FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[andrew]

Kimi in a box. The must have toy this Christmas!

[texasmr2]

The team preparing for Kimi's return..

[LewEngBridewell]

Niki Lauda believes that Kimi Raikkonen will only perform at his best if the machinery provided to him by Lotus is really good. He has a point, I think, based on what has happened in the past.

"It's excellent news that he will be back," Lauda told AUTOSPORT. "He is an exceptional personality and will create huge interest and excitement with media and fans.

"It is a good move for Renault or Lotus as the team is called now. It depends on how good the car will be, because Kimi will only shine in an excellent car."

To be fair to Kimi, his form with midfield Sauber in 2001 was good, but he was a rookie with a point to prove back then. Following his title-winning season in 2007, Massa's strong form in 2008 and Ferrari's subsequent decline starting in 2009... Raikkonen didn't seem up to it any more, and his form dwindled. With Lotus not expected to produce a regularly winning car, is there cause for concern?

[JamesD89]

To be fair to Kimi, his form with midfield Sauber in 2001 was good, but he was a rookie with a point to prove back then. Following his title-winning season in 2007, Massa's strong form in 2008 and Ferrari's subsequent decline starting in 2009... Raikkonen didn't seem up to it any more, and his form dwindled. With Lotus not expected to produce a regularly winning car, is there cause for concern?

I also inferred that if Kimi stepped straight into the best car, it would be easier for him to seperate mistakes + lost performance from the car's limitations. As such, he'd be up to speed far earlier.

[madbrad]

That's a rather obvious statement Lauda has made about Kimi. You could say the same thing about Schumacher. In fact when you look at the acheivements and lack of acheivements of all the drivers who have won a championship, you could say that about them too.

[bud]

Yeah it's a stupid statement in all honesty. Same can be said of all drivers.

[Hammer278]

Pretty much all Lauda says is trash anyway, so no surprise reg his latest trash.

[scotty]

Kimi Raikkonen has returned to the wheel of a Formula 1 car for the first time since the end of 2009, driving a two-year-old Renault R30 at Valencia as he reacclimatises himself to the sport with Lotus.

Raikkonen arrived at the track at 0830 CET and took to the wheel of a two-year-old Renault R30 car - painted in Lotus's contemporary black and gold livery and using Pirelli's demonstration-spec rubber - for an installation lap just after 0900.

The Finn is taking part in a two-day session designed to help him reacclimatise himself with grand prix machinery. His first test with the team's 2012 car will take place at Jerez early next month.

Under the terms of F1's strict testing limitations, teams are not allowed to run contemporary F1 machinery apart from at designated tests. However, machinery that is two years old is free from such restrictions - which is why Lotus is able to run him in a 2010 Renault car that is fitted with demo rubber.

Raikkonen last raced in F1 in 2009, when he was dropped by Ferrari and chose to switch to the World Rally Championship for the following year. He competed there for two seasons.

Keen to return to racing, however, Raikkonen briefly tried the NASCAR truck series last year before eventually agreeing a deal with Lotus to return to F1 in 2012.

Raikkonen said last month that he believed the biggest hurdle he faced in returning to F1 was getting used to the tyres.

He told the Lotus website: "I don't think I've lost any speed. Getting on top of the tyres will be the hardest thing, of course, but I'm not really worried."

Good times

[scotty]

Couple more pics, you can see Raikkonen's new helmet design (sorta)...

[Stephen]

It's brilliant to see him back in a F1 car.

[scotty]

Kimi Raikkonen thinks it will still take him some time to fully return to his best in Formula 1, despite quickly settling back into the cockpit of a grand prix car at Valencia on Monday.

The former world champion has begun a two-day test in a 2010-spec Renault R30 in a bid to reacclimatise himself with F1 machinery prior to his first run in the team's 2012 machine at Jerez next month.

Although the age of the car, plus the fact it is running on Pirelli demonstration rubber, means that lap times are meaningless, initial feedback from the team suggested that Raikkonen was showing well already.

Speaking to Sky Sports News after a first run in the car, Raikkonen said he had little problem learning to drive an F1 car again - but said that understanding how to get the best out of the team and tyres was not going to be the work of the moment.

"It was nice to get back in the car," explained Raikkonen. "It was quite a few years since I have driven last time, [and] of course it takes a little while to get used to it. But the main driving, braking, turning, that doesn't take many laps. But of course to start learning about the car and team and tyres, that will take time."

Raikkonen also suggested that he never took it for granted that he would make a return to F1 after he had embarked on a career in the World Rally Championship.

When asked if he had expected to be back in F1, he said: "Not really. I didn't have any plans for the future.

"There were different choices to do this year and I really wanted to do racing. We did some NASCAR stuff last year and I enjoyed it a lot, racing against other people.

"That is where I decided to do racing, and [if you are] doing racing, F1 is the highest level and probably where most people want to be. I found a good chance to come back and do racing with Lotus."

[bud]

It's brilliant to see him back in a F1 car.

I like his helmet design, last time he was number 9 was 05... What a year he had then

[scotty]

[youtube]SK0wtVTvdys[/youtube]

Sliding around a lot, i assume that must be the insanely hard compound demo tyres...

[Hammer278]

LOL the way he's driving there it looks like he thinks he's still driving a rally car.

[LewEngBridewell]

That was a good vid, it's great to see him back where he belongs - in an F1 car! Hopefully he'll be back up to speed before long.