Lotus Want Kimi to Stay

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Lotus are doing everything they can to persuade Kimi Raikkonen to stay with them next season, the British team's principal Eric Boullier has said.

The 33-year-old Finn's future has been the subject of much recent speculation.

While saying he was hopeful that the 2007 world champion would not leave, Boullier admitted several unresolved issues need to be dealt with before any new contract talks could take place.

Raikkonen is 63 points behind leader Sebastian Vettel in the championship.

Frenchman Boullier added: "It's clear Kimi likes racing for us and would like to continue, which is a testament to all the hard work put in by everyone.

"From our perspective, we can see what a complete driver he is and how much he brings to the team in many different areas.

"Kimi wants to be assured we have everything in place to tackle the significant changes we will see in the sport next year.

"We're working hard to assure him Lotus is where he should be, and piece by piece we are getting all our ducks in a row."

In last Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix, brake failure forced Raikkonen out of a race for the first time in 39 grands prix.

Lotus believe the problem was caused by a helmet visor tear-off that blocked a cooling duct, so overheating the component.

Boullier concedes if Raikkonen is to remain in the title hunt over the remaining eight races, starting in Italy next weekend, he and the team cannot afford another retirement.

"We're studying all the data and working on ways to avoid a similar situation from happening in the future," added Boullier.

"It was unfortunate for Kimi to experience his retirement, but this is sometimes part of motor racing, so we must now switch our focus to Monza.

"We need to get Kimi back on the podium and consistently. His 'Did Not Finish' in Spa was the first he has had with Lotus and we certainly don't want to see any more this season.

"We all know the gap to Sebastian is not getting any smaller, but behind Seb the battle is quite tight as we've seen over the last few race.

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Raikkonen Returns to Podium

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Kimi Raikkonen won an accident-strewn and thrilling Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix for Lotus, the team’s first victory in the sport since 1987. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso finished second, just 0.8 seconds behind, with Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel a close third to retain the overall championship lead after a race with two safety car interludes.

Vettel, who started from the pit lane, now leads Alonso by 10 points with two races remaining. They are the only drivers still in contention for the title. The victory was the first of Raikkonen's comeback season and first since the 2007 world champion won in Belgium with Ferrari in 2009. It was also the first win since 1987 by a car racing under the Lotus name.

It was exhilarating stuff throughout the 55 laps, from the first corner, through two safety car sessions, to the end. Messages to Raikkonen during the race were met with dismissive comments so typical of the Finn as at one stage he said: “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.”

Following his 19th career win, asked as to how he felt at triumphing in a race again, the ‘Iceman’ simply said: “Not much really.” Pressed for a response from David Coulthard, Raikkonen added: “I’m very happy for the team. It’s been a hard season, not an easy time, but hopefully this gives us more belief.

“I hope this can turn the tables and give us many more wins, if not this year then for next year.”

Team principal Eric Boullier said after last Sunday’s Indian Grand Prix that he felt the elusive win for his team would have to wait until next year. But seven days later Boullier was ecstatic as he said: “Oh my God! Those last few laps were the longest of my life.

“This means a lot. It’s the reward for everybody at Enstone after a tough three years. I am very happy for everybody at the factory. We missed out at the start of the season, which was frustrating, so I’m relieved for everybody.”

Alonso was content with second, despite the proximity of Vettel, and said: “I’m very happy. We were not super competitive this weekend. We had to fight through the laps, then we had a good strategy that gave us a chance for the victory, but second was the maximum.”

Vettel, who swore twice during his questioning, was initially asked whether he believed he could be on the podium after starting from the pitlane.

With a smile, he replied: “Yes, I did to be honest with you. After the first couple of laps the target was drifting. I had a messy start and damaged the front wing. During the first safety car there was a big mistake from Daniel (Ricciardo), but after that it was either full attack or nothing.

“The second safety car helped, then I had a nice fight with Jenson. It was a thrilling grand prix, up and down all the time.”

Asked about being so close to now winning his third world title, he said: “There are still two races to go. We saw how things can change yesterday (when he was penalised for a fuel irregularity). There was a chance we could screw it up, but we didn’t do that.”

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Returning Kimi Tops Jerez Testing

New Lotus signing Kimi Raikkonen completed a headline-grabbing return to F1 action at Jerez by ending the first day of winter testing at the top of the timesheets.

The 2007 world champion, making a comeback to the sport this season after a two-year spell in the World Rally Championship, topped the 12-driver field with a best time around the twisty Spanish test circuit of 1:19.670 set mid-way through the morning's running, which was enough to edge out Force India's Paul di Resta by a tenth of a second.

Nico Rosberg was third in the 2011 Mercedes - the Brackley-based outfit opting to complete more work on their new car rather than press it into service for the first test - with Mark Webber fourth in the new Red Bull RB8.

The double World Champions' start to pre-season had been slightly delayed in the morning by the late arrival of some car parts following earlier heavy fog in the area. But once on track just before midday local time, Webber steadily worked his way down into the mid 1m20s by the end of the day having put 54 laps on the car everyone has to beat in 2012.

It was a relatively low-key start for Red Bull's two chief rivals, McLaren and Ferrari, who, for what it's worth given it was only the first day of pre-season, finished over one and a half seconds adrift of the pace set by Raikkonen.

Jenson Button, the 2011 championship runner-up, kicked off McLaren's programme in the MP4-27 - which uniquely continues not to feature the 'stepped' nose seen on all other 2012 cars launched so far. The Briton completed 62 laps to finish eighth on the times, one spot higher than Felipe Massa.

"It's been a good day: this morning, we ran through our installation and systems checks and the running was good," Button said. "We've been gathering data on aerodynamics, downforce levels, temperatures and the feeling inside the cockpit.

"We did a 15-lap timed run this afternoon, which is a good starting point for us - and the consistency was okay. It's been a positive day: there are no niggly areas with the car, which is nice. Overall, today was just a starting point, and was all about putting miles on the car. There are some promising signs, so I'm happy."

Ferrari said Massa, whose F2012 was initially painted with flow-vis paint across its rear wing for the team to complete some early aerodynamic evaluations, concentrated on - as is normal for the first test with a new car - data collection during the course of his 69 laps on track.

Meanwhile, Daniel Ricciardo was an encouraging fifth on the timesheets on his first day as a Toro Rosso race driver - although the Australian youngster had the unfortunate distinction of bringing out the first red flag of the year towards the end of the day's running.

The Red Bull junior team later confirmed that a loss of oil pressure triggered a default setting for the car's engine to shut down. Earlier in the day, the mandatory new higher exhaust position on the STR7 was thought to have been causing the car's rear wishbones to overheat.

Seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher took over the W02 from Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg to get the ball rolling on the 19th season of his glittering career and ended up sixth, ahead of Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi who ground to a halt on the track late on to bring out the second red flag.

Up until that point Sauber had shown its C31 to be very reliable out of the box with their Japanese driver completing a sustained long run. He ended up with the most laps of anyone on the board, 106.

The rebranded Caterham team ended the first day 3.5s off the pace and had to cut short their programme after just 28 laps after damage to the car's starter shaft meant they were unable to start the engine.

Williams, who unveiled their new FW34 in the pit lane this morning, ran under Renault power for the first time since 1997 but they too encountered minor teething problems early on which restricted Pastor Maldonado to 25 laps.

HRT were the second team in action running a modified version of their old car as new signing Pedro de la Rosa made his debut for the Spanish outfit.

Provisional Tuesday times from Jerez

1) Raikkonen 1:19.670 75 laps

2) Di Resta 1:19.772 101

3) Rosberg 1:20.219 56

4) Webber 1:20.496 54

5) Ricciardo 1:20.694 57

6) Schumacher 1:20.794 42

7) Kobayashi 1:21.353 106

8) Button 1:21.350 62

9) Massa 1:22.815 69

10) Kovalainen 1:23.178 28

11) Maldonado 1:23.371 25

12) De la Rosa 1:23.676 44

Raikkonen Injured in Snowmobile Crash

Former world champion Kimi Raikkonen has injured his hand in a crash in a snowmobile race but his Lotus team say the Finn is not seriously hurt.

The 32-year-old is returning to Formula 1 with Lotus in 2012 after two years in the world rally championship.

The team, who raced as Renault in 2011, said on Twitter: "Kimi is absolutely fine. There's nothing to worry about, he only has a sore wrist.

"He might have it checked again on Monday, but that's all."

Raikkonen's return to F1 with Lotus was announced less than two weeks ago, and team boss Eric Boullier has said that signing the 2007 world champion should be taken as a mark of their ambition.

Boullier said the team's aim was to win the world championship "within the next two or three years".

Raikkonen, who will be partnered by Swiss novice Romain Grosjean, is effectively a replacement for Robert Kubica, the team's former lead driver, who missed the entire 2011 season after being badly injured in a rallying accident in February.

The team were heavily criticised for allowing Kubica to race in a different form of motorsport close to the beginning of the season.

Kubica suffered a partially severed right hand and serious arm and leg fractures.

It is still not known when - or if - the 27-year-old Pole will be fit enough to return to F1.

But if he does, it looks increasingly unlikely to be with his former team.

They have been trying to set up talks with him to discuss his comeback, and will let him use their facilities - including their simulator and old F1 cars - if he makes a long-term commitment to them.

But on Friday, Boullier said Lotus Renault's relationship with Kubica was at "point zero".

Kimi Raikkonen 2012 F1 Return

Former world champion Kimi Raikkonen will return to Formula One in 2012 after signing a two-year contract with Lotus Renault GP.

The Finn had been strongly linked with a move to Williams but Renault, who are set to start the season without the still-injured Robert Kubica, have instead snapped him up.

Raikkonen won the F1 title with Ferrari in 2007 but left the sport two years later to drive for Citroen in the World Rally Championship.

"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," Raikkonen told the official Renault website.

"My time in the World Rally Championship has been a useful stage in my career as a driver, but I can't deny the fact that my hunger for F1 has recently become overwhelming.

Ambition

"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."

The 32-year-old won 18 grands prix with Ferrari and McLaren during his first spell in F1 and Lotus Renault owner Gerard Lopez is delighted to have been able to recruit a driver of his experience.

He said: "All year long, we kept saying that our team was at the start of a brand new cycle.

"Backstage we've been working hard to build the foundations of a successful structure and to ensure that we would soon be able to fight at the highest level.

"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 One."