F1 2016: Ferrari confirm Raikkonen for 2017 ahead of British GP

Scuderia Ferrari have finally confirmed that Kimi Raikkonen will race for the team for the 2017 Formula 1 season.

In the follow up to a dramatic finish at the Austrian GP, the 50^th British GP is now underway at Silverstone. After the podium finish for Kimi Raikkonen at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, Ferrari have extended the Iceman’s “technical and racing agreement” for another year. Raikkonen will race along side Sebastian Vettel for another season, as the race in Silverstone will be the Finn’s 100^th Grand Prix as a Scuderia Ferrari driver.

With Raikkonens contract extension, the front running teams, Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari have confirmed that no changes will be made to their driver line-up for 2017.

Silverstone is a race track near which nearly all Formula 1 teams are based out of. Naturally, it makes it the grand prix that many team bring in new upgrades for their cars. Most notable this year is McLaren who have brought along some new components to their cars to benefit Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button for the British Grand Prix.

McLaren have confirmed some engine and aero upgrades for their cars this time around. The team improved on their Energy Recovery System (ERS) system which enhanced their efficiency and reliability, McLaren have now focused most of their improvements on the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) from Honda. The team have utilised two of their engine development tokens with ten more left to use for the rest of the season.

Following the final lap of the Austrian grand prix where both drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton collided at turn 2. Rosberg was left to limp to the chequered flag with a damaged car and lost the lead and drop down to fourth place in the race, Mercedes had said they might impose team orders for the future. But Mercedes have now stated that they will let both drivers continue racing for the championship, but claim they have strengthen their Rules of Engagement to include much greater deterrents to contact between their cars.

Mercedes have instructed both Rosberg and Hamilton that they may issue instructions during the race to protect against a potential loss of constructors’ points, similar to their instructions at this year’s Monaco GP when Nico was instructed to let Lewis pass. But if the drivers do not honour the team’s instructions, the team may have to impose team orders in the future.

After the Austrian GP was concluded, the stewards blamed Nico Rosberg for causing the collision and continuing on with a heavily damaged car. For which, Rosberg was handed a penalty that saw 10 mins added to his race time. The penalty didn’t deter him much as the German did not lose any places due to the penalty and maintained his fourth place finish.