wins and championships with Ferrari in Formula 1, claiming he won't "hang around" on the grid.
This week the Finn was confirmed with the Italian team for another year in 2018 following a change in heart from President Sergio Marchionne following the 1-2 finish at the Hungarian Grand Prix, who called for a quick re-signing of the 2007 world champion.
That was exactly what happened as Raikkonen revealed he knew of his stay for some time before it officially announced on Monday and speaking to reporters at Spa on Thursday he made it clear he is happy to continue.
“I enjoy racing. Obviously I want to do well,” he said. “If I didn’t feel I could go fast and wouldn’t be happy in myself, I wouldn’t be here. I have zero interest to waste my time or the team’s time to be part of it. It’s not the nicest place just to hang around.
“The racing is the main thing. Yes, there’s a lot of other sides of F1, but the racing is the biggest part. That’s it. As long as I feel myself that I can win races and fight for championships when I don’t feel like that, I would be the first guy to do something else.”
The disappointment of some at Ferrari's decision stems from the plethora of young drivers that could arguably perform better than Raikkonen, who sits in fifth in the Drivers' Championship some 86 points behind teammate Sebastian Vettel.
Yet it is the partnership the two have formed, which sees the German as the number one driver, that is thought to be the main reason for the 'Iceman's' retention, with Kimi acknowledging Vettel as the best teammate he has had in 15 F1 seasons.
“Sure, he is. I think we work very well together as a whole team," the 37-year-old claimed. "It’s a very good way of working but obviously, I’m not the guy who decides who does what.”
For now, however, Vettel is not signed for Ferrari for next year and commenting on that, Raikkonen added: “I have no idea what will happen in his case, hopefully all that stays how it is now.”
The four-time world champion would hint the deal was close but didn't expect an announcement during the next two race weekends.
“At some point, I think there will be news," he said. "The main focus now is not to focus on news, the main focus is to focus on the race and that will be the same next week. So I don't expect news in the next two weeks to be honest.”
