Kimi! Yeah (Raikkonen confirmed at Renault)

[Knock-on]

I wonder if there is any connection between Kimi joining and Davy Ryan appearing at Lotus recently?

[ArrowsFA1]

Petrov + Raikkonen - #DebriefingWillBeShort

https://twitter.com/#!/alex_wurz/sta...30724644454401

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[Dave B]

It's easy to forget that at the start of the season Renault-Lotus-Lada-Genii-Pugh-Pugh-Barney-McGrew-Cutherbert-Dibble-Grubb had two consecutive podiums, so maybe Kimi is convinced that with some development the car might be capable of winning again. Whether he's the man to bring that development is of course open to question: nobody's doubting his experience or speed but with limited testing there's only so much he can do if the car turns out to be another dog.

[Robinho]

I've surprised myself as I'm genuinely excited by this news. I always liked Kimi, but I didn't realise i actually missed him until te news came that he was definately back. Add to that the last 6 world champions, from the last 12 years will all be racing next year, which has to be a good thing.

Pity (personally) that it looks to have cost Senna his seat, especially if Petrov is retained cos he's done nothing so far to keep out Grosjean or Senna IMO. Would be nice if Kubica came back mid season, that could be quite a line up - Kimi and Kubica, that could rattle a few teams. Unlikely I know, but a nice thought nonetheless.

Hopefully Lotus (nee Renault) can build on the promise they showed at the beginning of the season, and not carry over where they finished the season and maybe with at least one top line driver could mix up the order in the front 4-5 teams.

[Bezza]

Great news . But I do have to agree that he came across as 'not even bovvvered' in his last season in F1.

Still though he outperformed the car, winning once and getting a run of podiums, comfortably beating Massa, Badoer and Fisichella that year. With more motivation, just think how fast he could be.

I am happy he is back, he is only 32 and has plenty of time left to get a second championship. The grid will change completely in 2013 & 2014 and this contract gives him the chance to show that he is worth a top-line drive - so there is his motivation.

He may find being at a lesser team actually more suits him - less PR, less pressure, more chance to overachieve.

[ArrowsFA1]

[youtube]hu8Uy9PkS5g[/youtube]

[52Paddy]

If this means that there is another driver who can challenge for podiums and, at a stretch, race wins, how on earth can this be bad news?

[jens]

Oh well. I wasn't really expecting these news. Even yesterday, while pondering about 2012 line-ups, I wasn't considering Räikkönen at Lotus. But I have to say it's not exactly a surprise either, because there were some rumours about contact between two sides. Bouiller has talked about needing a "big name" for the future, also after a difficult season LRGP has been evaluating future options and seemed to be quite flexible about, who to possibly hire.

Now interesting to think that the Williams rumours were really serious, but they quite suddenly died off just recently. Perhaps that was the moment, when Kimi got a better offer from LRGP and hence decided to abandon Williams. There was some talk about the purchase of equity in Williams, which was arguably denied - wonder if equity was part of negotiations with LRGP too? I think they (Genii) would welcome any new investment in the team. From that point of view long-term deal (it is 2 years as we are reading) makes sense, instead of abandoning the ship quickly.

Regarding motivation thing - perhaps Kimi realized that it would be better to earn something (for racing) rather than pay all his WRC drives, which would be quite expensive. Regarding performance, I guess the current rules could suit Kimi fine. He had some tyre warming issues later in his (previous) F1 career, but in 2005 he was going really well and back then we had tyres that had to last for the whole race! So perhaps Kimi prefers fragile tyres, much like Button.

Interesting partnership, but I'm unsure, how will this work out for the future. There were doubters about the Williams deal, critics saying that there is no point in joining a team that is going nowhere. Well, LRGP doesn't seem much better really, sometimes they have been performing in lower midfield late in the season. If they could get back their early-11 form on a consistent basis, everyone would be happy, but they could just as easily keep scraping for a single championship point every now and then. Like Williams, they have been in turmoil and need a fresh start. I don't think they have it in them to match Top4 teams in F1 at the moment - they would need quite a few changes, also significant further financial boost by the looks of it.

If this means that there is another driver who can challenge for podiums and, at a stretch, race wins, how on earth can this be bad news?

It largely depends on the car, how many drivers can challenge for the podium. If you are getting lapped like the whole midfield was this year, there is no chance for them.

[truefan72]

I am absolutely excited about his return!
So it will be petrov and Kimi then,

I wonder what that does for Grosjean and Senna

its a shame we don't have 14 teams like we were supposed to

[Mia 01]

I´m so happy, the best morning in years. Even if he not scores podiums it will be a joy to watch him. But, at Spa the odds aginst him won´t be high.

AHHHH Kimi, go go go!