Hamilton 'ready' for McLaren race drive

That is the view of Raikkonen's manager David Robertson, who helped engineer Raikkonen's move to F1 straight from Formula Renault.

Speaking in an interview in this week's Autosport, Robertson thinks Hamilton has done more than enough to actually go out and demand the race seat - rather than saying he would be happy to bide his time.

"It makes me laugh," said Robertson. "You've got McLaren asking if Lewis Hamilton is ready. Kimi came from karting and Formula Renault and showed the world straight away that he was ready. Hamilton has done Renault, F3 and GP2. Is he ready? Do me a favour.

"I think Lewis is wrong saying he's prepared to wait. He should be practically demanding that drive."

Hamilton's chance at McLaren comes thanks to Raikkonen's decision to join Ferrari next season.

Robertson has said he has no doubts that Raikkonen has made the right move in quitting McLaren, even though Ferrari are set to lose technical director Ross Brawn next season.

"The fact of the matter is, it's Ferrari, and the people are all there except Ross. Nobody has got a crystal ball and you can't put your hand on your chest and say this is the move to win the championship. But you can say this is Ferrari."

• The full analysis of Raikkonen's move from McLaren to Ferrari is in this week's Autosport Magazine, on sale now.