Raikkonen denies quit rumours

KIMI RAIKKONEN has again dismissed suggestions he is ready to quit Formula One on a day when Fernando Alonso has denied having had any contact with Ferrari regarding a drive for next year.

The 2007 world champion yesterday insisted: “If I wasn’t interested in Formula One, I wouldn’t be here.

“For the future, I’ve always said I still have next year, and during next year I’ll see different options and see what will happen in the future.”

Showing signs of frustration at the rumours, he added: “It’s the same at every race. You (the media) ask and it’s the same thing.

“The answers haven’t changed. I have a contract. You’ll have to ask the team and see if they say something else, but I’m sure they’ll say the same.”

Meanwhile, the threat of a breakaway series continues to lurk menacingly in the background as FOTA yesterday refused to buckle in the ongoing war with FIA president Max Mosley. That was the underlying message emerging from the paddock at the Nurburgring, despite the peace pact drawn up.

It is understood the eight member teams of FOTA are refusing to sign a new Concorde Agreement – the confidential document that governs the commercial side of the sport – unless they have cast-iron assurances Mosley will not stand again for the presidency.

In an FIA statement after FOTA yesterday stated the future of F1 was again “in jeopardy”, the governing body have claimed the signing of the Concorde Agreement could be done “in the coming days.”

That was dismissed as “over-optimistic” by BMW Sauber boss Mario Theissen, with the whole 700-word draft seemingly viewed as little more than FIA propaganda.

The bottom line would appear to be that Mosley, who suggested he would stand again after becoming infuriated with FOTA’s ‘victory’ celebrations in the wake of the £40million budget cap being scrapped, must go if the sport as we know it is to survive.