Sauber respond to Raikkonen rumours

Sauber team principal Fred Vasseur has talked up the potential of Kimi Raikkonen joining the team for 2019, saying the resurgent team would love to have a world-champion calibre driver in their car. Sauber are expected to be on the hunt for a new driver, with Charles Leclerc widely tipped to replace Raikkonen at Ferrari.

The Finn debuted in Formula 1 in 2001 with Sauber, before moving on to McLaren.

Although Raikkonen is third in the drivers' championship, he has not won a grand prix since returning to Ferrari in 2014 and his comparative struggles to Valtteri Bottas in 2017 played a role in the Scuderia losing the constructors' battle to Ferrari.

Vasseur is noted as a driver developer, with Leclerc's progress at Sauber this season evidence of this, however the Frenchman is targeting a quality driver, if required in 2019.

When the cost of a driver like Raikkonen was put to him, he countered: "It is a problem for the rich?

"I don't care, I want to have the best guys into the car, this is the most important for the team, and no sacrifice with performance.

"It is much better to have a world champion than someone who won nothing.

"I am just focused on performance. The most important for me is to have the best line-up for next year and the future. That is my only concern."

With Ferrari junior Leclerc shining at the Scuderia-aligned Sauber team, Antonio Giovinazzi is the next cab on the rank from Maranello.

Having taken part in FP1 at the German Grand Prix, Vasseur says the Italian will also be under consideration.

"It is a good feeling that Antonio wants to be involved and we can be proud, and he will be on the list for sure," he said.

"We will do some FP1s together and it is probably the best way for me to know the guy, and to understand each other.

"We did the same last year with Charles and it was a good first step in the collaboration."