'Kimi Raikkonen will not race for Red Bull next season', says manager

Kimi Raikkonen might be heading back to Ferrari

Kimi Raikkonen may be out of the running for a Red Bull seat, but BBC F1 chief analyst Eddie Jordan says he is eyeing a return to Ferrari.

The Finn was initially on the shortlist to replace Mark Webber at Milton Keynes from 2014, but his manager Steve Robertson confirmed on Monday that “negotiations with Red Bull were not successful and ended some time ago”.

Raikkonen’s contract with Lotus runs out at the end of the year but Robertson added they “are pretty confident that Kimi will be in F1 next year”.

When asked about the Ferrari talk, Robertson replied: “Until they confirm their seats, my job is to speak to all the teams and see what’s available.”

Ferrari have been rumoured as a possible destination for the 33-year-old, who won his one and only World Championship in 2007 with the Italian outfit, and Jordan insists it’s not just paper talk.

He said ‘Raikkonen had made a return to Red Bull his first priority but when talks with the world champions broke down, he turned his attention to Ferrari’.

Reports claimed that Ferrari wanted the Finn to replace Fernando Alonso, who was also mentioned as a possible replacement for Webber at Red Bull, but according to the Jordan they want him to partner the Spaniard.

A Ferrari spokesperson have denied the reports, but according to BBC Sport ‘ senior figures within the Ferrari team want [Felipe] Massa out and are keen for Raikkonen to return but that Ferrari president Luca Di Montezemolo is not keen on the idea.

‘Signing Raikkonen would be an admission they had made a mistake when they chose to end his contract a year early at the end of 2009 and pay him not to drive for them in 2010, when Alonso joined.’