In a rather surprising move, Ferrari has announced that Kimi Raikkonen will replace Felipe Massa starting next season at the Prancing Horse. The Finn will therefore have Fernando Alonso as teammate, with the Spaniard likely to lose his No. 1 status in Maranello after four years of being the undisputed leader of the team.

Alonso and Raikkonen are widely regarded as the best F1 drivers of their generation, but there will certainly be sparks between the two world-class drivers, especially if they will be fighting for the world title at some point. Raikkonen won his only F1 title in 2007 in his first season with Ferrari, but left the team at the end of the 2009 season (a year early) to make room for Alonso.

“I have so many memories of my time at Ferrari, memories which have stayed with me these past years, first and foremost, winning the World Championship title in 2007, which was really unforgettable. I can’t wait to be driving a Prancing Horse car again and to reacquaint myself with so many people with whom I had such close links, as well as working with Fernando, whom I consider a great driver, in order to bring the team the success it deserves,” said an unusually enthusiastic Kimi.

The folks at Lotus, Raikkonen’s current team, weren’t so excited about the news and posted a photo on the team’s official Twitter account that sums up what they think the Finn will have to put up with at Ferrari (or maybe what they think Raikkonen has done to them).

One thing is certain: Raikkonen’s transfer will be followed by many more, as the teams prepare for the challenging 2014 season.

By Dan Mihalascu

PHOTO GALLERY

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