Kimi Raikkonen's comeback to Formula One - Will Renault agree?
According to media reports, Kimi Raikkonen has approached team Renault in a bid to make his Formula 1 comeback with the team next year.
Renault's Team Principal Eric Boullier confirmed the rumour and said that he will be on the team’s radar for the 2011 season since he contacted the team. The former world champion is currently a World Rally Championship driver. This news will come as a shocker
for most teams in the Formula 1 circuit and is expected to spice things up for the 2011 signings.
Kimi was initially linked with Renault throughout the summers in 2010 but the driver had then claimed that he would probably never return to Formula 1 again. His contract with Citroen in the WRC that is backed by Red Bull will expire at the end of the 2010
season and he will be leaving WRC to pursue other options.
The 30-year-old Fin joined Formula 1 back in 2001 with Sauber where he was able to secure the 10th place in the drivers’ standings after scoring 9 points. This was enough to impress McLaren as they thought that they would be able to launder him
and produce a potential world champion. Kimi replaced former World Champion Mika Hakkinen who decided to retire after a disappointing season.
Raikkonen drove alongside David Coulthard in 2002 and was able to score 24 points with the help of 4 podiums that year. The Fin was not able to score a win until 2003 when he scored 91 points with the help of 10 podiums and 2 pole positions to secure an
outstanding 2nd place in the drivers’ standings. After a disappointing season in 2004, Kimi followed up with his best performance with McLaren as he scored 7 wins, 12 podiums and 5 pole positions to score 112 points - securing the 2nd
place in the drivers’ standings.
The 30-year-old decided to leave the team after the 2006 season and inked the papers for Ferrari. This was a good move for him as he was able to secure the drivers’ title for the team that year with 110 points with the help of 6 wins, 12 podiums and 3 pole
positions. Kimi got lucky as Hamilton required more than 2 points in the final race but retired due to a gear lock, giving Raikkonen a 1 point lead over him to win the championship.
The Fin had a rough time after that as he was not able to perform in the following 2 years, securing the 3rd and 6th place in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Kimi had to retire after his contract with Ferrari expired. The driver then wished
to stay in one of the front running teams but could not do so. Consequently, he left Formula 1 and joined World Rally Championships but is now hoping to return next year with Renault.
Team Principal for the Renault team claims that he has received many offers from a number of drivers since Renault’s performance is getting there in time. Therefore, he is still thinking over his options. Kimi Raikkonen has made it quite clear that he will
race in the Formula 1 circuit only if he drives for a competitive team.
As Robert Kubica has signed with Renault until 2012, the young rookie Vitaly Petrov is expected to be replaced by Kimi or whoever joins the team for 2011. Boullier recently said that the young rookie is under a lot of pressure and that he does not see his
contract extension anywhere near at the moment, especially after crashing in qualifying at the Spa-Francorchamps and receiving a five-place penalty for blocking at Monza.
Petrov could be offloaded to Lotus according to one publication - a team that is set to use Renault engines for the next season. This might be true as the team already stated that they want to get rid of Vitaly and this will make it easier for the team to
make way for Raikkonen in the team.
“I will be in F1 in 2011. Hopefully, when I come here next year I won't need to learn anything”, said Petrov.
Besides the 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen, Timo Glock and Adrian Sutil have also been linked to the team as the season is progressing.
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