Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean were at hand at Lotus F1 HQ in Enstone, Oxfordshire, to unveil the new 2012 car called the E20.

That E is actually an homage to the Enstone facility, which Lotus is very proud of. The car features the same classic black and gold livery as last year’s car, and it has the same stepped nose as any other car on the 2012 grid.

The front-exiting exhausts are gone in the E20 though, being illegal according to new rules.

But the cari s kinda overshadowed by the presence of Lotus F1 Team main driver, Kimi Raikkonen. After a two-year absence, most of which spent on rally stages around the world, Kimi is returning to the Formula 1 to prove he’s still go the performance that ought him his 156 Grand Prix race starts, 18 wins and 2007 world championship title.

He will be be racing alongside Romain Grosjean who’s just been promoted to a race seat.

Here’s a 20-minute long video of the unveiling ceremony:

The 2007 Formula 1 world champion Kimi Raikkonen will be back on the grid next season with Lotus F1 team. Before making his official debut in the actual car, however, he is going to need some practice to get back in the world championship mode. Here’s some footage of Kimi’s first practice with an F1 machine, a Lotus-Renault R30, in two years at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia. Both Kimi and the team seem to be happy with the test. The Finn hopes to have a more successful return than His Schumacherness.

via: Auto123

Is the Ice Man making Michael Schumacher’s mistake in returning to Formula 1?

It is official now. Kimi Raikkonen, the Finn 2007 Formula 1 world champion is coming back. Not with Williams, but Lotus Renault GP. After exploring rallying and even NASCAR, he has now signed a two-year agreement with Lotus Renault GP.

We are huge fans of Kimi, and we are obviously glad the Ice Man is back. But we  are kinda worried his return will be like Michale Schumacher’s: a total failure. Kimi himself says his skills and passion have remained intact, even though he’s been away from the sport for like three years. The great Schumi proved that it doesn’t really matter is you are till passionate. You have to be able to keep up with young guns like Vettel and hamilton.

We wish the best of luck for Raikkonen.

Kimi Räikkönen: “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. 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.”

Gérard Lopez, Genii Capital, Chairman: “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 1.”

Perky Jerky, the official sponsor of Kimi Raikkonen’s NASCAR career unveiled the livery of his No. 15 Toyota Tundra truck prepared by Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM).

The 2007 Formula 1 world champion will be racing under his ICE1RACING franchise which besides NASCAR also fields his World Rally Championship and motocross teams. Raikkonen’s sudden move to NASCAR received huge media attention all over the world due to the popularity of the champ, and the guys at Perky Jerky thought it would be a good idea to promote their still young business of spilling energy drink on beef jerky!

“Perky Jerky might only be two years old, but we have one of the best race car drivers in the world to represent our brand in America’s greatest race series,” said Brian Levin, Perky Jerky founder and chairman on the herd. “We look forward to seeing Kimi take the green flag on Friday for Perky Jerky and we’ll be cheering him along as will our Perky Jerky fans across the country and around the world.”

Already entrenched in NASCAR as the official and exclusive jerky of the Daytona 500, Perky Jerky has developed a marketing strategy that includes consumer sampling via velcro suits, better known as the “jerk suit” and tasting opportunities via the “jerk bar”, a traveling sampling display, which has become a must-stop at many NASCAR events around the country.

Kimi Raikkonen will drive the No. 15 Perky Jerky Toyota Tundra in the NC Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Friday, May 20, 2011. The race will air on SPEED beginning at 8:00 pm ET.

Some local newspapers are reporting that Finland’s last Formula 1 world champion Kimi Raikkonen has signed a deal to race in NASCAR series in America later this year.

Well, we cannot blame him! He achieved Formula 1 world title in 2007, then he tried rallying with decent performance and is now looking for a new field to satisfy his love of speed. The Nascar deal however might conflict with his ongoing WRC career.

As you know Kimi has already signed up for eight rounds of this year’s World Rally Championship in which he drives a Citroen DS3 WRC of the junior team. He’s got a bunch of sponsors there who definitely want him to accomplish something for them! Kimi is apparently going to keep both careers for now, specially as he will start his Nascar adventure in the Truck series before he qualifies to the Sprint cup and other nationwide series.

But Kimi apparently sees his future brighter in North America.

“I’m really looking forward to get there to familiarise to the world of Nascar,” Raikkonen told the paper. “I have been following it for a long time. I know, it’s a very tough and open top racing series.

“I just love the American spirit of racing. It feels just great to get involved with that. Obviously, it will be very challenging and great fun for me.”

Kimi Raikkonen has been and will always be our favorite racing driver not because of his performance, although he is a brilliant driver with great achievements, but because of his cool and laid back attitude. He’s not like other drivers who do acrobatics every time they win something. Keep it real Iceman!

source: Turun Sanomat via Autocar

picture: Kimi’s official website

With the recent rumors about Kimi Raikkonen ending his motorsport career following his father’s death, it’s a relief to hear that the Finn F1 world champion is still up and running! And he will be competing in 2011 World Rally Championship WRC with his own team, named Ice 1 Racing Team.

In 2011 Citroen won’t be running any WRC Junior team and they will just focus on the official team with Sebastien Loeb Sebastien Ogier. So Kimi has to enter with his own team and with his own sponsors. Apparently he has enough funds for just 10 races of the 13 rounds of 2011 WRC calendar, but he will be driving a Citroen DS3.

The former WRC champ Peter Solberg will also compete with Citroen DS3 running his own team, apparently for only one event unless he can come up with ore funds!

source: l’Equipe picture: Citroen-WRC

Former Formula 1 world champion and current rally driver for Citroen, Kimi Raikkonen published a teaser video of his “Iceman” documentary on his Youtube channel. To be released in 2011, this film will show you the life of Kimi as a rally driver. Actually this rally life must have been interesting for the Finn, as he seems more relaxed than the time he was in Formula 1. He talks more, smiles more, and we like to think drinks less! He recently ruled out the possibility of returning to F1 in 2011, as he signed for another year with Citroen WRC team.

Last month we had in reports that the Finn world champion Kimi Raikkonen has showed interest in returning to Formula 1 in 2011 season with Renault. The French team didn’t embrace him well though, although they said they’re happy that Kimi is interested in them, they will consider all the other options for the available seat as well. That apparently has made Kimi quite cross, so much that he’s now saying the hell with Renault, I’ll never drive for them!

Kimi admits that his manager has contacted Renault, but only once weeks ago, that’s it. He thinks that the French has used his name for marketing and making themselves look more interesting than what they really are!

“I am very disappointed with the way they have used my name for their marketing,”. “I have never seriously considered driving for Renault, and I can assure you 100 per cent that I will not be driving for them next year,”

GMM, pic: Forbes

The Finn world champion Kimi Raikkonen is set to return to Formula 1 after spending a season in world rallying. OK, it’s not official yet but rumors are quite strong regarding this, and Kimi will probably be the one to drive alongside Robert Kubica in 2011. If that’s the case, he will replace the Russian Petrov who is rubbish to be honest but has fat sponsors. Renault says that Raikkonen himslef contacted them and showed interest.

Kimi is a very talented driver, but he doesn’t really care about anything and he also had some problems with alcohol! We like to see him back on track so let’s hope he’s still as sharp as he used to be when he swapped the F1 seat for one in WRC. Then it would make sense for Renault to disregard Petrov’s money and invest in Kimi’s talent.

GMM, picture: MSN

You don’t get this in Formula 1! At this year’s Rally of Portugal, part of 2010 World Rally Championship, we got to see Ken Block and Kimi Raikkonen one on one in a super special stage. The first is a stunt drive mostly famous for driving his rally cars through the buildings, and the latter a former Formula 1 world champion who has switched to rallying this year. Kimi was struggling at the beginning of his WRC career, but apparently he’s getting the hang of it! Watch how he fights Ken, who’s a rally master, in the video after the jump. We don’t spoil the results for you!

Ignoring his chances to drive for a fine team in 2010 season of Formula1 world championship, 30-year-old Finn Kimi Raikkonen signed a one year contract with Citroen’s junior World Rally Championship team. Kimi, who is the winner of 18 F1 GPs and 2007 world title, will drive a Red Bull-backed Citroen C4. Well, we’d like to see him in Mercedes GP F1 team rather than Citroen, but at least in rallying, maybe being drunk at wheel actually helps him to drive better!!!

Raikkonen commented on the deal:

“I always wanted to compete in rally, especially in the World Rally Championship at some point in my career. Thanks to Red Bull, I have the opportunity to drive the best car of the series with the Citroën C4. This is a new but very exciting challenge. For the moment we have a one-year contract and we will see how it goes for the future. I am really looking forward to testing the car and taking the start of the first rally.”

Citroën Racing Director, Olivier Quesnel added:

“Red Bull’s commitment and energy are a perfect fit for Citroën’s ongoing thirst for victory. We will continue to count on Sébastien and Dani to defend our world titles in 2010, and we will also be prolonging our association with Sébastien Ogier who showed outstanding potential this year. Last but not least, it is with immense joy that we welcome Kimi Räikkönen to our ranks. We are very proud that he has chosen Citroën. In addition to the confirmation of these four crews, we will hopefully be able to announce other programmes over the coming weeks.”

via: WCF

After a poor performance in 2009 Formula 1 season, the future of Kimi Raikkonen is now in doubt. Of course when we say poor performance, we mean in comparison to his championship-winning mode! He has won a GP this year and scored some good points as well, but it wasn’t really his best. Anyway, as for now, some say that he is about to close a deal to go rallying in WRC next year, and some say that his management people are in talk with the newly shaped Mercedes Grand Prix team.

As Autosport reports, 2007 F1 world champion is in the final stages of closing a deal with Red Bull team to drive their Citroen C4 WRC in 2010 season. After all Kimi has already shown his passion for rallying and he certainly got what it takes.

But then, after recent acquisition of Brawn GP by Mercedes which led to separation of McLaren from the German team, Kimi seems like a good option to drive for Mercedes’ new team. Specially as McLaren has formed a double-champ super team with Hamilton and Button! There are some rumors saying that Nico Rosberg and Nick Heidfeld are the main candidates to drive for Mercedes, but considering experience and performance, Kimi is in a way different league than the German duos!

We hope that Kimi stays in Formula 1, not only because he is a good driver, but also because the Ice Man is one of the coolest F1 drivers around! and he still got a lot of potential. Of course if he feels like fighting for it! If only!

Ferrari officially announced that the 27-year old Fernando Alonso has signed a three year contract with the Scuderia and will replace outgoing Kimi Raikkonen from the beginning of 2010 Formula 1 season. Felipe Massa will remain on board as Alonso’s teammate for the new year, while Giancarlo Fisichella will get the job of test driver.

As for Kimi Raikkonen, he will almost certainly join McLaren Mercedes. The winner of 2007 championship with Ferrari is reportedly getting his full 2010 salary before he leaves the red team. McLaren’s sponsor Sanatnder  is said to be the one who pays Kimi’s fee!

The 29-year old Finn has commented on the deal: “With common consent, we have agreed to terminate the contract binding me to Ferrari to the end of 2010, I am very sad to be leaving a team with which I have spent three fantastic years. I have always felt at home with everyone here and I will have many happy memories of my time with the team.”

GMM

picture: Guardian.co.uk

There are some rumors flying around that the 2007 Formula1 world champion and Ferrari’s number one driver Kimi Raikkonen is leaving the Scuderia at the end of 2009 season, heading back to this old team McLaren Mercedes where he had some good years between 2002 and 2006. Kim’s contract with Ferrari is still good for another year, so even if the news is right, first things has to be settled with the Italian team.

According to the Mirror newspaper’s report, Kimi is willing to vacate his seat in Ferrari but he wants his full 2010 salary which is estimated to be in the neighborhood of $49 million beforehand! This report is also fuel to the fire of the other rumor about Fernando Alonso joining Ferrari in the next season.

Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen pairing sounds like a dream team for McLaren, as the Finn is now 29 years old and can play the mentor role for the young and talented Brit! Something like the old days when Kimi and Mika Hakinnen had made a championship winning team for McLaren Mercedes.

GMM via Auto123

Ferrari driver Felipe Massa has undergone a surgery at AEK hospital in Budapest following his crash during today’s second qualifying sessions for Hungaroring Grand Prix. Barrichelo’s car fallen spring caused this injury as it struck the Brazilian in the helmet, then he lost control and ended up in the barriers. He had suffered a damaged skull and broken forehead.

Felipe was airlifted to the hospital where he got the surgery on his head. The operation has gone well and Massa’s condition is stable, but he is kept under observation in the intensive care unit. Ferrari will announce an update on this tomorrow morning.

Ross Brawn has also commented on their car’s problem: “We had a problem at the back, so we are still investigating and we haven’t had the piece back from the FIA yet so once we get it back we can understand what occurred and then draw some conclusions,”

It is the first time we’ve had a problem with the car. The car has been really reliable and we are obviously looking all through the data to understand what caused the problem. It is hard to comment at the moment until we have studied everything. We put a new component on Jenson’s car in qualifying just to be safe, but we are still studying everything that went on to understand what happened.” Said Mr.Brawn

Looks like Kimi Raikkonen was right in saying that their team is cursed! In the course of a bad season, this accident was also really unlucky for them. Obviously Massa won’t be driving in sunday’s race.

source: autosport

picture: Guardian.co.uk

Our favourite Formula1 driver Kimi Raikkonen, bored with the downturn in F1, is going to amuse himself attending a World rally Championship race in his home country Finland next month. The Iceman will be driven an Abarth Grand Punto and will be navigated by KajLindstrom.

Although Rakikonen has some experience on snow and tarmac, but in Rally Finland for the first time he will race on gravel, which is much much tougher. His co-driver who has worked with Tommi Makinen, another Finnish WRC champion, thinks that despite all the hardships Kimi will cope with the situation since he’s a very talented driver.

He is a talented driver indeed. He’s a Formula1 world champion, the title he won in a neck on neck battle with Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso in 2007 season. He is a bit unlucky though! If he was blessed like Hamilton or Alonso he’d now have at least four world titles. I’m not saying what those two have done are just due to luck, but worst crashes and mechanical failures always happen to Kimi right at the worst possible time! He is the coolest Formula1 driver of all times mainly because of his unshakable attitude, whether he wins or not.

via: Autosport

Scuderia Ferrari was the first team to launch their Formula1 car for 2009 season. Named F60, the car is now in hands of drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Fillipe Massa at Mugello circuit for final tests and adaptations. More details about the Ferrari F60 HERE. Meanwhile take a look at this video, in which Massa takes the ride for a spin around Mugello. Some say the car has some issues with downforce and engineers are currently working to address it! Hope they fix it in time for opening Grand Prix in Melbourne.

]]> http://www.motorward.com/2009/01/video-ferrari-f60-formula1-car-track/feed/ 0 http://www.motorward.com/2009/01/ferrari-unveiled-2009-formula1-race-car/ http://www.motorward.com/2009/01/ferrari-unveiled-2009-formula1-race-car/#comments Mon, 12 Jan 2009 16:17:57 +0000 Arman Barari http://www.motorward.com/?p=2012

Ferrari is the first team to launch their car for 2009 Formula1 season. Called F60, with 60 to highlight the fact that Ferrari has been in all of sixty races in F1 history, the car launched at a ‘low-key’ event in Mugello circuit. The defending champion will come with the same lineup as previous season and both drivers, Kimi Raikkonen and Filipe Massa are fully prepared for new year, regardless of dramatically different 2009 rules.

Technical Details

Now equipped with a KERS system, slicks and bodywork to meet the new rules, the car is the first chance we have seen to see a definitive 2009 car. Slightly shorter than the F2008, the F60 cleverly exploits every blind spot in the bodywork rules to recoup the 50% loss in downforce from its smaller wings and diffuser.

Looking at the front wing, the outer spans are the important bits as the middle section is made to the FIA template. Ferrari have a simple initial wing design, supplemented by small cascade wings elements fitted to the end plate (the new rules do not allow bridge wings). The endplates themselves now aim to sweep around the outside of the front tyre: to aid this a small fence has been added to the footplate.

Inside the end plate is the mechanism that will allow the front wing flap to adjust up and down once per lap under the drivers control. There will be no ‘nose hole’ this year as the new rules preclude it.

Despite the aim of the Overtaking Working Group’s derived rules to ban bargeboards, there are a three spots where Ferrari have found space. Two small vanes have been added below the chassis near the lower front wishbone mounts. These are followed by a larger vane low down just ahead of the sidepod.

The sidepod fronts are the main area of aerodynamic freedom, as they are described in the rules as the area for side impact protection and thus excluded from the limitations placed on the three volumes making up the rearward part of the sidepod. To exploit this, Ferrari have shortened the sidepod front as much as possible to allow more vanes to be added.

As this area still needs to contain the side impact protection, a curious extension to the upper front of the sidepod has been added. Nick Tombaziz said this was for aerodynamic reasons rather than for a side impact structure.

The rearward bargeboard encroaches into this area and a pod wing rises up from the floor to also form the rear view mirror housing. Further back along the sidepod, the F60 makes the most of the openings allowed under the rules for cooling. Both the exhaust outlet area is maximised as well as the opening, supposedly for suspension to pass through.

Despite these openings and the 18,000rpm limit, the sidepods still need more cooling outlets and the coke bottle shape extends to the rear axle line in order to create the main exit, which is almost oval in shape.

The diffuser and rear wing appear to be simple initial interpretations of the new rules: these along with the front wing and sidepod front will no doubt evolve as testing continues.

Mechanically the car sports a new Brembo braking system and new geometry for the front suspension to maximise use of the slick tyres. The engine, coded as the 056, has been re-tuned to 18,000rpm limit and to last three race weekends as per the new rules.

The engine has been submitted to the FIA for homologation and the changes largely have involved inlet and exhaust tuning, as well as oil and fuel development. Still allied to a carbon titanium gearbox, the power train now includes the KERS system, which appears to drive its motor\generator off the front of the engine.

Additional cooling inlets have appeared in the front of the sidepods to cool the additional control units for the electrics. The system had yet to run on track before the launch, but Gilles Simon confirms it is in use on the launch car. To allow the driver to use the KERS boost a conspicuous “K” button has been added to the revised steering wheel.

The car made its first laps this morning and running will continue this afternoon.

From : Autosport