(REUTERS) – Kimi Raikkonen will prepare for his Formula One comeback with some laps in a two-year-old Renault race car in Spain this month before official testing starts in February, the Finn’s Lotus team said yesterday. “We can now confirm that Kimi Raikkonen will be completing some mileage in the team’s R30 car at Valencia on 23rd/24th January,” Lotus, formerly Renault, said on their Twitter feed.
The 32-year-old Raikkonen, the 2007 world champion with Ferrari, has not driven an F1 car since he left the sport for the world rally championship after the 2009 season-ender in Abu Dhabi, but had a seat fitting at the team factory in England last week.
The first pre-season test of the year will start at the Jerez circuit, in southern Spain, on February 7 when Lotus will have their new car on track.
Under cost-saving regulations that limit testing, Raikkonen will not be able to drive the latest equipment until Jerez nor will he be able to use the Pirelli tyres that were introduced last year.