Raikkonen made to wait for Ferrari test

Autosport.com understands that Raikkonen's deal with his current employers runs until December 31 rather than the end of the season.

To test for his new team would require Raikkonen to get an early release, something that team boss Ron Dennis has said would be highly unlikely.

"I don't think that any team would feel comfortable with contributing to the advancement of a competitor or driver by early release," he said, talking about Raikkonen's departure from his team.

"It is pretty much unheard of amongst competitive drivers and teams. It is a world championship."

The late start for Raikkonen will not hurt as much as it would have done in other years though, because there will be a very limited December winter testing programme this year.

"Everybody is faced with constrained tyre supply next year so running before January 1 is going to be difficult," said Dennis. "So (Kimi) will likely take a holiday."