• Singapore Grand Prix

Raikkonen coy over future plans

Kimi Raikkonen appeared in rallies and NASCAR during his time away from Formula One © Press Association

Enlarge

Related Links

• Race:
• Singapore Grand Prix

• Drivers:
• Kimi Räikkönen

• Teams:
• Lotus F1

Kimi Raikkonen refused to confirm that he would still be in Formula One next season despite being in the championship hunt this season.

Having returned to Formula One this year following two seasons away from the sport, Raikkonen was immediately competitive and currently sits third in the drivers' championship, 38 points behind Fernando Alonso. However, with speculation over many drivers' futures at present, Raikkonen was asked if he would extend his comeback in to next year but cheekily refused to confirm his plans.

"Well you never know," Raikkonen said. "There are a lot of nice things to do other than Formula One. Right now we have options and we'll see what happens.

"I've always said I'm not desperate for Formula One and when I feel like doing something else I will. But for now I enjoy it, I'm with a good team, nice people to work with so we'll see what happens. There's a lot of different racing and doing normal things in life outside of Formula One so we'll wait and see."

Looking at this weekend's Singapore Grand Prix, Raikkonen said Lotus would be targeting victory but that he'd only know if that was a realistic goal after Friday practice.

"We will try. It's not going to be easy and we have to see if we're hopefully in a better position than we have been in the last two races. I haven't been here with the team before; I think last year they had a very difficult time but then it's a completely different story now. We'll know much more after tomorrow but usually this year (the car) has been pretty OK on this kind of circuit so hopefully it's the case. But like I said the last two races hasn't been easy for us; it's a different layout from here but you never know."

With his championship hopes very much alive despite having yet to win a race, Raikkonen said he believes he'd be a deserving champion if he were to win the title without stepping on the top step of the podium.

"We keep trying and trying to score more points every race and hopefully improve. If we end up winning then it's great but whoever has the most points in the end of the year deserves to win the championship. So if it happens then it's a good thing for us but if it comes with the wins or without I don't care."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.