This generation's 'Bad Boy' of F1 is back. Kimi Raikkonen has signed up with the Lotus Renault F1 team for a two season contract. After being away for two seasons, a F1 team has decided to bring him back into the pinnacle of motor racing, finally. Lotus Renault, which by next year will be renamed 'Lotus' without the 'Renault' has decided to bank on the 2007 world champion.
 

Raikkonen chose Renault over Williams. The reason for this must have been Renault's larger budget (able to meet an ex-world champion's salary demands as well as having the better car during the 2011 season). The reason for Renault Lotus' signing of Raikkonen is the fact that their earlier choice Robert Kubica is still out of action after almost losing his arm in a rallying accident. With no heavy hitters on the market, I suppose Renault Lotus had to look at a former world champion to be the best bang for their buck. It makes perfect sense and it also makes F1 a little bit more colourful. I mean, have you ever seen a Kimi Raikkonen post race interview?

If you had it would be something like this;
“IwouldliketothanktheteamfortheireffortinsettingupthecarItperformedverywellandIcouldkeepupwiththepeopleinfrontWecouldhavedonebetterifnotforthebadluckIalsothinkthatwecandobetteratthenextraceaswearestilldevelopingpartsforthecarandIhopetogetsomepointsatthenextracetooThankyou”

All of this is spoken in a very demure and monotone as well as being totally lacking in punctuation. You can hardly make out what he is trying to say something. And then he leaves. He only does what he is expected to do for the sponsors and not a bit more. In fact, the reason he stopped racing in 2009 (He was with Ferrari then) was the fact that the F1 circus required him to do interviews (which from what I see he clearly dislikes) and those sponsorship events. He prefers to party hard with friends and family. It is because of this that I truly enjoy watching him in F1, or in any other motorsport event.

Of course the last couple of years away from F1 has not been quiet for 32 year old Kimi Raikkonen. He has been rallying hard trying to become a world rally champion too but he then found it too different from Formula 1 – he kept crashing as well as participating in NASCAR over in America for 2011.

I suppose this would make the 2012 F1 championships even more interesting as we have another world champion in the field. Alonso, Button, Hamilton, Schumacher, the current champion Sebastian Vettel and now 'the Iceman' Kimi Raikkonen. Its going to be smashing. I hope.
 

- Kimi Raikkonen rallying

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