Die-hard supporters of Scuderia Ferrari Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen are pulling out all the stops to keep their favourite driver at the Maranello team next season, making their voice heard through an online petition. The initiative was launched last week at Change.org and has collected to date approximately 75,000 signatures, urging Maranello to keep the 38-year-old Finn onboard for 2019.
“Kimi has outperformed Vettel a number of times proving he is back on form and his drive in Monza just adds more credibility to that,” reasoned petition organiser Christy John.
Up until the Italian Grand Prix it was anticipated that Raikkonen would indeed be remaining with the Scuderia alongside Sebastian Vettel, but rumors emerged in Monza that Ferrari would be forced to honour a previous contractual commitment to junior driver Charles Leclerc, a deal originally instigated by Sergio Marchionne.
As impressive as the petition’s success appears to be, it’s doubtful Kimi’s fans will have the last word when it comes to Ferrari’s 2019 line-up.
However, Italian media is reporting that there could ultimately still be hope for Kimi Raikkonen, whose performances of late have been quite positive as his pole position in Monza demonstrated. Ferrari boss Louis Camilleri is rumored to have given his approval to a deal that would see Raikkonen remain in red next season while Leclerc would endure another year at Sauber, albeit with a nicely boosted salary.
Click here for full details of the online petition.
