Late January Ferrari debut for Raikkonen
Ferrari's new car is set to hit the track in the third week of January, with a first test pencilled in for Fiorano between the 15th and the 20th of next month
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo, speaking at Ferrari's traditional pre-Christmas dinner with the media, said that the car would have a shakedown at Fiorano prior to runs at Mugello.
The timetable for the new car means that Kimi Raikkonen is scheduled to get his first taste of the Italian machine at Mugello between January 21st and 23rd.
Although there have been reports this week that Ferrari were refused permission by McLaren to run Raikkonen before the end of this year, sources have told autosport.com that this is not correct.
Ferrari did enquire about the terms of Raikkonen's contract after the season finished, but once it was evident that he was tied to McLaren until December 31st, the team accepted the situation and did not make any pleas for his release.
A source close to Ferrari told autosport.com: "We did not push for it, and we completed our testing programme as planned."
McLaren, on the other hand, did push Renault to release Fernando Alonso for one day of testing before the end of the year.
Share Or Save This Story
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Jon Noble: An unfair perception or a genuine concern? Lifting the lid on Red Bull’s Tsunoda scepticism
What F1 history tells us about three-way title deciders
On this day: Raikkonen’s Suzuka masterclass
The contrasting fortunes of F1's big-name moves to Ferrari
Why Leclerc’s battle of the brakes has left him trailing his Ferrari team-mate
How Leclerc has changed his steering wheel software for the first time since joining Ferrari
Why Vasseur's steady hand is exactly what fervent Ferrari needs right now
What Verstappen did – and didn't – say about his F1 future and McLaren at Spa
“A shock to the system” – Why teams fear the worst with F1’s 2026 cars at Spa
Red Bull parks 'Macarena' rear wing for Belgian GP after Verstappen crashes
Norris given Belgium GP grid penalty as McLaren takes new Mercedes power unit parts
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments