Kimi Raikkonen has hinted that he will retire when his current contract with Ferrari ends next year.

The Finn, who has endured a difficult return to Ferrari, speaking to reporters ahead of this weekend's British Grand Prix, was asked how much longer he intends staying with the Italian team.

"Until my contract is finished and then I will probably stop," came the response.

Facing another difficult weekend where the best he can realistically hope for is to be battling fellow-midfielders, the Finn admitted that, like Sebastian Vettel, he is having difficulty adapting to the 2014 car though the team is working hard to get it to his liking.

"I am sure we are learning a lot and at least we now know where the issues are," he said. "The team will definitely do some things differently for next year and some of those changes we can also try this year. But it's not a quick fix and once we get some more new parts to try, then hopefully it will go in the direction that we want."

A winner here in his championship season (2007), the Iceman isn't expecting much from this weekend.

"I think we are probably going to be in the same situation as at many of the races so far this year," he said. "At the last race, we tried some new things that might not have worked well, but I wanted to try them anyway to see what effect they had. This weekend, we will carry on trying different things and gaining experience from that."

Last weekend, Raikkonen visited Goodwood for the Festival of Speed, the Finn taking to the hill in his title winning Ferrari and spending time with another Maranello world champion, John Surtees.

"I've seen films on TV and the internet, it looked like a different sport back then, certainly much more dangerous and in a way, more fun and more open," he said.

Talking of the past, the Finn was asked for his thoughts on Monza, and fears that it might be dropped from the calendar.

"I can't see how they would stop Monza," he said. "It would be very stupid in my view for everyone and for Formula 1. Hopefully it will never happen but we are not the guys who decide. Obviously for Ferrari, it's an amazing place. I've never won there, but hopefully in the future it will happen."

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Chris Balfe

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Paul C, 04/07/2014 0:39

"If you''re going to retire from F1 Kimi, go to Indy Cars or NASCAR. You'll certainly get a better reception than Ferrari's cold shoulder."

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2. Posted by Marybeth, 04/07/2014 0:27

". Ferrari hired him to run as 2nd driver to FA, bcuz of Santander money, $100 m a year, & bcuz Kimi passed FA in a Lotus last July. How can Kimi stand & race against that $100m...? When Ferrari ran him as their first driver in 2007 he won the WDC, Ferrari's last. In 2008 they switched to Massa & again in 2009, until Massa’s accident. Ferrari then reverted to Kimi as their first driver & in the infamous F60 he won the only race for Ferrari at Spa & got another podium in Monza & that with no new bits for the car after July. The engineers asked him why he didn't tell him what he needed, to which he replied, 'I did'. Makes me wonder what he could do if something happened to FA, to McLaren?, & Kimi was run as their first again….? But Ferrari does not seem to be interested in winning unless it is FA. $100m will buy you that. I believe that Kimi is racing his heart out, that he loves F1, & that he is pragmatic enough to deal with reality. I also found it odd that when FA waved a flag at LeMans he got a big write up & pictures on the Ferrari website. Kimi, their last WDC, was in Goodwood in his 2007 winning car with Surtees in his '64 car & Kimi got cropped out of the pictures & a bare mention of his name in an article emphasizing Schumi. One might think that Ferrari would wring all of the glory out of their last WDC that they could. It makes me wonder if there isn't something else going on. "

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3. Posted by White Lightning, 03/07/2014 22:32

"That would be a real shame. Kimi has been a monster over the years and a more than deserving World Champion, but there'll always be that nagging doubt - that "what if he actually gave a damn?""

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Raikkonen hints at retirement

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