Olivier Quesnel: Kimi Raikkonen can return to Formula 1 in 2011 season if he wants – Formula 1 news
The 2007 Formula 1 world champion Kimi Raikkonen was going through a tough time since the past couple of weeks mainly because of the fact that his father passed away a couple of days before Christmas this year.
The Finn driver was not sure whether he would want to race after that but recently, he revealed that he would participate in the World Rally Championship in 2011 with his team Citroen once again and that he does not want to return to Formula 1 anytime soon.
However, Citroen’s rally chief Olivier Quesnel recently revealed that Kimi can return to Formula 1 if he wants. There were rumours that the former champion did not have any sort of contractual commitment in WRC for 2011 and it was believed that since Lotus
Renault GP need a replacement for Robert Kubica for the 2011 Formula 1 season at least, there is no better option than Kimi Raikkonen.
“If he wants to leave, I couldn't say anything because he is a client. He has rented a car from us and drives with his own sponsors,” Quesnel told the media.
According to some recent reports, Kimi is now legally committed to rallying in 2011 and his chances of returning to the sport are now bleak once again.
Raikkonen is going to driver with Citroen DS3 under the ‘Ice 1’ entry in 2011 and it is believed that he is not going to return to Formula 1 at least until 2012.
A couple of months ago, Lotus Renault GP claimed that Kimi wanted to return to Formula 1 with them and that the team was trying to interact with the Finn driver for a possible deal for 2011.
“I suppose there may be considerable pressure from Bernie Ecclestone, the FIA and the whole world of F1 who want to see him come back because he is still an emblematic driver for the sport,” added Quesnel.
However, Raikkonen revealed himself in 2010 that he is not keen to come back to F1 and that he enjoys rallying more.
It seems that Renault will have to choose some other driver and it is believed that the best option for the team is either Nico Hulkenberg or Tonio Liuzzi currently.
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