Arrivabene: Räikkönen’s popularity was not a factor in his contract extension

For long months, Kimi Räikkönen was increasingly uncertain at Ferrari. The runner-up to Mercedes in the constructors’ standings had even approached Williams about Valtteri Bottas. However, Kimi Räikkönen also managed to achieve commendable performances this season, such as his second place at the Bahrain Grand Prix, even though subsequently, Sebastian Vettel’s teammate would experience a lot of bad luck.

The man who made the decision to extend Kimi Räikkönen’s contract is Maurizio Arrivabene. He commented on the GPDA survey, which ranked Iceman among the most popular drivers with fans: is this the real reason for the Finnish driver’s contract extension? The Italian denies it: In the GPDA survey, it turned out that Kimi was the most popular driver among the fans. If someone says that Räikkönen doesn’t like the fans, they haven’t understood anything about marketing. It’s obvious that if we confirmed Räikkönen, it’s not for his popularity or because he has blond hair and blue eyes.

The native of Brescia explains that Kimi Räikkönen was primarily extended for his experience: « He was renewed because when you build a young team, you need to find a balance. I believe that Kimi is a champion, who works very well with Sebastian and brings all his experience to the team to help it progress ».

On the other hand, the Ferrari executive denied that the former Lotus driver was extended solely for financial reasons. The Scuderia would indeed have had to spend around ten million to Williams to buy out the last year of Valtteri Bottas’ contract and was moreover in a strong position to negotiate Kimi Räikkönen’s new salary: « There are low-cost flights, but I haven’t seen many low-cost drivers with high low-cost potential. This applies to drivers, players, and high-level athletes in several disciplines » specified Maurizio Arrivabene.