[ad_1]
Charles Leclerc will join Ferrari next year after Kimi Raikkonen has been eliminated by the Italian team.
Raikkonen, who won the world championship during his first stint at Ferrari in 2007, signed a two-year contract with Sauber, the Swiss team with whom he began his career in Formula 1 almost two decades ago. Raikkonen, the last driver to win a world title for Ferrari, will be 41 at the end of his new Sauber contract.
Leclerc, 20, a native of Monaco, impressed in his first season with Sauber and the Ferrari junior driver will change places with Raikkonen to team up with Sebastian Vettel next season.
Vettel, 30 points behind Lewis Hamilton in the Singapore Grand Prix championship, has been Ferrari's No. 1 since leaving Red Bull in 2015.
But the status of the German should be questioned by Leclerc, Ferrari holding hope for his new signature. Indeed, it is very unusual for Scuderia to hire such an inexperienced and relatively inexperienced driver.
Leclerc, who has 13 points in 14 innings this season, paid tribute to his father, Hervé, who died last year after a long illness, and to Jules Bianchi after Ferrari's announcement.
Bianchi died three years ago from devastating head injuries that he suffered during a collision at the 2014 Japan Grand Prix. "Dreams come true," said Leclerc in a ticket on social media. "I will be forever grateful to Ferrari for the opportunity given.
Sign up for The Recap, our weekly email of publisher choices.
"AT [the manager] Nicolas Todt for his support since 2011, to my family [and] to a person who is no longer part of this world but to whom I owe everything that happens to me, Papa.
"To Jules, thank you for all the things you have taught me, we will never forget you, and all the people who have supported me and believed in me. I will work more than ever to not disappoint you.
Ferrari has decided to withdraw from Raikkonen despite an online petition, which had urged the Italian team to retain him, attracting nearly 90,000 signatures.
The Finn is a popular character, but he has not managed to win a race for more than five years and since he joined Ferrari for the second time in 2014. His last win was for Lotus at Grand Prix of Australia 2013.
However, Raikkonen's imminent start comes amid some of his best performances in recent seasons. He put his Ferrari in pole position at the Italian Grand Prix earlier this month and was on the verge of winning at Monza before Hamilton went ahead with eight laps to go.
McLaren was watching Raikkonen, but the British team announced last week that they are promoting their English reserve driver, Lando Norris, for 2019.
"I feel extremely good going back to where it all started," Raikkonen wrote in a post on Instagram.
Maurizio Arrivabene, director of the Ferrari team, added: "Kimi's contribution to the team, both as a driver and because of his human qualities, was fundamental.
"He played a decisive role in the growth of the team and has always been a great team player."
Source link
