Kimi Raikkonen drives 2010 Lotus car to prepare for 2012 season – Formula 1 news
Kimi Raikkonen drove a Formula 1 car after two years of banishment from the sport on Monday.
Raikkonen drove the 2010 Renault car at Valencia to try and get himself familiarised and get the feel for F1 back.
Raikkonen, a former world champion left the game in 2009 and started rally racing. Ever since he left the sport, several teams approached him to lure him back into F1 but all the attempts remained in vain.
The Finn was last year approached by Renault and after a long process of working with his management a contract was finally signed by the former champion at his much-awaited return to Formula 1 came into effect.
Raikkonen is still considered as one of the most talented drivers in the sport today. Critics have pointed at lack of practice which may affect a competitive comeback for the Finn. Raikkonen though has maintained that it will not take him too long familiarise
himself with F1 as not much has changed since he left.
Lotus gave Raikkonen some time to acclimatise by driving the 2010 Lotus car as by the FIA rules Raikkonen can only drive a two-year old model car outside the test days set forth by the FIA. He was only allowed to run the car on Pirelli demo tyres. Raikkonen
conceded that the new Pirelli tyres are the only thing he wants to get more practice on as he previously drove on Bridgestone tyres. However, the demo tyres are different from the ones being used for the 2012 season.
Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery said that the demo tyres will not give Raikkonen any advantage of getting used to the compounds being used in the upcoming season. The tyres are a different profile and strength so that is not going to be an issue.
The 2012 season is shaping up to be an exciting one as with the rule changes for season have allowed for a speculation of a much more levelled competition unlike the 2011 season which saw Red Bull dominate the season.
Raikkonen’s fans are going to be rooting for a flashy comeback but how he fares will only be revealed once the season begins.
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