Raikkonen back at the wheel

23/01/2012

2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen, who is returning to the sport after a two-year absence, was back in an F1 car this morning at Valencia.

The Finn has been given a two-day acclimatisation test with his new Lotus team at Valencia's Ricardo Tormo circuit.

While the rules forbid him running in a contemporary car or on race/test tyres, the Finn has been given permission to run a 2010 Renault on demo (non-test) tyres.

Sporting a new helmet which bears his 2012 race number (9) the Finn told reporters that he is confident he still has his raw speed. He also admitted that getting to grips with the new tyres will be the biggest hurdle he faces but that he doesn't expect this to be too much of a problem.

Dropped by Ferrari at the end of 2009 in favour of Fernando Alonso, the popular Finn subsequently took part in the WRC with Citroen and also NASCAR.