(© Ben Johnston 2014)
Ferrari president Luca Di Montezemelo has dismissed speculation that both Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso will leave the Italian team at the end of the season following a difficult 2014 season. The Italian said that the rumors are 'completely unfounded'.
Raikkonen is contracted to Ferrari until the end of next season however their is an option on his side to extend that into 2016 while Alonso has a deal in place with the team until the end of the 2016 season. The speculation comes after the duo came out on top of the 2014 Formula One drivers salaries list when it was published on Tuesday. The pair earn €22 million each.
It has been reported recently that McLaren who move from Mercedes to Honda power are interested in signing Alonso who drove for the Woking based outfit in 2007 after joining the team from Renault. McLaren could potentially be in the market for a new driver as current driver Jenson Button who is out of contract with the team at the end of the season has yet to renew his deal with the team who he has driven with since 2010.
Alonso recently took to social media to deny that he was demanding a pay rise to remain with the team beyond 2016 saying that the speculation saying that it 'was not true'.
It had also been reported that Ferrari were looking to promote current Marussia driver Jules Bianchi who is part of the young driver programme with the Italian team to replace Raikkonen however the Frenchman has denied this and stated that he remains focused on doing the best job he can for the Marussia F1 Team.
Di Montezemelo echoed the sentiment of Ferrari team principal Marco Mattiacci by saying that the team need both Kimi and Fernando in the team.
He also confirmed that the two current drivers are 'central to Ferrari's plans to turn things around'.
Alonso is currently in fourth place in the Driver's championship on 115 points having scored both of Ferrari's podiums so far this season while Raikkonen is currently in 12th place on 27 points following a difficult season so far however the duo achieved Ferrari's best combined result of the season last time out in Hungary when Alonso finished in second place while Raikkonen finished the race in 6th place.
The next race, the Belgian Grand Prix at the Spa Francorchamps circuit next weekend, the first race following the month long Summer break is a circuit that Raikkonen enjoys and took victory there the last time he drove for Ferrari in 2009.
In Spa last season Alonso finished the race on the podium in second place behind race winner Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel while Raikkonen retired from the race with brake failure on his Lotus. In 2012, Raikkonen's first season back in Formula One since the 2009 season the Finn finished the race in third place.
Both Alonso and Raikkonen will be hoping that the improving F14-T will deliver them both a strong result to kick start the second half of the season in the strongest position possible.
© Ben Johnston 2014
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