“Kimi will definitely be out racing this year. The stories that say he won’t be doing anything are very much wide of the mark. But with his limited experience, it may be better for him to do some additional testing while the others are competing,” said Robertson, according to WRC's official website.
Following the death of his father near Christmas, some media in his native Finland hinted that Raikkonen is contemplating a potential retirement from the sport all together. Those rumors are now off, as it was confirmed that the former F1 racer has already lodged an entry on this year’s World Championship under the ICE 1 Racing banner.
Raikkonen's programme will likely be supported by private sponsors – we're yet to find out if Red Bull will continue to back him in the series – and the Finn will continue to drive a Citroen rally car, a works prepared DS3 WRC. As far as his selection of rounds goes, the WRC site notes that “Raikkonen is likely to give the long-haul events that are not likely to form part of the World Rally Championship in future a miss this year.”
Additionally, Raikkonen also addressed rumors that he's thinking about a return to F1 in 2012. While avoiding to rule out such a move, he admitted that going back to single-seater racing after 2 years of absence would be a harder decision than many would believe.
“It’s not impossible, but it certainly makes it harder to go back, the longer you leave it. If I missed Formula One I would have gone back, but in fact I haven’t missed it at all.”
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