06/09/2018
NEWS STORY
While Ferrari usually uses the Monza weekend to reveal its driver line-up for the following season, this year there were no such announcements.
Instead, on a weekend Kimi Raikkonen took an emphatic pole and shut down teammate Sebastian Vettel at the start next day, speculation that the Finn would be retained for next season turned on its head with claims Charles Leclerc will be brought in to partner the German.
Indeed, some have suggested this was the motivation behind Raikkonen not yielding to his teammate on Sunday.
While rival teams should be jumping at the opportunity to sign a driver as experienced, fast and no-nonsense as Raikkonen, should he not be retained by Ferrari there is every likelihood he will walk away from F1 (again).
Asked if he would miss Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton, who enjoyed a cat and mouse Italian Grand Prix with the Finn, was surprisingly forthcoming.
"Would I miss Kimi?" said the Briton. "I think it's always a difficult question to say if you miss someone. I think the sport would naturally miss him, yeah...
"I made it no secret that before I even got to Formula One I was always playing... when I was playing the Playstation I was always Kimi in the McLaren, imagining that was me. And then I remember the first car at McLaren which was Kimi's set-up and the suspension that he would use, which was... I remember it like it was yesterday.
"It was an amazing experience and it was cool because I think our driving style was kinda similar, which meant that I ended up being quite comfortable with the set-up that he used back then.
"So, y'know, he's had an incredible career and it's been a real honour to race against a great Finn such as him - but he looks like he's just ice-cold.
"He's just got plenty of years left in him. He's not seeming to age. I don't know what it is about Finnish people. I think it's the sauna and the ice thing. Yeah!"