Kimi Raikkonen says, he never lost the passion for racing

Former F1 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen has ended months of speculation by signing a contract with Lotus – Renault team for the 2012 F1 season. While everyone expected him to sign up with the Williams F1 team, Kimi played it cool and went ahead to ink the contract for 2012 with Lotus-Renault team. Next year, the iceman will be driving the Black & Gold colored car and will be the sixth world champion on the grid.

Here are the excerpts of his interview with formula1.com

On the reason behind his comeback:

“The main reason was that I never really lost the passion for racing in Formula One, just maybe for all the other things around it. But when I did some NASCAR races this year I noticed that I was increasingly missing the racing side – to race against each other – because in rallying you really race against the clock. And then I got the call from certain people in Formula One. All sorts of things happened and we managed to have a nice conversation with Lotus Renault GP and make a deal – I’m really very happy with that!”

On choosing Lotus Renault:

“Really there were two options – it was this team or Williams, and everything worked out with Lotus Renault GP as we wanted, so that’s really the reason.”

On the changes in Formula 1 when compared to his last race in 2009:

“I certainly remember all the braking and how quickly everything happens. But compared to rallying, say, you have slightly more time. In rallying, it doesn’t give you a second chance. When you make a mistake you go off. There are no run-off areas. In Formula One you have a lot of run-off areas, you can run a bit wide and it is not such a big deal. You lose a lap in the practice or in qualifying but in the race you maybe don’t even lose a place. So this time, the braking and the G-forces will certainly come back very quickly. The biggest thing will definitely be to get the neck used to it again. All the rest will take a while but it’s not really a big thing.”

On the Pirelli tyres and DRS:

“Comparing 2009 to next year the biggest difference will probably be the tyres. I don’t think there is a lot of difference with the cars. DRS is a new thing but this is basically similar to before. The button that used to be for the front wing has disappeared, so now it’s for the rear wing. I would guess the main difference is really the tyres.”

On his driving skills and adaptability:

“I’ve been away for two years. I haven’t driven and I haven’t even sat in a Formula One car since the last race in 2009. I’m interested to get back into the car, I’m two years older now and I don’t think anything else has really changed. It has been really nice to try to learn rallying in the last few years. On some days it was hard. It’s been easier this year than last year but still it’s a very difficult sport. I’m really looking forward to coming back. At least Formula One is something where I know how everything works as I’ve been there for many years – compared to rallying when I didn’t know what would really happen. Then I went to NASCAR and I had no clue how it would be. So in that way it should be much, much easier to come back and it should be pretty normal.”

On his decision to return to F1:

“I would not have come back if I wasn’t motivated. There is always a lot of talk about motivation but nobody really knows what I do or what I think apart from myself so I don’t really care about what people say. But I’m happy to be coming back. I wouldn’t put my name onto a contract if I didn’t think I’d really enjoy it – so it will be interesting and exciting to get back!”