Sauber team boss Fred Vasseur admits the decision to hire Kimi Raikkonen for 2019 is already bringing other benefits to the Swiss team.
Shortly after it was announced the Finn was leaving Ferrari at the end of the year, the 38-year-old surprised many by revealing his two-year deal with Sauber, the team he started with back in 2001.
According to Vasseur, social media interest since has already surpassed the levels seen in the first nine months of this season and away from the track commercial interest is increasing.
“We are receiving offers from every single area, from sponsors, I think we will discover the impact of Kimi’s situation week after week,” he told Autosport.
“On the grid, he’ll be with one of the three world champions next year, with Seb and Lewis, and he has a huge impact.
“I probably even underestimated the impact,” the Frenchman admitted. “I’m not a big fan of the social media, but I think it’s a huge thing.”
Vasseur also thinks the sheer fact Sauber has been attractive enough to a driver like Raikkonen proves how far the team has come in a short period of time.
“Kimi was a bit unexpected 12 months ago, but 12 months ago we were absolutely nowhere,” he said.
“I couldn’t imagine that I would have been convincing Kimi to join the team. But thanks to everybody in the company, we made a good improvement. I think Kimi will enjoy racing with us.
“It’s a huge push to consider that someone like Kimi could join the project – that he trusts the team, he trusts everybody in the team,” the former Renault boss added.
“It’s giving you self-confidence: ‘The guy in front of me, who is a world champion, is considering that I can do a good job, so full push.”
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New rumours are now circulating that Kimi could make his first appearance with Sauber as early as next month after completing an initial seat-fitting at the Hinwil factory this past week.
The belief is he could replace Leclerc at the Pirelli tyre test post-Mexico at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, this after the Monegasque drove for Ferrari at a similar test last week in Paul Ricard.
A potential update on his teammate for next season is also doing the rounds as former GP2 champion Antonio Giovinazzi is set to drive in FP1 this weekend in Sochi amid strong links that he’ll replace Marcus Ericsson.