Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene says neither the team or Kimi Raikkonen are in a rush to extend the Finn’s contract for the 2017 Formula One season.
Raikkonen’s contract is due to expire at the end of the current year, with speculation rife his seat could be taken by Sergio Perez or Valtteri Bottas.
Arrivabene has done nothing to quell these rumours despite the 2007 world champion expressing his desire to stay at Ferrari beyond this season.
Raikkonen currently sits fourth in the drivers world championship just five points behind his teammate, four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, compared to the 45 points he was behind at this stage last season.
Despite the upturn in performances, Arrivabene would not confirm the Finn was doing enough to earn a new deal when he spoke to Autosport following the European Grand Prix.
“Kimi is back on and is fully concentrated on doing his job.
“On Sunday, he demonstrated that he is a good team-mate of Sebastian [when he let Vettel through as he was on fresher tyres]
“But if you look at Kimi in a certain sector he was the faster one at one stage.
“He is doing his job.
“We are looking, we are not in a hurry and I must say that he is not in a hurry.”
Arrivabene went on to insinuate any driver negotiations were the least of Ferrari’s worries whilst the team was struggling to get a win in 2016.
“It is too early to talk about next season because the number of victories we have is still zero,” he said.
“There is a long way to go.”
