Kimi is Ferrari's Safe Bet

Raikkonen will race for Ferrari in 2016

Ferrari team boss Maurizio Arrivabene seems to be aware that managing Kimi Raikkonen is a game of careful motivation and precise timing. Earlier in the season, the no-nonsense Italian suggested that Raikkonen was already in Ferrari's plans for the future, but that they did not want to offer him a new deal to ensure that complacency would not become an issue.

However, with speculation starting mount up and becoming Ferrari's big elephant in the room, Arrivabene and the team have relented and Raikkonen can guarantee himself one of the most prestigious seats on the grid for the upcoming season. While there may have been some possibility for the much-fancied Valtteri Bottas to slip into the famous red cockpit, the management have either deemed that too risky, too expensive or too soon.

Kimi's form - steady improvement?

Kimi's best result this season was 2nd in Bahrain

Part of the reason the whispers of replacement became murmurs was down to Raikkonen's under-par performances. This was more prominent last season, but it's difficult to ignore that despite the Finn scoring reasonable points all year, his new team-mate Sebastian Vettel has racked up over double his tally. Couple that with Vettel's two race victories, and there is a clear hierarchy in the Ferrari team.

Things came to a head in Austria after Kimi's worst performance of 2015. He qualified 18th and crashed out of the second corner of the race. Nevertheless, the signs that things would be OK for Kimi should have been apparent from Arrivabene's post-race comments, in which he refused to criticise his driver and reassured that the team would be taking a more holistic approach to Raikkonen's performance when deciding if he should remain with the team. Clearly, this sort of encouragement displays Arrivabene's desire to have Raikkonen at the team.

In the final race before the summer break, Raikkonen could have capped off a Ferrari 1-2 had it not been for engine troubles which led to him retiring. The team have mastered the psychology of keeping Kimi at the team, and it's producing increasingly good performances from the Finn.

Seb and Kimi - a match made in heaven

Ferrari have been happy with the positive relationship between their drivers.

In the run-up to the 2015 season there was a lot of debate as to how Vettel would cope with having a former World Champion to contend with as a team-mate. His fiery relationship with Mark Webber, and his mopey persona while Daniel Ricciardo dominated last season, added up to the image that Ferrari's new superstar may be difficult to work with.

Cut to August, and things appear to be appropriately rosy between the duo. Vettel and Raikkonen have built an amicable working relationship that has allowed both of them to score satisfying results across the season. With two former champions in the team, Ferrari will no doubt understand how valuable a commodity it is to have the two working beyond just themselves.

Would it be foolish to cash this in? Bringing in a less experienced driver with the potential to upstage Vettel would definitely make the situation more volatile and could affect results negatively. While Ferrari are just inching their way back into the picture as one of the top teams in the sport, perhaps it would be reckless to bring in a circus of biting retorts and vicious accusations to distract from the excellent progress they are making.

There's no rush

Speculation suggested that Bottas would replace Raikkonen

If this was the final opportunity to pick up some of the biggest talent on the grid, then you could call this decision a bit safe and unadventurous. But with Ferrari choosing to close their seats for 2016, there truly isn't much of an option for best young talent on the grid to move upwards.

Mercedes and Ferrari are probably the two outfits that would hold the most glamour to an upcoming star of F1, but both have confirmed their driver line-ups for next season. Williams and Red Bull are probably next up, and they do have potentially spare seats. However, neither of these teams quite have the same pull as Ferrari, both in current and historical contexts (albeit Williams runs Ferrari close). Arrivabene will feel he can prize any driver away from these teams, and it's easy to imagine that Bottas will want an option in his new Williams contract in preparation for the call from Ferrari in 2017.

The only possible way one of Ferrari's targets could suddenly become unreachable is if they take the unlikely step of joining a team that promises future glory, such as McLaren. However, with the disastrous results that has heralded for Fernando Alonso, it looks unlikely that anyone will take that chance.

Glad to have him

According to the recent GPDA survey (a survey I incomprehensibly analysed here) Kimi Raikkonen is the most popular driver in Formula One. It was quite likely that, had he not been retained by Ferrari, the Finn would have left the sport for good. With that in mind, it's personally relieving to know that Kimi will still be a part of the F1 world.

After all, how can you not love someone who, when asked what they think of Spa-Francorchamps one of the most historically wonderful circuits in F1, replies "It's quite nice".

5 Reasons Watford Will Stay Up

At first glance, Watford's approach to their first top-flight campaign in nearly ten years has all the hallmarks of an absolute disaster. The club has appointed a new manager, Quique Sanchez Flores, who has so far mostly plied his trade in Spain and has no first-hand knowledge of the Premier League (Juande Ramos, anyone?). Further to this, they have spent presumably a good chunk of their TV rights money on flashy overseas signings with, yet again, little-to-no experience of English football. To cap it off, Watford's style of keeping possession and creating chances through relentless movement and passing is a lot easier to pull off when fighting for a title than when fighting relegation.

So with all this seemingly erecting a giant signpost to failure, it could be said that Watford's unbeaten start to the season is mildly surprising. The Hornets followed up their impressive 2-2 draw away to Everton with a dominating performance over West Brom, albeit one they fell short of capitalising upon with victory. You would be hard pushed to find anyone who really believes these two results are indicative of how the rest of the campaign will transpire, but there certainly are signs that Watford won't finish bottom this year, as they have done in their last two cracks at the Premier League.

1. Strong midfield presence

One of the most impressive aspects of Watford's display against West Brom was the strength they showed in midfield, particularly with Etienne Capoue and Valon Behrami. Both home-debutants occupied the central role in Watford's 4-2-3-1 formation, and were at the heart of every Watford attack. The central duo showed superb awareness, but most certainly have different styles which complement each other. Capoue is constantly seeking the ball, creating space for himself and offering an option for players across the pitch. Behrami does this to a lesser extent, but is a physical presence in the same position who fights to win the ball back, and makes himself a problem for the opposition.

Both Capoue and Behrami have Premier League experience, which is made all the more valuable by the fact that they are in the midst of both Championship graduates and overseas inductees.

2. Creative flair

Although Watford lacked the cutting edge in and around the penalty area on Saturday, there was no doubt about their ability to move the ball forward in dynamic and interesting ways. Some players stood out in this regard - Jose Manuel Jurado picked up the plaudits in the media for his persistent display, although in truth his contributions became a tad sloppy as the game went on. Nevertheless, a player who is willing to try new attacking approaches during a game is guaranteed to create a lot of chances over the course of a season.

Another player who showed a different kind of threat was Cameroonian full-back Allan Nyom. He used excellent pace and technique to bamboozle West Brom on a number of occasions, and was certainly able to get the crowd excited. Add to these the unknown quantities of Steven Berghuis and Alessandro Diamanti, as well as players who had this spark in the Championship, such as Ikechi Anya, Almen Abdi and Fernando Forestieri, and Watford should remain a effectively creative side this season.

3. Keeping possession... at the right time

Watford are used to having the ball at their feet for the majority of their matches, but it is only sensible to realise that this is going to change in the Premier League. Indeed, captain Troy Deeney spoke of how the team were adjusting to this in his pre-match programme notes. Nevertheless, The Hornets did show on Saturday that they were capable of out-passing an established top-flight outfit, successfully completing 411 passes to The Baggies' 182. It is debatable as to whether or not this is down to Tony Pulis' gridlock approach to away games, but the reality is that Watford controlled the game well beyond what the grizzled old gaffer would have liked.

In their first tie, away to Everton, Watford experienced the very opposite. Everton controlled possession, keeping 67% of the ball. If Watford had attempted to dominate possession at Goodison Park, it would have been both bold and reckless, so instead the team looked to soak up pressure and find chances on the break. The fact that this worked, and nearly bagged Watford all three points, shows that not only is Quique Sanchez Flores a shrewd tactician, he also has the resources to pull it off. It's easy enough to approach a tough game with the right set-up, but getting the result is another thing altogether.

4. Counter attacking initiative

Leading on from the last point is the fact that Watford have already shown they can create effective counter-attacks, something that will doubtless be essential to getting results in the trickier games. Watford were able to advance the ball up the pitch quickly to create (admittedly spurned) opportunities against West Brom following a handful of their attacks, and also demonstrated their ability to make chances when the tides are against them at Goodison Park. 

With pacey attacking full-backs and midfield players who can pick a pass, Watford will be reliant on quick moves to steal results in places where they have no right to score points. If they can make this happen just a few times, it could be enough to see them beat the dotted line by the end of the year.

5. Ighalo

Few teams have entered the Premier League successfully without a standout player or two who spearheaded their campaign. Many observers tipped Troy Deeney to make a big impact, and there's no reason to suggest that this won't still happen. However, one player who has appeared to make the jump to the Premier League seamlessly is Odion Ighalo.

Beyond boosting Spandau Ballet record sales in the Hertfordshire area, Ighalo has already won the hearts of Watford fans, finishing joint-top scorer last season. As an established favourite, supporters will be getting even more giddy over seeing him effortlessly gliding past defenders in his first two games of the season. It seems as if Ighalo has been waiting for this opportunity all his life, and is now unleashing the talent he knows can confound defences. All of this was capped off by his excellent goal against Everton, and if he can keep up such a level of class all season, he could be the difference between sink and swim.

So will Watford stay up?

As an article, this is championing the 'Yes' vote with outrageously sycophantic bias. The truth that everyone can agree on is that it's too early to tell. What can be said, though, is that Watford have a better chance of survival than they ever did in both 1999-2000, and 2006-2007. They will need to work hard, and will definitely need some luck along the way, but the first signs are good. The Hornets are creating a buzz, but can they keep flight?