Raikkonen not going to Red Bull in 2014: Manager

Kimi Raikkonen’s manager, Steve Robertson, has confirmed the Kimi will not be driving for Red Bull Racing in 2014.

Robertson, who has managed Raikkonen since 1999, told Turun Sanomat that Kimi had not been in the Red Bull equation for some time.

“Our negotiations with Red Bull didn’t lead to any results,” Mr Robertson said.

“They ended some time ago already.”

Despite the Finn not being contracted to any team for 2014, Robertson said he was almost certain he would continue in F1 next year.

Robertson’s announcement all but confirms Daniel Ricciardo’s place as Sebastian Vettel’s team-mate at Red Bull in 2014.

Raikkonen has been perfect: Boullier

Lotus team principal Eric Boullier has said the team are no longer targetting the Constructors Championship this year and that second place is the best his squad can expect to achieve.

Lotus, who have had at least one driver on the podium six times in this year’s first ten races, currently sit fourth in the standings, 94 points behind leaders Red Bull.

The team is part of the top-four ‘big’ outfits with 25 points being the difference between second-placed Mercedes and Lotus, while Force India are 124 points behind in fifth.

But despite Kimi Raikkonen’s second-place in the championship, Boullier says the Enstone squad is too small compared to its main rivals and should work to consolidate its top-three place in the championship.

“The championship is so close between ourselves, Ferrari and Mercedes at the moment that we really need to be aiming a little higher to make sure our goals are reached,” Boullier said to F1.com

“I think therefore that to target P2 is a better ambition, and we will be pushing harder than ever to sustain that challenge,” he said.

“We have an ambitious group of people at Enstone and a top-three placing at the end of the year is very much possible, which would be a fantastic achievement for everybody involved.”

The team began 2013 with high hopes after Raikkonen took victory at the opening round, have since been unable to show the consistent front-running pace necessary to challenge for either championship.

Oweing to a victory and five other podiums, Raikkonen has been able to keep the squad in the hunt for a strong championship placing.

“I would have to give Kimi ten out of ten,” Boullier said of his driver.

“He’s done a terrific job right from the beginning of the season and his remarkable run of 27 consecutive points finishes speaks for itself,” He said.

“For Romain [Grosjean] it was a more difficult start to the year coming off the back of a tough season in 2012 and it maybe took him a little while to settle down and start performing to the best of his ability.”

Grosjean failed to score any points from the fifth to the ninth rounds of the season and was rumoured to be under pressure to perform if he wished to remain with the team in 2014.

But after bouncing back in the last two races, the 27-year-old French driver is believed to have reaffirmed his position within the team.

“He knows that if he wants to be winning races and fighting for  championships then he must deliver this kind of quality drive at every Grand Prix,” Boullier said.

“If he can keep up this level, Romain can be a future contender for titles, I’m sure of it.”

Grosjean sits eighth in the championship, 85 points behind Raikkonen.

Ferrari denies Raikkonen negotiations

Ferrari have rubbished rumours linking Kimi Raikkonen to the team for next year, saying they have made no moves to clarify their 2013 driver line-up.

Raikkonen, who won the 2007 World Championship and is Ferrari’s most recent champion, left the team at the end of 2009 but has been linked to a Ferrari comeback as a replacement for Felipe Massa.

Despite Massa recently admitting he needed to improve his results if he wished to be at Ferrari in 2014, Ferrari say they have their eyes set on this year’s championship battle.

“Right now, we’re really not giving any thought to the driver-market situation,” a Ferrari spokesperson said to BBC F1.

“Drivers are not a problem for us even if we were to change Felipe.”

Raikkonen’s relationship with the Italian manufacturer was strained after the team bought-out his contract after three years with the squad.

Raikkonen was defeated by then-team-mate Massa after his championship-winning year and again had fewer points in 2009 when the Brazilian suffered his season-ending crash during that year’s Hungarian Grand Prix weekend.

Following an unsuccessful two years sampling the World Rally Championship and NASCAR, the Finn returned to F1 with Lotus in 2012.

Six podiums and a victory in his comeback year secured him third in the championship at the season’s end, but the team and drivers rarely showed the pace necessary to mount a serious championship challenge.

Victory at this year’s Australian Grand Prix promised Raikkonen a strong opportunity to fight for the crown in 2013.

Five more podiums over the next nine races have put him second in the championship, 38 points behind current championship-leader Sebastian Vettel.