McLaren Vow to Keep Raikkonen

"We will fight to keep Kimi on the team," McLaren boss Ron Dennis told Finland's MTV3 television channel late on Wednesday. "Kimi Raikkonen will stay on this team as long as he wants.

"He has a capability of winning many, many World Championships. Not one, many," he added. "And if we don't deliver it to him, I am absolutely sure that he will look at other Grand Prix teams in the future to find it elsewhere."

Raikkonen, 25, won last weekend's Spanish Grand Prix and was runner-up in the 2003 season to Ferrari's seven times World Champion Michael Schumacher.

Ferrari boss Jean Todt has made no secret of his admiration for the Finn and there has been much speculation that Raikkonen will be top of the champions' shopping list when they need to find a replacement for Schumacher.

The 36-year-old German, who has yet to win a race this year, has a contract with Ferrari until the end of 2006 but he too has been told by his team that he can stay as long as he wants.

Raikkonen is in his fourth season at Mercedes-powered McLaren, whose last champion was Finland's Mika Hakkinen in 1999, and is third in the standings at present.