Kimi Raikkonen has denied talking with Brawn/Mercedes GP, saying he believes the team’s new owners, Mercedes Benz, will be taking an all-German line-up.

Earlier this week, McLaren announced that they had signed Jenson Button as Lewis Hamilton’s team-mate, leaving Raikkonen without a race-seat for next year’s Championship as the Finn had previously stated that he would only race for McLaren.

However, almost immediately reports emerged that he could head to the Championship-winning Brawn GP team after Mercedes purchased a 75.1 percent stake in the outfit.

His manager Steve Robertson added fuel to the fire, saying:

“This is Formula 1. If they can offer, or convince us, that they can provide Kimi an opportunity that Kimi is happy with, and that we are happy with, and he feels he can win races and the championship then never say never. There is always a possibility.”

But despite his manager’s claims, Raikkonen says there has been no contract with Brawn GP and nor does he expect there to be. Raikkonen told F1.com,

“No, I have not held talks with Brawn. I feel they will run two German drivers next year now that Mercedes are involved,”

The Finn also made it clear that a year out of Formula One was on the cards for next season as he won’t race for a team that cannot guarantee him a shot at the World title, in other words, McLaren.

“I could not agree terms with McLaren so I have decided to take a one-year sabbatical. I felt McLaren offered the best opportunity to win races and challenge for the Drivers’ Championship and if that would not work the one-year break is the result. And to be honest, I will only return in 2011 if a competitive drive is available.”

“I do not want to race just to make up the numbers. That does not interest me. But there’s a lot of time until then, so let’s wait and see what happens in the months ahead.”

The 2007 World Champion, however, hopes he won’t be away from motor sport entirely, targeting a possible drive in rallying.

“I do not know yet, I will look at competing in rallying. Again, naturally I want to drive a competitive car. If not I will spend more time with my family and friends.”

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 21st, 2009 at 9:18 am and is filed under Brawn GP, McLaren, Mercedes GP, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.