Lotus refuses to let Räikkönen participate in the Rally of Finland

If he has returned to his first love, that of Formula One, Kimi Räikkönen does not seem to have given up on his interest in rallying, which he had engaged in over the last two seasons. Therefore, it is not surprising to read in the columns of Autosport that the Finn would like to participate in the famous Rally of the Thousand Lakes in Finland at the beginning of August, just as Formula One enters its now traditional “summer hibernation”: “I would like to participate in the Rally of Finland this season as it fits with the calendar, but I need to ask the team if it aligns with my contract,” confessed Iceman.

However, once bitten, twice shy, everyone remembers that in 2011, the Lotus team lost its leader, Robert Kubica, due to an accident at the Rallye Ronde di Andora where the Pole narrowly avoided amputation. Consequently, while the return of the Krakow native to the premier discipline remains more than uncertain, it seemed unlikely that the men from Enstone would take that risk again with Kimi Räikkönen. Eric Boullier, director of the British team, quickly dispelled any potential doubts: “Contractually, he cannot do it. End of story,” he told the Reuters agency. “Of course, we are traumatized after 2011, but we cannot allow other contracts with the drivers… There is supposed to be a clause where they cannot take the slightest risk because they are valuable to the team. Rallying, skiing, parachuting are not allowed.”

The 2007 World Champion had already made headlines last December after a fall during a snowmobile race in Austria. During his appearance on the famous show *Top Gear*, the Espoo native admitted, in half words, that he had indeed broken his wrist during that fall, despite having downplayed the incident at first. The Lotus F1 team, however, did not oppose the snowmobile race, simply because they couldn’t, as Eric Boullier explains: « He started racing for us in 2012, not in 2011, so he was under contract with another brand. »