Mika Salo: 'No good candidates to replace Kimi Raikkonen'

Former Formula 1 driver Mika Salo has said that Kimi Raikkonen has a good chance of hanging onto his place at Ferrari beyond 2017.

After Monaco, where Raikkonen appeared to be the victim of a Ferrari strategy to demote him behind teammate Sebastian Vettel, many said that the 37-year-old is now effectively the de-facto number two driver.

It came amid existing speculation that Raikkonen could lose his seat at the end of his current contract.

Salo told Ilta Sanomat newspaper: "Ferrari will surely be considering the fact that Kimi and Sebastian Vettel continue to get along well with each other.

"I don't think there are any available really good guys who are able to do a better job than Kimi. Kimi was second in Monaco, but he is close to Vettel all the time.

"Vettel is of course already a lot of points ahead, but if Kimi gets a couple of wins, then it could completely change the situation."

Raikkonen is fourth in the drivers' standings heading into the Canadian Grand Prix.