2007 world champion Kimi Räikkönen will likely take a sabbatical from Formula One in 2010, after failing to reach agreement with former team McLaren over a drive for next season. The Finn's manager Steve Robertson confirmed on Tuesday night that talks had collapsed, but says he is still keen to get back into the sport for 2011.

“The option for next season at a Formula 1 level was McLaren or nothing. Kimi and McLaren didn't reach an agreement, so he won't drive in F1 next year,” Steve Robertson told Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat.

Robertson revealed that Räikkönen is already targeting a seat at Red Bull for 2011. “The opportunity to return to Grand Prix racing for the 2011 season is there, when there will be more interesting places available. At the moment it looks like that could be Red Bull,” he continued.

Mark Webber's one-year extension to his contract at Red Bull expires next season, which could leave an opening for Räikkönen alongside Vettel in one of the few world-championship challenging cars on the grid.

“Kimi said before that he wants to race. A sabbatical doesn't change anything in that respect. More it means that Kimi can find a drive where he can fight for victories and World Championships.

“Next year Räikkönen will drive rallies and possibly the Le Mans 24 hours race, which both interest and excites him a lot.”

The last former world champion to take a sabbatical was Mika Hakkinen, who subsequently fully retired from F1 six months later.