Raikkonen signs new Ferrari deal for 2018

PARIS: Kimi Raikkonen has signed a one-year contract extension with Ferrari for the 2018 season, the Formula One team disclosed on Tuesday.

“Ferrari announces that Scuderia Ferrari has renewed its technical and racing agreement with Kimi Raikkonen,” a team statement read.“The Finnish driver will therefore race for the Maranello team in the 2018 Formula One World Championship.”

Raikkonen’s signature comes after he chased home Sebastian Vettel in a dominant Ferrari display in the Hungarian Grand Prix before the mid-season break.Vettel, who increased his lead over Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton to 14 points, has yet to confirm his plans for 2018.

His contract expires at the end of the year but the German is expected to keep his solid partnership with the Finn intact for 2018.“I think I have been public on the Sebastian issue, if he wants to stay he is more than welcome to stay,” said Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne after Hungary.

For Raikkonen, 37, Tuesday’s deal secures his fifth consecutive season with Ferrari after an initial spell at Maranello when he captured the world title in 2007.He is placed fifth in the 2017 drivers’ standings on 116 points, 86 behind his teammate, ahead of Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.The former McLaren and Lotus driver has yet to win a race for Ferrari since his return to the team in 2014.