Raikkonnen closes door to Renault

Despite having been linked with Renault F1 over the last few weeks, Kimmi Raikkonen has confirmed that he won’t be making a return to Formula One with the French team on the 2011 season.

The Finn had already confirmed the start of talks with the team just after the Belgian Grand Prix in August and Renault seemed to be willing to celebrate a deal with the former champion, as long as the Finn could prove his motivation to comeback.

With the talks not even getting to a neither serious nor decisive moment, Raikkonen has already ended the buzzes by saying that he isn’t interested in Renault’s proposal and expressing unhappiness toward the attitude of the team.

On Turun Sanomat, a Finnish newspaper, Raikkonen said: "I am very disappointed with how they have used my name for their own marketing. I have never even seriously considered driving for Renault, and I can assure you that I am 100 per cent sure that I will not drive for Renault next season."

This week Renault team principal Eric Boullier said that his team felt encouraged for the single fact that the Finn driver showed a possible interest in returning to F1 with it.

Answering a question made by the official Formula 1 website, Boullier said that it was flattering that Raikkonen was in contact with Renault F1 “because it shows that the work we've done this season is noticed and that we are considered a challenger for the championship in the future.”

With Raikkonen closing the door to a comeback with Renault, Vitaly Petrov should retain his spot on the team, although the Russian must still improve on his form to secure it.