Kimi Raikkonen today confirmed that he is leaving Lotus Renault Hashtag F1 and said he is delighted to be joining ‘whichever team this is’.

‘I am really pleased to be wherever this is,’ the Finnish driver added. ‘And I can’t wait for the first race of next season, wherever that is.’

Raikkonen went on to say he was excited to drive for a team with ‘some history or something’ and that he was pleased to be team mates with ‘that guy over there’.

‘Oh for fuck’s sake,’ said Fernando Alonso later. ‘They promised it wouldn’t be someone good.’