‘Dream goes on’ as Ferrari retain Kimi

One of the longest contract sagas in Formula 1 is finally over with Ferrari confirming that Kimi Raikkonen will remain with the team next year.

The 2007 World Champion re-joined Ferrari ahead of the 2014 campaign on the back of some impressive performances for Lotus, but he was overshadowed by then team-mate Fernando Alonso while he has also played second fiddle to Sebastian Vettel this year.

It led to speculation that Ferrari would not renew his contract at the end of this campaign with the likes of Valtteri Bottas from Williams, Force India's Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo from Red Bull all mentioned as possible replacements.

However, the Italian marque confirmed on Wednesday that the 35-year-old veteran will be part of their line-up for 2016.

"Scuderia Ferrari announces that it has renewed its technical and racing agreement with Kimi Raikkonen," statement on the official website read. "The driver line-up next season will still consist of the Finnish driver and Sebastian Vettel."

Raikkonen once again emphasised that he wants to finish his career at Ferrari.

"What can I say… For me, to be able to stay another year at Ferrari means that the dream goes on," he said. "The Scuderia is my family, as I always said, it’s here I want to end my career. I am more committed than ever and I want to say thank you to the people who gave me this chance. Also, a big thank you goes to all my Ferrari fans, for their continuous support."

Team principal Maurizio Arrivabene added: "We believe that extending Kimi’s contract into the next season will provide further stability to the team. This has been our guideline, also considering the very good relationship between Kimi and Seb. On our side, this shows our great confidence in him, and I expect this confidence to be well rewarded."