German former racing driver Ralf Schumacher, the younger brother of seven-time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher, can imagine Scuderia Ferrari deciding to keep Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen on board for the 2018 Formula One season and adds that the Maranello team should in fact do everything possible to keep Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen as the driver line-up for next year given their talent and abilities, but also their good friendship.
While for the moment the Italian side is not ready to commit to the Finn for 2018, there are reports suggesting that German driver Sebastian Vettel is close to signing a new contract and as part of the deal he wants the 37-year-old Finnish driver to continue with Ferrari, making this a condition of his own contract extension beyond this Formula One season.
Ralf Schumacher raced against Kimi Raikkonen in his own F1 career and told Finland’s Ilta Sanomat: “In terms of talent I think Kimi is brilliant. He is already a world champion but is certainly able to achieve more. When you take into account his age, he is doing a great job. I think Ferrari has been smart to keep him as a driver. This year he has a good car, but Sebastian Vettel has been stronger. I think it’s ideal for Sebastian, but Kimi is still able to win races. We will see what happens next season.” – the German former racing driver explained, while overseeing his kart team in Finland, as reported on Monday by Ilta-Sanomat, one of Finland’s two prominent tabloid size evening newspaper and the second largest paper in the country.
Ralf Schumacher also admitted that he is currently enjoying watching Formula 1 as a spectator this year: “It has to be said that Formula One has become very interesting now that Ferrari and Mercedes are fighting each other. I think Mercedes are still stronger in terms of competitiveness, especially in qualifying, and this gives them an advantage each time, because Ferrari are forced to take risks at the start in order to try to overtake their rivals and then use the entire potential of the their car. Ferrari have a good race pace but have to stay out of trouble and not lose time in traffic in order to be able to challenge Mercedes.” – the former Williams driver concluded.
