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F1's Raikkonen to race for Sauber as Leclerc brings youth to Ferrari

Kimi Raikkonen will not be going out of Formula One at the top, or even with a top team. The announcement on Tuesday that the 2007 world champion is leaving Ferrari, the sport's oldest, most glamorous and successful team, at the end of the season was only to be expected. Less so was the subsequent revelation that the 38-year-old "Iceman" had agreed a two-year deal to continue with Ferrari-powered Sauber in a swap with that team's Monegasque rookie Charles Leclerc. That will close a circle at least, the Swiss team being the ones who gave Raikkonen his debut in 2001 despite the powers-that-be fearing he was too inexperienced. And it will keep the Finn racing on into his 40s. It will also please Formula One's owners, already facing the retirement of double world champion Fernando Alonso, by keeping one of the best known and most popular drivers on the starting grid. But the days when Raikkonen could hope for poles and wins, already scarce even at Ferrari where Sebastian Vettel is the main contender and team orders have been applied, are surely over now. Sauber was last in 2017 and is ninth of 10 teams now, even if the signs are more encouraging than they were, and there is a likelihood that Raikkonen will now be simply making up the numbers. The Finn will still relish racing with less media attention and more freedom, while for Ferrari there are also clear benefits. For the first time in four years, they now have a new benchmark for four-time champion Vettel and a (very) young driver who represents the future rather than the past. Vettel has outperformed Raikkonen consistently since the pairing started in 2015 with the German's move from Red Bull, and the Finn is already 62 points adrift this season with seven races remaining. Raikkonen has been more competitive this year, taking nine podium finishes and pole at Ferrari's home Italian Grand Prix with Formula One's fastest ever lap, but there are those who question whether Vettel is being pushed hard enough. Some even wonder just how quick the German really is. Ferrari will hope that 20-year-old Leclerc, unless told to adopt a subservient role, can apply a bit more pressure and help answer those questions. The gamble is that the youngster's relative inexperience could impact, in the short-term at least, Ferrari's constructors' championship hopes as he finds his way under considerable scrutiny.

Brazilian F1 driver Felipe Massa to retire at end of 2016 season

Williams Formula One driver Felipe Massa announced plans to retire at the end of the 2016 season ahead of the Italian Grand Prix. After 14 years in F1, the 35-year-old Brazilian driver competed in 242 races and won 11 grands prix over his tenure, placing him in the ranks as one of the most experienced drivers in the sport. The last race of the 2016 season in Abu Dhabi will be Massa's 250th race, capping off a career where the Brazilian drove for Sauber, Ferrari, and, most recently, Williams. In an emotional video, which was posted on his Facebook, Massa confirmed that he would be leaving Formula One and provided some insight into his lengthy career. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The move to announce his retirement before the Italian Grand Prix was a premeditated decision as it was the same location where Michael Schumacher (who was a large influence on Massa) announced his retirement. Massa also spent numerous years behind the wheel of a Ferrari F1 car and came extremely close to winning the title in 2008 in one. The Italian Grand Prix, then, is the ideal spot for the announcement. Massa's career, which the F1 driver claims has given him "great pride, joy and happiness," started in 2002 with the Swiss-based Sauber team. In his first season, Massa scored four championship points and went on to spend the following season as one of Ferrari's test drivers. For the 2004 season, Massa rejoined Sabuer's lineup alongside Giancarlo Fisichella, where he finished with a total of 12 championship points. The 2005 season was Massa's last with Sauber as the Brazilian was partnered with former champion Jacques Villeneuve, but still managed to score a total of 11 championship points. The 2006 F1 season started the most successful part Massa's career. Massa partnered with the legendary Schumacher, where the Brazilian won his first F1 race in Turkey. Ferrari retained Massa for 2007 to drive with Schumacher's replacement, Kimi Raikkonen, who would go on to win the Driver's Championship by one point. The next year, 2008, was Massa's most memorable with the driver losing out on the championship by a single point to McLaren's Lewis Hamilton. In 2009, Massa was involved in a life-threatening accident in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix where the driver was struck in the head by a loose spring from Rubens Barrichello's vehicle.

Watch how fans honored Michael Schumacher on his 45th birthday outside his hospital

Michael Schumacher remains in a medically induced coma six days after a skiing accident in the French Alps. While the racing legend spent his 45th birthday in the hospital, listed in stable but critical condition, racing fans from all over Europe descended upon the clinic in which he lies in Grenoble, France, to pay their respects.
The event was arranged by Ferrari, the manufacturer with which Schumacher is most often associated after winning 72 individual races for the Italian marque between 1996 and 2006. In total, Schumacher won 91 races, stood on the podium 155 times and won seven F1 Driver's Championships over the course of his illustrious 19-year career.
Schumacher's family was deeply touched by the outpouring of support and has issued a short statement thanking Ferrari fans for their "incredible sympathies." We've gathered a few videos together showing scenes of support from outside the hospital, and you can see them, along with the family's official statement, below.