Toyota has offered Kimi Raikkonen a contract for next season, team president John Howett has confirmed.
The Cologne-based squad is chasing a big-name driver as it awaits the Japanese parent company’s decision on its Formula 1 future, and having missed out on the chance to sign Robert Kubica – who is bound for Renault in 2010 – has identified Raikkonen as its main target.
The 2007 world champion, who has agreed to leave Ferrari one year before the end of his contract to make way for Fernando Alonso, has also been strongly linked with a return to McLaren.
Howett told Reuters that Toyota had made Raikkonen a firm offer but admitted the Finn’s management is pushing for a higher salary.
“We don't play too many games. We put on the table what we can afford and what we think is a serious offer in the current market,” said Howett.
“I think genuinely we could work well with him, give him a car that’s quick.”
A return to McLaren is thought the most likely outcome for Raikkonen, but Howett hinted that Toyota would be more tolerant of the party-loving 30-year-old’s lifestyle than the straight-laced Woking team, which sometimes struggled to keep him on a tight rein during his last stint there.
“We have had very good relationships with Scandinavian drivers in the rallying times that enjoy life and it works very well, so we could cope with it as a team,” he said.
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