Kimi Raikkonen: F1 hasn’t changed

Kimi Raikkonen has explained how Formula 1 has not changed much since he left the sport in 2009, after a highly uncompetitive season with Ferrari which saw the Finn’s motivation practically ebb away completely. However, after a competitive return to the sport this year with Lotus, Raikkonen seems reinvigorated as he strives to win again.

After miraculously becoming World Champion in 2007 for Ferrari, the Finn endured two rather frustrating seasons with the Scuderia. After winning six races in 2007 on his way to the title, Kimi Raikkonen was only able to win a combined three races throughout the next two seasons. This saw his motivation ebb away race after race, until he finally left the sport after the 2009 season to pursue a career in the FIA World Rally Championship.

However, after only two years away from the world of Formula 1, which also featured a stint in both the NASCAR Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series, the Finn decided to finally return to the sport with Lotus alongside Romain Grosjean. Unlike Michael Schumacher, Raikkonen immediately showed he had lost none of his competitiveness and by Bahrain was already finishing on the podium once again.

“It hasn’t really done anything.” Explained Kimi Raikkonen, when asked whether his break in Rallying had helped him. “I was pretty happy to go and do something else for a while, did some racing and I’m enjoying it again. It’s the same places - OK, there are some new circuits and places to come to this year and a new team, but apart from that, Formula One hasn’t changed and it’s exactly the same. For me, nothing’s really changed.”

One of the only changes to the sport during Kimi Raikkonen’s return this season has been the tyres, which have been a major talking point all year. During the 2009 season, Japanese tyre supplier Bridgestone were the sole tyre supplier up and down the grid. Refueling was also permitted, with pit stops occurring at what was then regarded as a traditional rate not entirely because the tyres were wearing out, but because more fuel was required.

With refueling now banned in Formula 1 during the races, tyre wear has become the major talking point up and down the paddock. However, the ‘Iceman’ has remained undeterred with the high wear rate of the Pirelli tyres throughout this season, which as certainly spiced up the action during the race weekends.

“I admit that I had some thoughts about the tyres before I did one private test - OK, it wasn’t the race tyres, it was some other even more worse tyres but I thought that they were fine.” Said Kimi Raikkonen, “When you come from rallying, they have much more grip and the tyres were OK for me so after that, I already knew that I would not have any issues, because there was a lot of talk that maybe it was not good, but when I came back, I didn’t really remember how it was two years earlier, so I thought that the tyres were completely fine and I still do so.”

Throughout the 2012 season, Kimi Raikkonen has successfully managed to finish every single racing lap, a feat achieved by no other driver on the grid. This alone shows just how competitive the Finn has been all season, despite not winning a single race so far. Raikkonen currently sits 3rd in the Drivers’ Championship with 167 points scored, and is still striving to take his first victory since the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix in the final four races.

Although the Finn has not been officially confirmed at Lotus for next season, the general belief within the paddock is that Kimi Raikkonen will once again partner Romain Grosjean at the Enstone-based outfit. Next season the ‘Iceman’ will most definitely be targeting races victories, if not his second Drivers’ Crown.

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