Räikkönen will drive the R30 to prepare
As off-season testing is banned in Formula 1, Kimi Räikkönen will prepare for his return to F1 in 2012 by using the Lotus Renault team's simulator and driving the R30 - which serves as a demonstration car at World Series by Renault meetings.
Kimi Räikkönen’s return is the talk of the town today following the announcement made by the Lotus Renault team. Some are wondering if the 2007 world champion will be sufficiently prepared to return to Formula 1 after two years away racing in the WRC.
The team based in Enstone provided an initial response, with Eric Boullier explaining in an interview published on the LRGP site that the Finnish driver could very soon use the team’s brand new simulator. The Finnish driver will also have the opportunity to drive the R30 – a 2010 single-seater used by the team as a demonstration car in the World Series – to familiarize himself with the new single-seaters and prepare for pre-season testing.
« First of all, our new simulator will be ready soon – that’s good news for him and for us. I think we will also be able to set up a few test days with the demonstration car, » said Eric Boullier.
The French manager also believes that the arrival of the Finnish world champion is excellent news for Formula 1, but especially for the Lotus Renault team as it could allow them to continue their growth.
« This is good news for the sport and obviously good news for the team. From a strategic point of view, it’s great to have a big name, a world-class driver, and a world champion in our ranks. He has committed to racing for us and he is clearly a very good person with experience when he raced for McLaren and Ferrari. And, seeing someone like Kimi join us clearly shows that the package we offered was good enough – we convinced Kimi to return to Formula 1!”, » added Eric Boullier.
