USF1blog.com reported back on September 20th that Kimi looks to be heading to McLaren for 2010, but this weekend Raikkonen has joked that he could race in NASCAR  in 2010 should he so desire – as he remained adamant on the eve of this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos that he still has ‘no plans’ beyond the end of the current Formula 1 season.

The 2007 world champion is being dropped by Ferrari – for whom he has driven since that title-winning campaign – at the end of the year in favor of Fernando Alonso, the man Raikkonen pipped to the laurels by just a single marker two years ago.

Since the paddock’s worst-kept secret was finally officially confirmed earlier this month, the 18-time Grand Prix winner’s name has been linked with Renault, McLaren-Mercedes – for whom he competed at the highest level from 2002 to 2006, triumphing nine times along the way and arguably being unlucky not to clinch the crown in 2003 and 2005 – and Red Bull Racing, with Toyota Motorsport President John Howett also having made little secret of his desire to secure Raikkonen’s services.

However, despite time pressing on and seats beginning to fill, the 29-year-old – who will turn 30 on qualifying day in Sao Paulo – insists he has yet to make any decisions regarding next season, when it has similarly been suggested that he might further indulge his nascent forays into rallying by way of a more full-time switch, or even follow in the wheel tracks of fellow former Grand Prix stars Jacques Villeneuve and Juan Pablo Montoya by heading across the Pond to NASCAR, a mooted destination for ‘Singapore gate’ protagonist Nelson Piquet Jr too.

USF1blog.com recently took an in-depth look at the 2010 drivers market, and we are now hearing that Kimi Raikkonen has signed a preliminary “outline agreement” to kick off a second tenure with McLaren beginning next season.  The Mirror cited “paddock sources” in claiming that Raikkonen is prepared to vacate his contracted Ferrari seat in 2010, but only if the Italian outfit pays his salary. It is estimated that Raikkonen’s 2010 Ferrari contract is valued at nearly $49m.

The 29-year-old Finn, who raced with the woking based outfit between 2002 and 2006, must first reach an agreement with Ferrari, with whom he is under contract for one more season.

The report also said the news ties in with Nico Rosberg’s link with Brawn and the Brackley team’s burgeoning relationship with Mercedes-Benz.

Mercedes was said to be pushing for Rosberg to replace Heikki Kovalainen at McLaren, but may now have resolved to push the German driver to Brawn and increase its involvement with Ross Brawn’s team.

This of means, of course, that the fate of Barrichello and Kovalainen are still up in the air for next season.

Formula 1’s testing agreement will be slightly modified next year so that new or returning drivers can get some experience in their cars prior to an actual racing weekend.

According to Auto Motor und Sport, if a team wants or needs to alter its race line-up during the 2010 season, a one-day test for the replacement will be excluded from the total ban on proper in-season circuit testing.

Drivers eligible for the measure this year would have been Michael Schumacher, Luca Badoer, Tonio Liuzzi and rookies Jaime Alguersuari and Romain Grosjean.

To prevent abuse of the measure, in situations like that of Schumacher, who ultimately did not return to race, his test day would have been deleted from Ferrari’s allocation of testing for the subsequent season.

The original reason for the ban on in-season testing was an attempt to cut the costs spent by teams developing their car all season.  Obviously a one day test for an incoming driver is more of a primer than for data collection, and it will help drivers like Badoer, Alguersuari and Grosjean avoid embarrassment.

2010 Driver Line Up Predictions

With only 5 races left in the 2009 season, what better time is there to take an in-depth look at the Formula 1 “Silly Season”.

Brawn : Jenson Button / ???

Jenson’s a lock to stay at Brawn, considering that there will be no other teams that can provide him a more competitive race seat for 2010.  Rubens contact is set to expire at the end of ‘09.  He could resign a 1 year deal, or Ross Brawn and Nick Fry could decide that he is past his prime and no longer need his services.

Campos : de la Rosa / ???

Adrian Campos has expressed interest in having a fellow Spaniard occupy one of his race seats next year.  Although no deal has been signed, de la Rosa will most likely end up at Campos, and bring his years of experience to help develop the team, and the chassis. Vitaly Petrov’s name has been tossed around as a possibility for the second seat. The GP2 star has certainly made a mark in GP2, reaching the top step of the podium multiple times.

Ferrari : Massa / Alonso

The real reason why Alonso has not been announced yet, is because Massa took a center spring to the left temple.  LDM and the brain trust in Maranello are squirming right now to determine whether or not Massa will still have ‘it’ in ‘10.  It’s no secret that the Scuderia prefers their Brazilian over the Finn, but Raikkonen is still a World Drivers Champion, and his stock has been on the rise for the last 4 Grands Prix.  Alonso will drive for Ferrari next year.  Strangely enough, we don’t know who his team mate will be.

As if to underline that nothing is ever predictable in Formula One, Ferrari announced Wednesday evening that Michael Schumacher is to stand in for the injured Felipe Massa at the forthcoming Grand Prix in Valencia and beyond.

With Massa out of action due to the injuries sustained in qualification for the Hungarian Grand Prix and making a strong recovery, the rumor mill had been rife with speculation as to who would take over the F60 cockpit alongside Kimi Raikkonen as the Brazilian recuperates.

Indeed, no less than 13 drivers had been linked with the drive amongst reports that the 40-year old seven-time champion was not interested in resurrecting his career with the Italian champions.