Sauber Group happy to support a Raikkonen racing return

Alfa Romeo team principal Frédéric Vasseur says that the Sauber Group would support Kimi Raikkonen if the Finn decides he wants to return to racing in the future.

Raikkonen, who competed in Formula 1 for over 20 years and won the 2007 Drivers’ Championship with Ferrari in 2007, is no stranger to racing in other forms of motorsport.

In 2010 and 2011, the Finn took time way from Grand Prix racing and competed in the World Rally Championship while also trying his hand at racing in the NASCAR Truck series in America.

The Finn ultimately returned to Formula 1 in 2012 with the Lotus F1 team before being tempted back to Ferrari as team-mate to Fernando Alonso.

Raikkonen’s second spell at the Italian outfit was not as good as his first one and in 2019 he moved to the Alfa Romeo F1 team, having made his debut with the outfit in 2001 when they were known as Sauber.

😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/EPSDYoDILb

— Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN (@alfaromeoorlen) December 14, 2021

Vasseur, who is Sauber CEO as well as team principal of Alfa Romeo, would be happy to help Raikkonen find opportunities in other racing series if that is something that the Finn would be interested in.

“I told him that I could help if he wants to do something else, that even the [Sauber] Group would be very happy to be supportive and to find other projects,” Vasseur said, as quoted by gpfans.com

”They are now almost everywhere – Le Mans and in Formula E.

“He was clear in his mind by saying, ‘No, I would prefer to close this short-term, and then perhaps in six months, eight months, I would like to do something else.”

Raikkonen has no immediate plans to return to any form of racing in the short term.

He now focuses on spending time with his family and friends after spending so many years on planes and different countries around the world – and was happy to walk away from the bullsh*t of Formula 1.

Kimi Raikkonen will be sorely missed

There has never been a character quite like Kimi Raikkonen.