Finland has produced a long line of great Rally drivers but never one quite with the pedigree or potential of 2007 Formula One world champion Kimi Raikkonen.

The 30-year-old former McLaren and Ferrari driver, known as the ‘Iceman’, has opted to forego the massive wages on offer on the Formula One circuit to have a tilt at capturing the world rally title this season – the first leg gets under way in Sweden next Thursday.

It is a decision the impassive unemotional Finn – though his readiness for laughs extends to competing in a powerboat race dressed as a gorilla under the pseudonym James Hunt in honour of the late Formula One champion (gaining his team the award for best dressed group) – is not regretting making.

“This is a different challenge,” conceded Raikkonen, whose older brother Rami is a rally driver, when the pilots came together for a press conference in Paris earlier this week.

“To be frank I am more interested in this than Formula One. Even when I was testing my Formula One car I never paid any interest to the times of the other drivers,” added Raikkonen, who will be racing for the Citroen Junior team.

Raikkonen, who was released by Ferrari at the end of last season and replaced by Fernando Alonso despite a year remaining on his contract, said he preferred the atmosphere and camaraderie around the Rally paddock to Formula One.

“This is very nice and more open than in Formula One,” said Raikkonen, who had 18 wins in 156 starts in Grands Prix with his first coming in the 2003 Malaysian Grand Prix.

“The teams are more friendly with each other. It’s great.

“It (the Rally stables) is very small. The people are closer in terms of personal relationships.

“Of course the challenge is different as in Formula One you are racing against each other, whereas in Rallying it is racing against the clock,” added Raikkonen, who has raced in one previous leg of the series, the 2009 Rally of Finland, which he failed to finish.

Raikkonen, who had an offer from McLaren which broke down over financial terms and didn’t fancy a move to Toyota, admitted he didn’t expect to make an immediate impact.

“Everything is new. I don’t know the places or the stages,” he confessed.

“It’s always exciting. You have to learn everything, gain experience and in all sorts of conditions. Also writing the notes on each stage and the direction to take is extremely important.

“I am learning from zero. With the notes, you have to write them so you can understand them. If they are not legible you make mistakes.”

Raikkonen, who when he first joined Ferrari replacing seven-times champion Michael Schumacher was on 51million dollars a year, also was at pains to downplay the rumours that this year was a means of breaking him in so he could step up and be six-time champion Sebastien Loeb’s team-mate.

“There are always stories like that. I just want to learn and we’ll see what happens,” he said.

Raikkonen also insisted that thoughts of him winning the title were overly ambitious.

“It would be great to win but let’s wait and see what happens,” he said.

“I don’t really know what to expect, I want to get into the points first and later in the season we can work on getting the car to go faster.”

German Formula One legend Michael Schumacher, sitting here in the pits of the Ricardo Tormo’s racetrack in Cheste, admitted he felt like a kid with a new toy as he took his Mercedes team car out for the first time here on Monday ahead of his official return to the sport after a three-year absence.

German Formula One legend Michael Schumacher admitted he felt like a kid with a new toy as he took his Mercedes team car out for the first time here on Monday ahead of his official return to the sport after a three-year absence.

Dozens of fans, photographers and journalists watched as the seven-time world champion completed several laps on the Ricardo Tormo de Cheste circuit during the first free practice session of the season.

“In a way, it’s like 1991, honestly,” said Schumacher.

“When I came into F1, I was shocked in the first lap and I was extremely excited at the second and further lap. It’s exactly the same today. I feel today like a young boy that has a toy in his hand and just enjoys himself.”

Wearing a red helmet, Schumacher admitted it was a strange feeling not to be lining up with his old Ferrari team.

“Yes, naturally I suddenly see my car, my old car on the track and I’m not sitting in it. It’s a strange sensation,” he said.

“But it’s good to see my brother (Ralf who is a test driver for Ferrari) on track, in the car. I’ll enjoy seeing my friends down at Ferrari some time this week.”

Mercedes took over Brawn GP, with whom Britain’s Jenson Button won the 2009 world drivers’ title, following the end of last season.

It has led to Schumacher teaming up again with former team owner Ross Brawn, the 55-year-old Briton who was in Schumacher’s pits for all seven of his world title wins – two at Benetton and five at Ferrari.

German Formula One legend Michael Schumacher, seen here on the Ricardo Tormo de Cheste circuit, admitted he felt like a kid with a new toy as he took his Mercedes team car out for the first time here on Monday ahead of his official return to the sport after a three-year absence.

Brawn is now responsible for making sure Mercedes’ Silver Arrow car is in perfect condition when the season starts.

Schumacher said: “The guys have done a superb job being out there just making a few control checks today and run the car reliable. We have done 18 laps, if I’m correct. For the first day, I think that is a superb job.”

Having retired in 2006, Schumacher, 41, broke a three-year hiatus to sign a three-year contract to race for Mercedes.

And he has made no secret of his desire to win an eighth world drivers’ championship title with Brawn as team principal at Mercedes and Nico Rosberg as his team-mate.

“I feel very good. I have worked out very well. I have prepared myself extremely precisely. For the best result,” said Schumacher, whose return to Formula One last year was hampered by a neck injury.

And his decision to wear a red helmet has nothing to do with his former Ferrari team, he insisted.

“Because it’s me, that’s my sign. At a time, there was a completely different reason why I chose this colour. Nothing to do with Ferrari. That’s me. That’s what I am.”

The first race of the season is the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 14.

German seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher poses during the presentation of the new Mercedes GP Petronas Formula 1 team, at the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart, southern Germany, on January 25. Having retired in 2006, the 41-year-old broke his three-year hiatus to sign a three-year contract to race for Mercedes GP and reunite with Ross Brawn.

Mercedes GP launched their new Silver Arrow car on Monday, but the real fire-power in the German team’s camp is set to be the renewed partnership between Michael Schumacher and Ross Brawn.

Brawn was in Schumacher’s pits for all seven of his world title wins – two at Benetton and five at Ferrari – and Brawn’s involvement at Mercedes was a significant factor in enticing Schumacher back to Formula One.

Having retired in 2006, the 41-year-old Schumacher has broken his three-year hiatus to sign a three-year contract to race for Mercedes which will reunite him with Brawn ahead of the new season which starts in Bahrain on March 14.

Schumacher has made no secret of his desire to win an eighth world drivers’ championship title with Brawn as team principal at Mercedes and Nico Rosberg as his team-mate.

“We have everything it takes to succeed, but it is one thing to have the correct ingredient and another to manage it,” he said.

“With the experience of Ross and with all the know-how of Mercedes: I am sorry, but there can only be one target for us to achieve.”

Even though Schumacher retired after the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2006, he stayed in touch with Brawn and the chance to work together again proved too strong.

“We have been in contact almost every year, when Ross went to Honda (in 2007 as team principal), he sort of suggested there was an option, but I wasn’t ready for it,” said Schumacher.

“We always kept in contact: sometimes he asked serious questions (about working together) sometimes it was a joke.

“When he called me at the end of last year, I knew why.”

Brawn GP F1 team owner Ross Brawn is seen during celebrations for the team winning the 2009 Formula One drivers and Constructors’ Championship titles in Brackley, in November 2009.

Brawn will be responsible for making sure the Silver Arrow car is in perfect condition when the season starts and the 55-year-old Briton said he is excited about the chance to work with Schumacher once again.

“Working with Michael again is a treat, it is something I didn’t think would happen again and it is something I am excited about,” said Brawn.

“Nico is an exciting prospect and I think he will be good for Michael – it will also help him to see how a world champion operates.”

Mercedes face stiff opposition in their assault on the world drivers’ championship from McClaren’s Lewis Hamilton and current champion Jenson Button, as well as Red Bull pair Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber.

“We are looking forward to closing the gap behind the other teams and we hope to have success in our cars, that is the aim,” said Schumacher.

“It is rare to have two or three teams in close competition like last year, but this year might also be an exception again.

“It doesn’t really matter honestly: we are there to win whoever we are up against.”

And in terms of his advancing years, Schumacher says he has nothing to prove.

“I just want to prove to myself that I am still able to do it,” said the German.

“The main reason I am doing it is because of the thrill.

“I feel a huge sense of excitement just to drive and compete at the highest level.

“It was great to have a three-year break, but now I see no reason why I can’t do it again at the highest level.

“Whether a driver is young or experienced, it doesn’t matter really.

“When you are in the car, you don’t look how old or who he is, you just look at doing better than he does.”

Having won five consecutive world titles with Ferrari, Schumacher says there will be no divided loyalties when the racing begins.

“There is quite a lot of my history and a part of my heart is (Ferrari) red and you can’t forget all the good moments we have had together,” he said.

“I am really looking forward to seeing some of my friends who I worked with for so long.

“I am still friends with them, we can compete, but it doesn’t mean we have to forget what has happened in the past. It is still deep in my heart.”

German seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher poses during the presentation of the new Mercedes GP Petronas Formula 1 team, at the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart. Schumacher admitted Monday he has been thrilled by the amount of interest from his fans in his return to Formula One racing.

Seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher admitted Monday he has been thrilled by the amount of interest from his fans in his return to Formula One racing.

Having retired in 2006, the 41-year-old has broken his three-year hiatus to sign a three-year contract to race for Mercedes GP and reunite with Ross Brawn, the man who orchestrated all of his world drivers’ championship titles.

Schumacher was at the launch of Mercedes’ Formula One car in Stuttgart and said he is looking forward to his first Grand Prix for three years in Bahrain on March 14 which is eagerly anticipated by his fans here.

“I have been taken aback a bit by the interest,” he said standing next to Mercedes’ Silver Arrow Formula One car.

“I was both surprised and thrilled to see the reaction.

“It’s a great thrill to be back and to be part of the Silver Arrow team, it’s great emotion and feeling I am getting from people outside.

“I’d like to thank the fans – it gives me extra push to do well.

“I am fit and I am looking forward to testing the new car next month.”

Brawn, who masterminded all of Schumacher’s seven world titles in the pits – first at Benetton and then at Ferrari – said he was delighted to resume their partnership on the track.

“Working with Michael again is a treat, it is something I didn’t think would happen again and it is something I am excited about,” said Brawn.

“Nico is an exciting prospect and I think he will be good for Michael – it will also help him to see how a world champion operates.”

Schumacher’s team-mate Nico Rosberg, the son of Finland’s 1982 Formula One World Champion Keke Rosberg, admitted he was excited to be working with both Schumacher and Brawn having raced for Williams in 2009.

“It’s very special,” said the German.

“It’s a dream come true to be able to drive the first silver arrow since 1955. It’s fantastic, I look forward to it

“Having Michael as a team-mate is great, it is going to be a great season.”

Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has teamed up with a Luxembourg investment firm to launch a last-minute rescue bid for Swedish carmaker Saab.

Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has teamed up with a Luxembourg investment firm to launch a last-minute rescue bid for Swedish carmaker Saab.

Genii Capital announced its “interest in making an offer for the acquisition of a majority stake in Saab SAS in a partnership with Mr Bernard Ecclestone,” in a statement just as the deadline for final bids for Saab expired at 2200 GMT Thursday.

The privately-held firm said it would “aggressively work towards a successful closing of the transaction with all the relevant stakeholders of the company.”

Saab has “tremendous brand value in a number of key automotive markets, as well as an innovative image,” it underlined.

Saying it had been “brought into the bidding process at a late stage by advisors close to the deal,” Genii is angling its offer around high-end on-board entertainment systems.

It said it wanted to work on “synergies with some of its portfolio companies in the areas of energy efficient engines, OEM (computing) components and on-board IT and media technologies.”

The bid focused on on “technologies that enable use (of) on-demand systems as well as innovative communications platforms such as VOIP (speech-based communications over the Internet) and GPS location-based services.”

Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has teamed up with a Luxembourg investment firm to launch a last-minute rescue bid for Swedish carmaker Saab.

Genii already has links with Ecclestone after it last month bought a stake in the Renault Formula One team, allowing the team to remain in the sport.

US carmaker General Motors announced in December it would wind up Saab, which employs 3,400 people in Sweden.

However GM extended a deadline to consider offers for Saab after Dutch sports car maker Spyker approached the US automaker with a last-ditch proposal.

Spyker chief executive officer Victor Muller said on Thursday it would submit a definitive, updated bid for Saab.

Saab is one of four storied brands that GM is shedding as part of a massive restructuring effort that began in 2005 and accelerated last year when the largest US automaker went bankrupt.

Analysts have warned that some 8,000 jobs could be lost with Saab’s closure.

Formula One’s governing body has insisted the lifetime suspension from motor sport imposed on former Renault boss Flavio Briatore, seen here in 2009, still applies despite it being overturned by a Paris court.

Formula One’s governing body, the FIA, insisted on Wednesday the lifetime suspension from motor sport imposed on former Renault boss Flavio Briatore still applies despite it being overturned by a Paris court.

The high court in Paris on Tuesday “ruled the sanction illegal,” citing “irregularities” in the FIA’s decision in September to ban Briatore for allegedly ordering Nelson Piquet junior to crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

Former Renault technical director Pat Symonds, who had been handed a five-year ban, also had his suspension overturned.

But the FIA said in a statement the court’s decision was “not enforceable until the FIA’s appeal options have been exhausted.”

“Until then, the World Motor Sport Council’s decision continues to apply,” the FIA said.

“In addition, the FIA intends to consider appropriate actions to ensure that no persons who would engage, or who have engaged, in such dangerous activities or acts of intentional cheating will be allowed to participate in Formula One in the future.

“The FIA’s ability to exclude those who intentionally put others’ lives at risk has never before been put into doubt and the FIA is carefully considering its appeal options on this point.”

The scandal centred on driver Piquet junior’s claims that the team had ordered him to crash deliberately at Singapore to enable teammate Fernando Alonso to go on and win.

Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher has signed a deal to return to Formula One racing with Mercedes GP for the 2010 season.

Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher said Wednesday he has signed a deal to return to Formula One racing with Mercedes GP for the 2010 season.

Having retired in 2006, Schumacher, who turns 41 on January 3, will reportedly be paid seven million euros (9.9 million US dollars) to be on the grid when the new season starts with the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 14.

“After a three-year break, I have all the energy again that I was lacking,” Schumacher told a teleconference with reporters after signing the contract late Tuesday.

Schumacher had been due to make a remarkable return last season for Ferrari — for whom he acted as a consultant after retiring — as a replacement for the injured Felipe Massa but was unable to because of a neck injury.

But the German said Wednesday the pain was behind him.

“My neck is no longer a problem,” Schumacher said. “Over the summer it was too soon after the accident. Now everything has healed.”

The pilot will return to Formula One having won 91 of his 250 Grand Prix races and started in Pole Position 68 times.

Schumacher will be linking up with Mercedes’s team principal Ross Brawn, who was the brains behind all of his world titles.

The German won the first of his World Drivers’ Championship titles at Benetton in 1994 and was successful with the Italian team again in the 1995 season. Michael Schumacher factfile

Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher has signed a deal to return to Formula One racing with Mercedes GP for the 2010 season.

In 1996, he transferred to Ferrari where he proved virtually unbeatable between 2000 and 2004, winning five further world titles. There will be huge interest in the impact Schumacher and Brawn will have now for Mercedes.

It will be 1239 days after Schumacher’s last Formula One race in Sao Paulo at the Brazilian Grand Prix in October 2006 and he joins Mercedes in an all-German racing team after compatriot Nico Rosberg, 24, signed up last month.

Schumacher’s signature is a major coup for Mercedes, who raced under the Brawn GP banner last season, and a blow to his former stable.

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo admitted last week he is distraught at the prospect of losing Schumacher to a rival team.

Di Montezemolo started working with Schumacher in 1996, when the German joined the Italian constructor from Benetton.

It was the Italian who first suggested to Schumacher he stand in for the injured Massa after the Brazilian’s horrific crash at the Hungarian Grand Prix in July.

“It was me that rekindled his desire to race after Massa was injured in Hungary,” the Ferrari chief had said.

Di Montezemolo admits he would have liked to see Schumacher back in a Ferrari but with Massa and Fernando Alonso already on their books for next season he simply could not offer the German a drive.

The momentum behind a possible return to Formula One by Michael Schumacher, pictured in August 2009, gathered pace on Monday when Ferrari announced they would not stand in the seven-time champion’s way.

The momentum behind a possible return to Formula One by Michael Schumacher gathered pace on Monday when Ferrari announced they would not stand in the seven-time champion’s way.

Schumacher has acted as a consultant for Ferrari since his retirement in 2006, a position he would have to relinquish if he took up the reported seven million euro deal to drive for Mercedes in 2010.

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo said the 40-year-old German’s role was “not binding,” a statement that removed yet one further obstacle to what would be a dream return not only for new outfit Mercedes and F1 fans but also for the sport’s organisers.

Di Montezemolo, in comments on the BBC’s website, added: “If he takes another road our agreement will no longer be valid.

“You can’t work with a competitor and with us at the same time.

“I still haven’t spoken to him about it. He is only a dear friend, not a team member. He is a consultant for our road cars.”

Schumacher was all set to return to the fast lane in August as a replacement for the injured Felipe Massa at Ferrari, only for his comeback to be thwarted by the neck injury he sustained in a bike accident in February.

Schumacher’s neck injury is now understood to have fully healed.

On Sunday reports from Germany suggested Schumacher had agreed a deal to drive alongside Nico Rosberg at Mercedes, the team that powered Jenson Button to the drivers’ title racing as Brawn GP.

Mercedes bought out the British-based outfit which rose from the ashes of Honda, with as its guiding light Ross Brawn, Ferrari’s former chief engineer.

Rosberg, who has already been signed up for Mercedes, is excited at having Schumacher as his teammate, the drive having become available with Button’s move to McLaren.

“I hope that my team mate will be sorted out pretty soon and at the moment the rumours are very strong for Michael Schumacher,” the 24-year-old said.

“I have no idea if it is true or not but obviously if he would join that would be an absolutely fantastic move.”

Former world champion Damon Hill weighed in to the ’should he shouldn’t he’ debate over a possible comeback by Schumacher at the weekend – urging the 41-year-old to go for it.

“If I can win a race when I was 37 in a Jordan, then Michael can definitely win a race in a Ross Brawn car at 41,” the Briton who won the title in 1996 wrote in The Times on Saturday.

If he did return Schumacher would be by no means the oldest driver to start a race – that distinction is held by France’s Louis Chiron, who was 58 years and 288 days when he lined up for the 1958 Monaco Grand Prix.

And should he return and actually win a race then Schumacher will be some 12 years younger than Luigi Fagioli, who was 53 years and 22 days when he won the 1951 French Grand Prix.

(L-R) Finland’s Heikki Kovalainen, Italy’s Jarno Trulli and Malaysia’s Fairuz Fauzy attend a press conference at the newly announced Malaysian-backed Lotus team in Kuala Lumpur on December 14.

Jarno Trulli of Italy and Finland’s Heikki Kovalainen were unveiled Monday as drivers for the new Malaysian-backed Lotus team in its debut 2010 Formula One season.

Team principal Tony Fernandes, an aviation mogul who founded budget carrier AirAsia, said the third driver will be Malaysia’s Fairuz Fauzy who is shifting from A1 Grand Prix.

“The appointment of Jarno, Heikki and Fairuz as our race drivers is a testament to the quality of our team, to our ambition and drive, and above all to our long-term vision of success in Formula One,” Fernandes said.

“I certainly think we have the strongest drivers. I’m quietly optimistic,” he said of the team’s prospects for victory.

“We now have an opportunity to win. The top five, top 10… it is no longer a dream, it’s a reality,” he told a press conference.

The Lotus team beat off competition from BMW Sauber to be named in September as the 13th team to compete in next year’s Formula One World Championship.

The new outfit is backed by a public-private partnership involving a string of top Malaysian entrepreneurs, as well as national automaker Proton.

Trulli, a veteran driver who was with Toyota in the 2009 season, said he hoped his long experience with multiple teams would be a boost for the fledgling outfit.

“We should not underestimate the task in hand. Formula One in 2010 is an exciting prospect with brand new teams, established manufacturers fighting back and of course other young teams looking to repeat their 2009 success,” he said.

Kovalainen drove for McLaren Mercedes alongside Briton Lewis Hamilton in 2009, but his contract was not renewed.

“I believe that appointing two drivers with the experience Jarno and I have shows how determined the team is to go racing in a truly competitive way, and our pairing sends out a very strong message to our competitors,” the Finn said.

Malaysian officials said Lotus was making good progress in getting its car ready for the 2010 season.

“Mid-January we are getting the build of the car ready and by mid-February the vehicle will be tested in the UK and will then be ready for shipping to Bahrain,” said Lotus F1 Racing CEO, Riad Asmat.

“We have the first race in March 2010 in Bahrain, the second in Australia and the third in Malaysia.”

Drivers pictured at the start of the 2009 British Formula One Grand Prix at the Silverstone circuit on June 20. The race has been saved by a deal that will allow the oldest race on the Formula One calendar to carry on being staged at its traditional venue Silverstone, organisers announced Monday.

The British Grand Prix has been saved by a deal that will allow the oldest race on the Formula One calendar to carry on being staged at its traditional venue Silverstone, organisers announced Monday.

Silverstone Circuits Limited said it had reached agreement with Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone on a contract which gives the Northamptonshire (central England) track the right to host the race for the next 17 years.

Ecclestone announced last year that the British Grand Prix would be transferred from Silverstone to rival venue Donington Park from 2010.

But Donington failed to raise the development funds it needed to be able to stage the race and, after missing a series of financial deadlines set by Ecclestone, fell out of the running in October.

That left F1 organisers with a choice between going back to Silverstone or the more lucrative option of moving the race to another country.

After weeks of negotiations over the terms and length of the contract, a deal was finally struck with Silverstone, two days before a deadline for the 2010 race to be included in the Formula One calendar.

Silverstone managing director Richard Phillips said the length of the hosting contract had been crucial and that the undivulged cost of the concession would be manageable for the circuit.

“We’ve always had five-year deals and never been able to get the investment we needed to redevelop,” Phillips said.

“But 17 years gives us the ability to invest and move forward.

“We’ve always had the belief the British Grand Prix was an important cornerstone of Formula One but, with Bernie, you’re never quite sure.”

Red Bull’s German driver Sebastian Vettel leads the pack at the Silverstone circuit on June 21 at the start of the 2009 British Formula One Grand Prix. The British Grand Prix has been saved by a deal that will allow the oldest race on the Formula One calendar to carry on being staged at its traditional venue Silverstone, organisers announced Monday.

According to media reports, Ecclestone had been seeking a payment of 12 million pounds (17.7 million dollars) for the rights to the 2010 race with an annual increment of seven percent used to calculate the cost to Silverstone of future races.

Damon Hill, the 1996 F1 driver’s champion and the President of The British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC), which owns Silverstone, welcomed the deal but admitted the venue would have to work hard to meet its commitments.

“It’s not easy to enter into an agreement of this magnitude,” Hill said. “It’s a big commitment.

“But the BRDC felt we wanted this relationship to continue, and we were prepared to back the negotiating team, with the level of risk satisfactory for the deal to go ahead.”

The first world championship British Grand Prix was held at Silverstone in 1950 and the venue has hosted most races since including all of them since 1987 when interchanging with Brands Hatch ended.

Ecclestone has, in the past, been severely critical of the venue, once claiming it was good it existed because it reminded fans “what watching motor racing was like in the old days.”

But he said he was happy with Monday’s deal. “This will ensure the British Grand Prix is included on the Formula 1 calendar for many years to come, which is something I’ve always wanted to happen,” he said.