Kimi Raikkonen decided to walk away from the F1 paddock for the 2010
season, not the other way around, his manager Steve Robertson insists.
The 2007 world champion agreed to end his Ferrari contract one year early
and was subsequently linked with moves to the McLaren, Toyota and
Brawn/Mercedes teams.
But Finn Raikkonen, 30, ultimately signed with Citroen to make his full
time debut in the World Rally Championship, leaving the door open to
possibly returning to F1 in 2011.
Robertson told the Turun Sanomat newspaper that Raikkonen turned down
offers to drive in F1 next year because he was determined to try his hand
at serious rallying.
"Mercedes wanted to have Kimi," the Briton confirmed. "But by this time
he had already decided to go to WRC. Kimi doesn't change his mind."
Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali confirmed that a proper rallying foray
was always a goal of Raikkonen's.
"Kimi was speaking about it with me already years ago," the Italian told
Autosprint. "He always wanted to do rallies at world championship level."
Two weeks before the world championship season begins in Sweden, Raikkonen
will make his debut in a Citroen C4 in Finland's Arctic Lapland Rally in
January.
His co-driver Kaj Lindstrom told wrc.com that a pre-rally test on Finnish
roads in January is also a possibility.
"That's what we'd like, but at this stage we haven't agreed a plan with
Citroen. We'll find out more in the New Year," he said.
