Kimi Raikkonen has denied rumours that he is under pressure from Sergio Marchionne to deliver better results at Scuderia Ferrari, and has called himself his biggest critic.
The rumours are not unfounded; the Finn was on the receiving end of negative comments made by Marchionne after the Chinese Grand Prix.
And the scrutiny has intensified since team-mate Sebastian Vettel achieved a second win to establish a leading advantage in the Formula 1 championship, whilst Raikkonen is sitting in fourth.
But he insists that there is no ill feeling between the two of them, and he understands that others may not be happy with his performance as he isn’t either.
“I spoke to our president and he’s always been fine with me,” he said.
“I know some things have been said and written, but for me I can find so many nonsense stories that I trust much more how my personal relationship is, with him or with the team.
“For me it’s all fine. I expect from myself good results and when I don’t get them I’m not happy with myself, so if other people are not happy too, that’s fine, because I’m not happy either. It’s not really a big deal for me.”
His seat at Ferrari is uncertain beyond this season as he only received a one year extension to his contract last year. But Raikkonen is still undecided on what his future may hold, whether that be racing or otherwise.
“As for my future, I don’t know,” he continued.
“There’s always a lot of talking for the last few years, that’s I’m not going to carry on driving, but the first thing is that I want to do well and then we’ll see what happens after this year.
“It’s definitively the first thing in my mind, as the first thing in my mind is to do well here and in the next race. Whatever that brings, let’s see in the future.
“I have a good relationship with the team, I know them well and it will depend on many things.”
