Kimi Raikkonen will stay with Ferrari and race for them next year in whatever series the team eventually chooses to enter, the Finnish driver confirmed on Wednesday.

Raikkonen who won the world title with Ferrari in 2007, said he wanted to stay with the Italian team regardless of whether they race in Formula One or not.

Raikkonen said: "I'm pretty sure that we are not going to disappear from F1, but, again, I don't know - I cannot be 100 per cent sure.

"I will still have a contract with them and they are racing in many different categories, so I think they will find something for me.

"I work for Ferrari and we are one big family. It is my work and it is the place where I want to race. Whatever they do, I will do the same with them. We are one family and we do things together."

Raikkonen said he hoped the current controversy is soon resolved.

"For me, if Ferrari is not in F1, nor any other big team like BMW, or McLaren, it is not good for F1.

"They are the teams that make F1 and if you change the teams for other teams, new teams that come from GP2, or somewhere else, then it is not the same any more.

"F1 for me is all about the big teams, we race together and try to be the best. That is my opinion, but everybody has their own ideas."

(AFP via China Daily May 22, 2009)