Esto va a alegrar a más de un@!!! a que si Aitzi???
Raikkonen signs with Lotus Renault
2011/04/01 by Jakob Schmidt
2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen, has revealed that not only will he return to Formula One, but the contract has already been agreed.
After taking the title in 2007, after fierce competition between him, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, the Finn´s interest, and results, for the sport declined and he moved into rally driving in 2010, driving for the Red Bull sponsored Citroen team. But now the Iceman has surprised everyone by agreeing favourable terms with no other than Lotus Renault.
The team is locked in a name battle with Team Lotus over the rights to the Lotus name, and their season looked set to be well prepared, when Robert Kubica crashed his rally car in Italy in February. Suddenly the team was missing a fast driver and after some time, they decided to hire Nick Heidfeld to replace Kubica. But his performance in the season opener in Australia, was a disappointment for team boss Eric Boullier, who said:
“Naturally we were running out of time and had to look for a replacement for Robert very quickly. We settled on Nick, becaus he has a proven track record, he is very fast and extremely experienced. However, his contract was ‘race-by-race’,meaning we always had an option to replace him, should someone better turn up.”
Boullier also said that he was sad to let Heidfeld go, but stated once and for all, that Lotus Renault are here to win.
“Yes we want to win. We might not do it this year or next year, but the package is very strong. Vitaly´s third place finish was exactly what we needed to sklence our critics and now that we have agreed a cotract with Kimi, the team will definitely move into the top.”
The details of the contract between Raikkonen and Lotus Renault are closely guarded, but a source close to the team said that he have been offered $24 million per year. Raikkonen will be in place in the black and gold race car for the Malaysian Grand Prix next weekend.