Kimi Raikkonen's son joins Red Bull

The son of the 2007 Formula 1 world champion Kimi Raikkonen will join Red Bull's driver development programme next year.

The 11-year-old karter Robin Raikkonen - born just before Kimi Raikkonen's second season back with Ferrari in 2015 - had been rumoured to join Red Bull over the Monza weekend.

Red Bull has now announced it will add Robin to its junior team from 2027.

While years away from being able to race in single-seaters, Raikkonen has already enjoyed strong success in karting, winning at both a national and international level.

"Robin has already demonstrated exceptional ability in karting," Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies said.

"His speed, racecraft and natural talent have established him as one of the most promising young drivers in his age group. At the same time, he impresses with his maturity, his calm approach and his clear focus on driving.

"Our goal is to develop him step-by-step, without placing any unnecessary pressure on his shoulders.

"The path through motorsport is a long one, and we will give him the time, support and resources he needs to maximise his potential.

"We strongly believe that talent can thrive when supported by the right people, the right culture and the right environment. That is what we are committed to providing Robin as he continues his development.

"We are very much looking forward to taking the next steps in his journey together with Robin and his family."

Robin’s father Kimi added: "We are all thrilled and excited that Robin has been chosen to further his racing path as a member of the Red Bull junior team.

"Laurent and everyone else at Red Bull have been incredibly supportive throughout all our discussions. They offer a compelling and comprehensive programme to develop and nurture Robin's progress over the coming years and provide him with all the experience required to develop his natural talent, which has amply been displayed in all his karting endeavours to date."

Kimi said Robin joins the programme with "great humility" and that his son would "dedicate all his efforts to warrant the trust that Red Bull is placing in him".

F1 champion Raikkonen never raced for Red Bull but he was team-mates with one of its most famous products, Sebastian Vettel, at Ferrari, and he had plenty of experience racing the other (Max Verstappen).

He also made his F1 debut in 2001 with Sauber, when it ran as the Red Bull Sauber Petronas team, though this was not without controversy; The decision to field the then-21-year-old Raikkonen disgruntled Red Bull, which wanted Enrique Bernoldi placed at the team instead.

During his sabbatical from F1 from 2010-11 he also drove in the World Rally Championship for the Citroen junior team in a Red Bull-sponsored Citroen C4.

The Red Bull junior programme will be led by Gwen Lagrue when Robin joins next year.

Lagrue, who had spearheaded Mercedes' junior efforts including developing Kimi Antonelli through the junior ladder, is effectively replacing Helmut Marko as the head of the programme.