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Irvine: Ferrari Should Consider Ferrari Sack

Former Ferrari bad-boy Eddie Irvine admitted he wouldn't pay Kimi Raikkonen's salary for another year should the Fin not finish the next season ahead of teammate Felipe Massa. Known to have one of the best-paid deals in the F1 paddock, the 2007 F1 champion barely made the overall podium in the championship this season. If this is to become a habit, the Scuderia would have no alternative but to sack him or reduce his paycheck.

“If you're the highest paid you have to be the best and he's not doing the job, simple as that. If he doesn't beat Massa next year I'd be sacking him or reducing his wages massively. In sport if you perform you get paid and if you don't perform you're out,” said Irvine, according to Virgin Media.

The Irish driver has competed for the Scuderia until 1999, when he even got a shot at winning the title ahead of McLaren's Mika Hakkinen.

Kimi Raikkonen switched from McLaren to Ferrari in 2007 and, in his first year competing for the Scuderia, clinched the world title. However, the Fin had a disastrous second half of the season in 2008 and not only lost the battle with Hamilton for the world title but was also outscored by teammate Massa. The Brazilian is known to gain only a 3rd of what Kimi is getting at Ferrari, despite his better performances last season.

However, Massa has recently spoken against the idea of drivers' pay cuts in F1. The championship runner-up argued that the drivers are the most important factor of the sport and should not be subject to salary cuts, especially since their contracts are not that bigger part of a team's budget for an entire season.

Kimi Raikkonen is joined by Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso (each clinching at least one championship title in the last 4 years) as the highest-paid drivers in the F1 paddock.
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