Kimi Raikkonen confirms his stay at WRC for 2011 season
The former Formula One driver and the title winner of 2007 season, Kimi Raikkonen has signed with the World Rally Championship for another season.
Lately, the driver has been seen making headlines of all major newspapers and websites regarding his inclusion in 2011 Formula One season. Initially it was believed that he will be seen in Formula One once again this year, with speculations that his manager
was in negotiations with RenaultF1 for the upcoming season’s seat. However, both the driver as well as his team dismissed all such rumours completely. Later, after the death his father Matti Raikkonen last month, racing pundits were of the view of the driver’s
exit from 2011 season, as Matti had always been a big support for him all through his career.
However, all speculations are now proved wrong as the Finn driver earlier today confirmed his stay in WRC for another season.
The 31-year-old made his debut in WRC with Citroen's junior team in 2010. Presently, he has formed his own team called ICE 1 Racing, which will run a Citroen DS3 WRC. It is also reported that this team will be funded by the same sponsors that back Raikkonen.
The sudden death of his father, two days before Christmas, mounted doubts for the driver’s next season’s plans. However, WRC confirmed that it was only two days before the deadline that the driver submitted his entry slip for the Swedish rally. It was further
disclosed that the driver has registered himself to 10 of the total 13 rallies that will be held this year.
While talking about the driver’s decision of giving up three rallies, his manager, Steve Robertson told the reporters, "With Kimi's limited experience, it may be better to do additional testing while the others are competing."
The 2011 rally season will kick off by the mid of February, while the driver will appear in his first race later this year.
While talking to the media about his stay in WRC, Raikkonen said that he had a fabulous season last year. He told his fans that although he thought about returning to Formula One but not on a serious note. The driver stated, "Of course I thought about it,
because you think about everything," he said. "But I never really thought seriously about it, because actually I didn't miss Formula One at all this season."
Tags: