Ferrari faces risks if it drops Raikkonen, says Prost

Ferrari could find a quicker driver to replace Kimi Raikkonen for 2017, but such a move may not be the best thing for the team, reckons Alain Prost.

Raikkonen’s contract at Maranello runs out at the end of the year, and there have been growing question marks about what Ferrari chiefs will do in light of recent mistakes the Finn has made.

However, Ferrari is also well aware that Raikkonen works well with teammate Sebastian Vettel and, after Raikkonen moved aside for Vettel in Baku last weekend, the team knows the benefits of not having friction between its stars.

Speaking at the FIA Sport Conference in Turin, former Ferrari driver Prost understands that the Italian team faces a tough choice – especially with promising talent like Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez potentially available.

“Everybody can see the positive points and the negative points,” said Prost about the Raikkonen situation. “There are one or two drivers on the market who could be quite good for Ferrari, maybe a little bit quicker, but you do not know [for definite].

“One thing you also have to take into consideration is the pressure at Ferrari. Sometimes you can see some very good drivers in an average team and, when they go to a top team, they do not perform the same because it is a little bit different.

“The positive sign for him [Raikkonen] to stay is that he has a very good relation with Vettel and you have a number one and number two, not on paper, but in fact. For the ambience it is not bad.

“To be honest, I don’t blame them [Ferrari] and I don’t criticise. I am sure they are going to make the right decision.”