KIMI RAIKKONEN IS to return to Formula 1 next season, just two years after quitting the sport in favour of rally driving.

The 32-year-old Finn, winner of the driver’s championship with Ferrari in 2007, has agreed a two-year deal with Lotus Renault GP.

Raikkonen’s surprising return to the grid had been rumoured in recent weeks with reports indicating that he had opened negotiations with the Williams team.

But announcing his comeback this morning, Raikkonen said that Lotus GP’s ambitious nature made them ideal partners for his return to the sport.

“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 said.

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.

“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.”

In his nine years as Formula 1 driver, Raikkonen has won 18 races and finished on the podium 62 times.

His crowning moment came in 2007 when he won three of the season’s final four Grands Prix to pip Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso to the driver’s championship by a single point.

“All year long, we kept saying that our team was at the start of a brand new cycle,” Lotus Renault GP chairman Gerard Lopez said this morning.

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.

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