Villeneuve believes Raikkonen deserves Ferrari place

The future of Kimi Raikkonen is still somewhat uncertain, but former driver Jacques Villeneuve thinks Kimi deserves his Ferrari seat for 2019.

Sauber's Charles Leclerc is favourite to replace Raikkonen, if he is moved on from Ferrari, but Villeneuve believes that the experienced head of Raikkonen will offer Ferrari more stability than if they took a gamble on the Sauber youngster.

"Look at the work (Kimi's) been doing," Villeneuve said to F1's official podcast 'Beyond The Grid'.

"He's third in the championship, he's often quicker than Vettel and when he's not he's just a tenth behind. He's paramount in the development of the car. The whole team works fantastically well now."

Villeneuve doesn't believe that Leclerc is quite ready for Ferrari just yet and believes he should wait at least another year.

"Charles is still making a few mistakes," the Canadian added.

"It would be amazing for him (to go to Ferrari), but it would be two years of Ferrari preparing him.

"Ferrari, like Mercedes is not a team to prepare drivers. It's a top team. Top teams they pay for the drivers when they are at their best and when they want them. That's why you have junior teams, to prepare them."