Kimi Raikkonen will race for Ferrari next season in a two-year deal that creates the strongest pairing in Formula One.
Ferrari said in a statement that the 33-year-old will replace Felipe Massa alongside Spain’s double world champion Fernando Alonso.
Naturally, Raikkonen’s team, Lotus, are not happy but went a strange way about showing it, tweeting: “So Kimi is off to Ferrari for 2014; it hurts a little bit . . .” with a photo of two rabbits mating.
In Ferrari’s statement, there were no quotes from the famously taciturn Finn, whose future team‑mate has made clear he would have been happy to continue with Massa. The Spaniard has a contract to the end of 2016.
Brazilian Massa, championship runner-up to Lewis Hamilton in 2008, had already announced he would not be driving for the Italian team in 2014.
Raikkonen won the title with Ferrari in 2007 but quit the sport two years later before returning to Formula One in 2012 with Lotus. Ferrari last had two world champions in their line-up in 1953, when Italians Alberto Ascari and Giuseppe Farina were together.
Raikkonen and Alonso should be a force to be reckoned with, although there could be fireworks.
In contrast, other top teams have opted to pair a champion with a driver whose resume is less glittering.
Red Bull have a new face in Australian Daniel Ricciardo, who has yet to stand on the podium, as team-mate to triple champion Sebastian Vettel. Jenson Button, champion in 2009, has Sergio Perez alongside him at McLaren but the Mexican has yet to win a grand prix.
