Kovalainen signs Renault deal

(GMM) Kimi Raikkonen will move to Ferrari in 2007, inspiring Renault boss Flavio Briatore to sign Heikki Kovalainen, reports in the Finnish press say.

Newspaper 'Helsingin Sanomat' quoted Kovalainen, the Enstone-based team's current test driver, as rejecting the story, but interestingly he also did not deny speculation about his impending grand prix debut.

''I have not signed anything,'' the 24-year-old said, ''but I am sure that next year I will race.

''The announcement will take place in the right moment.''

It had been rumored that – although Raikkonen was top of Briatore's list – Mark Webber could be Renault-bound, after his split with the Williams team was confirmed.

But Briatore said: ''Webber is not available. It is not up to me to say where he will go. Perhaps somebody else will say something about it soon.''

Indeed, Red Bull is now expected to spill the beans about Webber either on Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning.

It is interesting that the driver market, after months of stagnation, has now begun to move, indicating that something significant within the 'silly season' sphere has occurred.

Clearly, Italian sports newspaper 'Tuttosport', has its own theory about what uncorked the market's bottle, writing that it is 'a shame' that Michael Schumacher's career is 'at an end'.