Bye Bye Kimi

Kimi Raikkonen and Lotus Renault GP have announced that the man affectionately known as the 'Iceman' will leave rallying and return to F1, the sport that launched him to international fame, in 2012.

"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”

Rumours circulated around the Brazilian Grand Prix paddock that talks between Raikkonen and Williams Grand Prix had broken down and he would not be returning to F1 next year. Then, only two days later, Lotus Renault GP announced the Finn had signed a two-year contract with the Enstone-based squad.

What makes the new partnership even more unexpected is that there was a reported falling-out between Raikkonen and Lotus Renault GP team principal Eric Boullier, after the team “used my [Raikkonen's] name for their own marketing”. This came about when, after Raikkonen had been in contact with the team over a possible 2011 drive, the team said they were in discussions with him about a contact. Afterwards, an angry Raikkonen assured media and fans that he would “100 per cent…not be driving for them [Renault] next year [2011]”

Raikkonen said his decision to make the move to Renault was helped my the team's ambitions for 2012.

"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." he said.

Gerard Lopez, chairman of Genii Capital, who co-own the team, said that Raikkonen's signing was the first of “several announcements” that are aimed to push the team back up to the front of the F1 grid. He also welcomed Raikkonen to the squad.

"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. On behalf of our staff, I'd like to welcome Kimi to Enstone, a setting that has always been known for its human approach to Formula 1."

Whilst in F1, Raikkonen's stat sheet shows he was no slouch behind the wheel of an F1 car. From when he signed his first F1 contract in 2001 with the Sauber team to the end of the 2009 season, when he made an unusual switch to rallying, he took 18 wins, 16 pole positions, 35 fastest laps and one World Championship in his 157 entries for Sauber, McLaren and Ferrari. His rallying stats don't read so well however.

At the end of the 2009 season, Raikkonen made a shock announcement that he would leave F1 and switch to rallying, driving for the Citroen Junior Team.

Raikkonen had only taken part in two rallies prior to his career change. His first was the Arctic Lapland Rally in 2009, where he took 13th overall in a Fiat Abarth Grande Punto S2000. His second was the Neste Oil Rally Finland that same year, holding 15th overall and steadily moving up the ranks before spectacularly crashing out of the rally on the final stage of the second day.

Later that year, on the 4th December, it was announced he would join the Citroen Junior Team. Driving a Citroen C4 WRC, sponsored by personal sponsor Red Bull and co-driven by former World Rally Championship co-driver Kaj Linstrom, Raikkonen was in for a baptism of fire. Crashes in both of the first two rounds of the 2010 season were met by 8th, 5th (his best ever finish) and 10th in Jordan, Turkey and Portugal, respectively.

Another crash came in Bulgaria, while he was lying in fourth, and gaining on third. Car problems caused a poor finish at home in Finland, before a further 3 points and his first stage win came in Germany. Retirements in both Japan and France, and a shakedown crash in Spain cost him possible, and valuable, points. He did round out the year with eighth in Wales.

For 2011, the Junior Team was disbanded. Raikkonen instead entered his own team, ICE1 Racing with a new car, the Citroen DS3 WRC. It proved a successful venture, scoring points in all the events he entered, with highlights of sixth in Jordan and Germany. It all fell apart when the team made the decision to skip Rally Australia. ICE1 Racing was thrown out of the Manufacturer's Championship due to the fact that to be eligible for Manufacturers Points, all teams must compete in at least two events outside of Europe. Problems in France, Spain and Wales didn't net him any more points, so he rounded out the season 10th with 34 points.

After ICE1 Racing's exclusion from the Championship, Raikkonen's interest in rallying began to wane a little. The option to SupeRally in France, Spain and Wales was not taken, with SupeRally giving him the possibility of more mileage, thus more experience. Alarm bells began sounding after he tested an LMP1 Peugeot 908 and raced a NASCAR Truck in America. Time and mileage could have solved his teething problems in the WRC, but inevitably he decided that, after 2 years, the WRC and full-time rallying just wasn't for him, so he returned to the sport he knew best.