Stefano Domenicali has dismissed Kimi Raikkonen's insinuation that the Finn was dropped in favour of Fernando Alonso at the behest of major new Ferrari sponsor Santander.
Ferrari announced yesterday that Alonso's long-rumoured Ferrari move would happen in 2010 and that Raikkonen's contract had been terminated early by mutual agreement.
Raikkonen implied that his on-track performances had nothing to do with his departure.
"I know more or less the reason," he said.
"It’s nothing to do with my racing or anything what I do in the team.
"It’s just purely some other reasons."
When asked if the arrival of Spanish banking giant Santander was a factor, Raikkonen replied: "You need to ask the team."
Domenicali, however, said this was not the case.
"No, all the things have to be put on the table but I don't think it is correct that it was a commercial decision," he said.
The team boss refused to criticise Raikkonen's contribution to Ferrari, but would not go into the specifics of the driver switch.
"You will never get me to say anything negative about Kimi, because I feel that he is one of the strongest in the field, and I respect him not only as a driver but also as a person," Domenicali insisted.
"You try to put on the table the positive and the negative things of all the options you have.
"If we are taking this decision it is because we feel there are positive elements towards that kind of choice."
But he did accept that Alonso was likely to bring a different approach to Ferrari.
"Kimi is Finnish and he has a different and pragmatic approach to the team," said Domenicali.
"But I would say that with regard to Kimi, he is part of the team and he has worked very well with the team.
"We know one of the characteristics of Fernando, looking ahead to the future, is someone who is very charismatic with the people that are working around him, but this is another way of relating with people."
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