Fernando Alonso is leaving Ferrari at the end of the season because he wants a fresh environment and needs to be winning again, the Formula One team's ex-chairman Luca di Montezemolo said on Wednesday.
Raikkonen again suffered the heartbreak of retiring while leading.
Red Bull have given "a definite no" to four-times Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel's hopes of returning to them next year, team boss Christian Horner said on Friday. The German, who is out of contract with Ferrari at the end of the season and facing an uncertain future, had said on Thursday he would say yes to a Red Bull drive if one was offered.
Ferrari's world champion Michael Schumacher, winner at Silverstone last year, qualified a disappointing ninth.
The 23-year-old Spaniard lapped the Magny-Cours circuit in one minute 14.412 seconds for his third pole in 10 races this season.
McLaren's Spanish test driver Pedro de la Rosa, who will not compete on Sunday, was the fastest but it was Renault's championship leader and compatriot Fernando Alonso who came closest to his time.
Race leader Kimi Raikkonen crashed out with one lap remaining.
Renault's championship leader Fernando Alonso finished second ahead of Italian Jarno Trulli in a Toyota.
"He's got the old matador spirit, that's for sure."
The 21-year-old Alonso has a star quality like no other Spaniard in Formula One since the 1950s.
Nobody leaving Imola could doubt that the battle lines were drawn for what promises to be a thrillingly competitive season.
Jordan's Indian ace posted his third finish in four races in the Formula One championship.
Jarno Trulli was second for Toyota, while Michael Schumacher took third place in the new F2005 in the first qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Fernando Alonso reiterated his long-term love and loyalty to Ferrari on Friday after McLaren, the Formula One team he left in acrimonious circumstances in 2007, said they would be keen to sign him.
Renault announced the Formula One comeback of Danish driver Kevin Magnussen at the launch on Wednesday of a new-look team that will put the French carmaker back on the starting grid as a constructor.
Jaguar team boss Tony Purnell feels the Australian driver is a world champion in the making.
Seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton hunted down Max Verstappen to win the Sao Paulo Grand Prix for Mercedes on Sunday and slash his Red Bull rival's Formula One lead to 14 points in one of the greatest drives of his career.
Fernando Alonso indicated his Formula One future was in his own hands despite Red Bull announcing on Saturday that four time world champion Sebastian Vettel was leaving to join Ferrari.
The reigning World champion gave his new Ferrari a winning debut in Spain on Sunday as title leaders McLaren were reduced to mere spectators.
"I think he is in the perfect position. Honestly, he has a strong car, they're very quick, very consistent," Schumacher said.
Sebastian Vettel's hopes of fighting champions Mercedes for victory in Sunday's Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix went up in smoke before the start when his Ferrari's engine blew on the formation lap.
'After many years of having to find new adjectives to say horrible, I realised I would rather write about things I want to write about.'
Sebastian Vettel cruised to a third straight Singapore Grand Prix victory on Sunday and moved closer to a fourth consecutive Formula One world title with a dominant drive under the floodlights at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
Sebastian Vettel continued his imperious march towards a fourth consecutive Formula One world championship by storming to pole position at the Singapore Grand Prix on Saturday after dominating the two days of practice.
Valtteri Bottas ended his year-long drought with a dominant victory in Turkey on Sunday while unhappy Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton finished fifth and lost the Formula One championship lead to Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Verstappen took his 26th career win 0.9 of a second ahead of Spaniard Sainz,
'I appreciate the quest for safety but this is Formula One and the way it is now is perfectly fine' 'I am sad for the sport... it doesn't look right from outside when in one week we change the qualifying format three times'
Lewis Hamilton became the first Formula One driver to win 100 races with a victory in Russia that sent him back on top of the championship.
