Kimi Raikkonen to return to F1 in 2012

It has finally being confirmed that Kimi Raikkonen is returning to F1 next year, but not with the team we may have thought.

2007 Formula One World Champion Kimi Raikkonen will return next season, driving for Renault, who will be known as Lotus next season. Raikkonen won the 2007 championship, and then retired at the end of 2009 to pursue a career in rallying.

He had held talks with Williams over a possible return but it was announced this morning that Lotus had snapped him up for 2012. Raikkonen last raced for Ferrari in 2009, and has now signed a two-year deal. This means Renault will have to choose between Vitaly Petrov, Bruno Senna, Romain Grosjean and of course the recovering Robert Kubica.



Raikkonen's last race win, Belgium 2009

 Kimi Raikkonen was pleased with the deal “I’m delighted to be coming back to Formula 1 after a two-year break, and I’m grateful to Lotus Renault GP for offering me this opportunity. My time in the World Rally Championship has been a useful stage in my career as a driver, but I can’t deny the fact that my hunger for F1 has recently become overwhelming. It was an easy choice to return with Lotus Renault GP as I have been impressed by the scope of the team’s ambition. Now I’m looking forward to playing an important role in pushing the team to the very front of the grid.”
The 32 year old Finn won eighteen races, the most recent one being the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix, a track in which he excelled, and won on various occasions. Raikkonen also won the famous 2005 Japanese Grand Prix, a race that went down as one of the greatest ever, winning after starting from 17th on the grid.

This now means that there will be six world champions on the grid next year; Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, and Kimi Raikkonen.