Ferrari does not exercise the automatic renewal option

of Kimi Raikkonen's contract

that expires today, according to the website 'Omnicorse'.

However, this does not mean that the Scuderia breaks with the Finnish driver. The current agreement between Maranello and the Finnish driver will expire at the end of the year, if they both want to remain linked, they should start negotiating from scratch, the clauses of the current contract would no longer be valid.

According to Maurizio Arrivabene, Ferrari's priority now is not the drivers, it is to continue with the development of the SF15-T. Therefore, Kimi's position does not seem to be in danger but his contract would be renewed at a lower salary, as Ferrari considers that the performance of the Finn does not correspond to his current wage.

However, according to 'Motorionline', Ferrari has an ace up its sleeve. According to the Italian publication, the Maranello team could surprise everyone at the Italian Grand Prix (September 4-6) and announce the renewal of Raikkonen and even that of James Allison, technical director, who was rumored to not continue at Ferrari due to the stagnation in the improvement of the cars.

Meanwhile, Valtteri Bottas, first in line to take Kimi's place, says that the rumors of his move to the Scuderia overwhelm him: "Once you're in the car, you don't think about any kind of speculation. There's nothing in your mind other than driving, but outside the car, the rumors bother you. They are not true and they are not fair to Williams or to Kimi. Until there are confirmed facts, the only thing to do is wait and see what happens".