News coming out of the World Rally Championship today is that Citroen has signed its pair of Sebastiens to new contracts — Loeb and Ogier.
But, while Kimi Raikkonen is rumored to be sticking with rallying for another season, he hasn’t inked a deal. Is he maybe weighing some Formula 1 options?
No sign from Kimi’s camp (that I’ve seen). But here’s how WRC has handled the Citroen announcement thus far:
Citroen Racing has signed fresh contracts with Sebastien Loeb and Sebastien Ogier to keep both drivers at the French squad in the 2011 World Rally Championship.
The new deals bring an end to speculation that Loeb was considering retiring at the end of this season, and means Ford have failed in their bid to lure Ogier into a Fiesta next year.
Loeb, who joined Citroen Racing in 2001, has signed a one-year deal for 2011 – the first season with the new 1600cc DS3 World Rally Car – while Ogier’s contract keeps him there for the next three seasons.
Citroen Racing team principal Olivier Quesnel said: “Obviously, it’s a double dose of satisfaction for Citroën Racing. Not content to have the greatest set of results in the history of rallying, Sebastien Loeb is still as hungry as ever for more victories and titles. His experience, his race intelligence, and his capacity to get 100% out his cars, will be all the more crucial as we’ll have a new car next season.
“Citroën Racing has been preparing for the future with Sébastien Ogier for some time now. This is why we wanted to sign a contract with him for the next three seasons,†he added.
There’s no 2011 contract yet for Loeb’s Citroen team-mate, Dani Sordo but Quesnel confirmed his intention to keep the Spaniard. “He is still part of our plans for next year, but we have to finalise our budgets before announcing the full programme,†he said.
Maybe that budget issue has to do with Kimi?
