Raikkonen returns to F1 with Lotus Renault

Flying Finn Kimi Raikkonen is to return to Formula One racing next season after signing a two-year deal with Lotus Renault GP, the team announced on Tuesday. The 2007 world champion with Ferrari left the sport in a surprise move in 2009 to pursue a career in rallying but has decided to return with Lotus Renault after talks with Williams fell through. "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," Raikkonen told the team's website, www.lotusrenaultgp.com "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 Raikkonen notched 18 Grand Prix race wins with Ferrari in his first spell in Formula One and Lotus Renault owner Gerard Lopez said he was delighted to have hired a driver of his experience. "All year long, we kept saying that our team was at the start of a brand new cycle," he said.. "Backstage we've been working hard to build the foundations of a successful structure and to ensure that we would soon be able to fight at the highest level. "Kimi's decision to come back to Formula 1 with us is the first step of several announcements which should turn us into an even more serious contender in the future. "Of course, we are all looking forward to working with a world champion." Germany's two-time world champion Sebastian Vettel said it was difficult to predict what sort of impact Raikkonen would have. "It is difficult to judge," said the 24-year-old Red Bull driver, who was visiting the team's engine makers Renault factory near Paris to say thank you to the workers for their part in his and the team's respective title successes. "We all think of Michael (Schumacher's) comeback. He retired when he was at the top. "But when he came back to the sport, he said himself that a lot of things had changed, and to which he had to adapt." Vettel, who won 11 of the 19 Grand Prix which finished in Brazil on Sunday, said that even for a driver like himself who had been competing for the past two years the advances and changes in that time had come thick and fast. "If I look at the car I drove two years ago, so many things have changed since then....it is unbelievable. "Even during the season, new buttons appear on the steering wheel. "I can imagine that it will be difficult to immediately return at the same level than before."