Martin Whitmarsh says Kimi Raikkonen wants to leave Lotus F1 Team

Kimi Raikkonen is one the most in-demand drivers around in F1 (Getty Images)

Martin Whitmarsh believes Kimi Raikkonen is looking for a way out of Lotus at the end of this year but suspects he may not get what he is after.

The McLaren team principal also revealed that his team talked to the Finn last year about a possible driver but that, so far, it had not approached Raikkonen over 2014. Lotus is confident its star driver will stay next year, but Raikkonen has been linked to moves to both Red Bull and Ferrari over the summer.

“Obviously Kimi is determined to go somewhere else and I sense that he will not succeed in that goal, so let’s see how he gets on there,” Whitmarsh said when asked by the official F1 website if he would approach Raikkonen.

He added: “Kimi has always been great and I am a big fan of him. There is a lot of speculation out there at the moment, so let’s see what happens.”

“I probably shouldn’t be, but I’m completely open – last year we had talks with him, but for various reasons it didn’t happen. This year we’ve had no talks – yet.”

However, Whitmarsh said at the weekend that he intends to give his current two drivers – Jenson Button and Sergio Perez – a better car next year , implying they will both be kept on. Raikkonen’s future remains unclear after he told the media he has not talked to Red Bull for some time and has yet to decide on his future.

And Martin Whitmarsh looks set to keep Jenson Button and Sergio Perez at the team next year with an announcement expected soon.

“Let’s just say both drivers have done a good job here and deserve a better McLaren next year and that’s whatwe aim to give them,” team principal Martin Whitmarsh said.