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Kimi Raikkonen is saying that a drive with McLaren is his only option for 2010.
Autosport, among others, are on the story, which originally broke on Finnish TV. [Way to give your country's media the scoop, Kimi!]
“Toyota has not even been discussed,” Raikkonen told Finnish television station MTV3. “If I want to drive [F1] cars, then McLaren is the only option. I should know the situation in the next few days.”
The Autosport story largely chronicles Kimi’s comments during official Formula 1 interviews at Abu Dhabi, which we covered here.
Basically, Raikkonen is not ruling out taking next year off—or who knows how long.
As I noted in that post, the entire Silly Season revolves around Kimi’s decision at this point.
Autosport shines some more light on those other potential moves, which really seem to leave Toyota scrapping for any drivers in 2010:
"Raikkonen’s decision not to pursue an offer from Toyota leaves the Japanese manufacturer facing increasing difficulties to try and find a top-line driver for 2010—with Robert Kubica also having rejected its overtures to sign a deal with Renault.
"The team is understood to have offered both Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock deals for next year, but it is looking likely that both will leave—Trulli potentially for Lotus with Glock closing in on a deal with Renault.
"McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen could be one option for Toyota, with Force India’s Adrian Sutil also being linked in connection with the team. Japanese Kamui Kobayashi will also put himself firmly in the frame if he impresses again this weekend, following an encouraging debut in Brazil."
At this point, I would not bet on Toyota being back in 2010. If the team can’t secure a top driver, what hope does it have for success?
But back to Kimi: Do you care if he gets a drive in 2010?
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