Raikkonen returns to F1 with Lotus

Former world champion Kimi Raikkonen will make an eagerly anticipated comeback to Formula One next season after signing a two-year contract with Lotus, the team currently known as Renault said on Tuesday.The 32-year-old Finn won his title with Ferrari in 2007 but quit Formula One two years later and switched to rallying."I'm looking forward to playing an important role in pushing the team to the very front of the grid," Raikkonen, who also had discussions with former champions Williams, said in a team statement.The team, no longer owned by Renault, will race under the name of their title sponsor Lotus from next season. They did not say who Raikkonen's team mate would be, although Russian Vitaly Petrov has a contract for 2012. France's Romain Grosjean, this year's GP2 champion, had been widely expected to take the second seat.The taciturn but party-loving Raikkonen, who has won 18 races with McLaren and Ferrari in a Formula One career that started with Sauber in 2001, remains hugely popular with the fans who know him as the 'Iceman'.He said the two years he spent in rallying had been useful for him as a driver, but that he had an overwhelming hunger to return to Formula One."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," added the Finn.