28/06/2018
NEWS STORY
Not for the first time, Kimi Raikkonen isn't entirely clear what Ferrari has in store for him as it looks ahead.
Brought in as Michael Schumacher was gently ushered out the door, a few years later - a championship won for the Maranello outfit - Raikkonen was himself ushered towards the exit in favour of Fernando Alonso.
Back at Maranello since 2014, for the last couple of seasons there had been doubt as to the Finn's future at Maranello as he continued to frustrate the team with his inconsistent form.
This year however, with Charles Leclerc looking just about ready to step up, there is every chance that The Iceman will find himself surplus to requirements at Maranello yet again.
Having admitted that he wishes to continue racing and will only stop when he no longer feels the passion, the Finn has been linked with a return to another former team, McLaren.
Asked at today's press conference however, whether he has been in talks with the Woking outfit, with whom he previously spent six seasons, the Finn was giving little away.
"I spoke to them for sure, but in the past when I was there," he said. "I have zero interest to get involved in all the nonsense, in my view."
Following a long pause, just as journalists thought he had finished and were prepared to move on to the next question, he smiled and added: "You would like to know, wouldn't you? You can take it how you want... I don't really think you ask our opinions on a lot of things you write anyway. It goes either way, you can put it yes or no. You usually write what you decide to, whether it's true or not."
At which point, much like last week when Eric Boullier became involved in a spat with a tabloid journo, the FIA's head of communications, Matteo Bonciani, stepped in to move things along.
Having previously said that he wanted to see out his career with Ferrari, when asked if this remained the case, Raikkonen said: "I don't know really.
"I said in 2007 that I would finish with Ferrari and obviously at some point it didn't' look like that and now it looks like again.
"You never know what comes afterwards," he continued. "We'll see, as always. A lot of talk. I'm not really happy to comment on those, everyone will see at some point what happens. Including me. So let's wait and see."
"I think I've been in this situation many times. We'll know before next year, it's a pretty normal situation."
Check out our Thursday gallery from Spielberg, here.