Vettel: “Difficult to judge” Räikkönen’s level

After a two-year hiatus, Kimi Räikkönen will make his return to Formula One in 2012 with the Lotus Renault Grand Prix team. Now official, after months—if not years—of incessant rumors, this return raises the question of the Finnish driver’s actual ability to be as competitive as in the past, after two seasons spent dabbling in Rally, a few NASCAR races, and more recently, endurance testing.

« It’s difficult to judge » estimates Sebastian Vettel in an interview conducted for 20minutes.fr during his visit to Renault Sport in Viry-Châtillon. « We’re all witnessing Michael [Schumacher]’s comeback. He left when he was at the top. But when he returned, he himself said that many things had changed, to which he had to adapt. If I look at the car I was driving two years ago, so many things have changed… It’s incredible. Even during the season, new buttons appear on the steering wheel. I can imagine that it would be difficult to return directly to the same level as before », continued the German.

For Hans-Joachim Stuck, former Formula One driver and double winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a pro like Räikkönen can also drive on three wheels if necessary: He has also proven himself in Rally: he hasn’t won anything important there, but he also drove fast cars. He has also raced in NASCAR. He can do it; it’s in him. Of course, he will have to readjust to many things, new tires, new cars, DRS, but I am absolutely convinced that Räikkönen can make it.

Steve Robertson, Kimi Räikkönen’s manager, assures that normally, Kimi only needs a few laps to adapt to something quickly.

Iceman himself believes that he shouldn’t have too much difficulty adapting to the changes in Formula One over the past two years: « It probably won’t be too hard. I drove in F1 for a long time, and the last time, there was already KERS and a lot of buttons on the steering wheel. The biggest difference will be the tires as it takes time to learn how to use them in the best way, concedes the Finn. « But it was more difficult when I transitioned from Michelin to Bridgestone tires. Today, I haven’t driven on F1 tires for two years, so I haven’t gotten used to anything else. From that perspective, it will certainly be easier. I discussed it with my friend Pedro de la Rosa [editor’s note: former Pirelli tester] and from what he told me, they perform quite well, with good grip right from the start, which, for me, is important. »

The fact remains that with the return of Kimi Räikkönen, Formula One regains one of its most iconic figures of the 2000s: « Sometimes, we are criticized for not being interesting enough, lacking strong characters in F1. It’s not entirely the media’s fault, nor the drivers’, it’s a bit of both » says Sebastian Vettel, who describes the Finn as « calm, not always, but most of the time. ».

And the Red Bull driver continues: « Kimi is criticized for not speaking, for behaving as he does. Sometimes, some of his attitudes might not be great, I agree with you. But on the other hand, it simply reflects who he is. »

For Steve Robertson, Räikkönen is returning to where he should be: My personal opinion is that when he left F1 after 2009, he was too young and too good to leave. He still has a lot to give to the sport, and when he asked us to explore possibilities, he kept pushing us to move forward, explains the manager in the Turun Sanomat before confirming that negotiations were indeed underway with Williams before, shortly before the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, we began discussions with Eric Boullier. Both parties wanted to reach an agreement quickly.