Raikkonen ends F1 silly season speculation with 2014 move to Ferrari on one-year-deal with 2015 option

Finland's Kimi Raikkonen ended months of speculation over his future employer in Formula 1 after completing a move to Ferrari that will see him become former F1 world champion Fernando Alonso's teammate in 2014 with an option for 2015.

Raikkonen's arrival means that the man who was almost an F1 champion in 2008, Felipe Massa, will now depart from the Italian squad with an uncertain future that is speculated to lie outside of F1.

Raikkonen and Massa had been teammates at Ferrari when the Finn won the F1 title in 2007 before Massa nearly beat him and McLaren rival Lewis Hamilton to the crown in 2008.

The Brazilian seemed to have the better of Raikkonen in the difficult 2009 season as well when he had outscored him until the Hungarian Grand Prix where a loose spring flew off the Brawn GP of Rubens Barrichello in qualifying and tore through the following Massa's helmet and visor at a speed of over 260 kmph.

The impact was severe enough for Massa to be induced in a coma by operating doctors who managed to prevent the loss of his left eye.

Massa didn't participate in the remaining seven races of that F1 season that saw Raikkonen win the Belgian Grand Prix before leaving the sport to try his hand at the World Rally Championship for two years and then return to F1 in 2012 with Lotus F1.

Raikkonen's move to another team had long been speculated following the departure of Lotus F1's technical director James Alison who left the team this May to join Ferrari as their chassis technical director in July.

Ferrari had been suspected to be on Raikkonen's radar following Alison's move as he had shared a good rapport with him at Lotus F1.

However, the most intense speculation regarding his future involved Red Bull Racing where it was suspected Raikkonen would end up to replace Mark Webber as defending F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel's teammate.

After Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo was confirmed as Red Bull's new signing the focus shifted to Ferrari with the move finally being confirmed late on Tuesday night.