Raikkonen not ruling out 2011 F1 return rumours

Kimi Raikkonen has played down speculation he is eyeing a return to formula one for the 2011 season.

After a tough start to his switch to world rallying this year, the 30-year-old Finn scored his first points in this weekend’s Jordan Rally.

But, due to his existing contractual relationship with Citroen sponsor Red Bull, recent reports have linked him with replacing Mark Webber to be Sebastian Vettel’s 2011 teammate.

“The way I see it is that for now I’m a rally driver, so I’m not thinking about the past or the future, even though people keep asking me,” the 2007 world champion said.

“At some point I need to take a decision about what I do next, but that won’t be until the second half of the year at the earliest,” he said on the official WRC website.

“Everything is possible, but I need to know how I will get on in rallying before I take any decisions.  For now I have only just started and so far I am really enjoying myself,” added Raikkonen.

He insists he is not missing F1, and revealed that he was not even aware that Sepang is hosting this weekend’s third round of the championship.

“Somebody actually pointed out to me earlier that it was the Malaysian grand prix this weekend; I hadn’t even realised until it was mentioned,” he said.

© RIF|GMM