The former Ferrari-an signed a full-time contract with Citroen Junior Team to drive the C4 WRC throughout the 2010 season, while benefiting from strong backing from Austrian company Red Bull energy drink. His commitment with the aforementioned company led to several rumors suggesting that Raikkonen might return to F1 with Red Bull Racing, replacing Mark Webber in 2011.
However, the Fin now confirmed the possibility that he'll continue his journey in the world of rallying, in case all things will go well enough through the 2010 season. He insisted, however, that he is not contractually bound to anyone for the 2011 year, regardless of what he decides.
“I don't have any contract with F1 or anything else, so I have no idea what will happen. I have both options, to stay in rallying or try to come back to F1. I want to see how it goes, and then decide. I'm not in a hurry to decide. If it goes well, then I could keep doing it. There are many different scenarios. Right now it's just for this year, both with Red Bull and with Citroen,” said Raikkonen in an interview with British magazine Autosport.
Talking about the prospects he had for the 2010 season, Raikkonen admitted that he was very close to inking a deal with McLaren Mercedes, only he wasn't 100 percent happy with the contract offered to him. However, he made it very clear that money was not part of the problem, as suggested by the media.
“I could have signed with them (McLaren) if I'd wanted to do, but in the end it wasn't 100 per cent what I wanted. (...) It was a complicated situation, but in the end that wasn't the issue, the money side, although everybody thinks so. It wasn't what I wanted,” added the Fin.
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