Singapore, Sep 13 (PTI) The inimitable Kimi Raikkonen says Ferrari dropped him for 2019 during the previous race weekend at Monza and insists he has taken the best possible decision to join a smaller team like Sauber in the twilight of his illustrious career.

Ferrari dropped him for rookie Charles Leclerc, who will be joining Sebastian Vettel at the Italian outfit next year.

"Why not," said Raikkonen ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix when asked if it was his decision to go back to Sauber, a team with which he made his debut back in 2001.

A barrage of questions were expected to be directed at Raikkonen following the announcement of his switch to Sauber earlier this week. And as always, the 2007 champion was a man of few words.

Asked whether he is happy to race for Sauber, the Finn said: "No I am not. Just by pure head games for you guys I happened to sign there for two years and not be happy, yeah."

The 38-year-old could have said goodbye to the sport after all these years like two-time champion Fernando Alonso will be doing at the end of the current season. Raikkonen, however, still has the fire in the belly to continue racing.

"You have to be realistic (with what I can achieve at Sauber). There is a lot of difference between the cars on the grid, there always has been. I want to go back to Sauber, I have my reasons and that is good enough for me.

"It is my decision to go there but nobody knows what will happen there. We will be realistic and fight for positions. I am still passionate about racing. During the weekend (F1), race day is still the best time for me. I will stop when I feel the time is right," said Raikkonen.

He was full of wit when asked about helping Ferrari teammate Vettel in his title fight against Lewis Hamilton.

"Well, I can only race one car. It is very easy to say this and that can happen. We know the rules (of racing)," he added.

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