Sauber says Kimi will stay with us

British Formula Renault Champion Raikkonen caused controversy when he was granted a superlicence with just 23 car races under his belt. But after qualifying 13th and taking a point for sixth place in his Grand Prix debut in Melbourne, it appears that Sauber's gamble has paid off.

With interest escalating in the 21-year-old, Sauber has been quick to stress that Raikkonen is signed on a multi-year contract and will stay with the team.

"We are not in a position to attract the top drivers on results," said Sauber. "We were therefore forced to take a risk and we have Kimi under contract for three or four years. I don't want to make money on him, I want him to race for me.

"But the result was better than we dared hope for," he added. "Kimi was a miracle, lapping at the same speed as [team mate] Nick [Heidfeld] and Heinz-Harald [Frentzen] for the last 15 laps."

Raikkonen also got a thumbs-up from quadruple world champion Alain Prost, who added: "You can see that he deserves his place in the sport. There are not many drivers around today who are out of the ordinary."