Raikkonen's return: Great comeback or uncomfortable epilogue?

Kimi Raikkonen's return to Formula 1 is fantastic news for the sport. The big question is whether it's such fantastic news for the team that's just signed him.

First things first, I'm not anti-Raikkonen. In fact, an on-song Kimi is a joy to behold, and there's also a lot to like about his no-bullshit attitude to the sport.

He's a ferociously fast racing driver who might already have at least one more world championship to his name had Mercedes provided as reliable engines in the middle of the last decade as it does now.

He also performed far better in 2008 and '09 than people give him credit for. In '08, although his performances tailed off in the final quarter of the season, he still had a good turn of speed, but struggled with the balance of the Bridgestone tyres.

Granted, it's a driver's responsibility to adapt, but during the phases of the race when the balance shifted away from understeer, he was as fast, if not quicker, than anyone. Ten fastest laps that season were clear evidence of this.

There is no doubting Raikkonen's fundamental ability. Neither is there any question that, at 32, he is still plenty young enough to have a long-term future in Formula 1.

What's not certain is whether he will be sufficiently driven to deliver on that ability, and willing to persevere with a team that can't guarantee that it will provide him with a race-winning car from the off.

Raikkonen returns to the sport he left in 2009 © LAT

There are two schools of thought here, and I'm hoping this first hypothesis is true: Raikkonen has had a couple of years away from F1, a clean break that's allowed him to rebuild his tolerance of the more tiresome aspects of grand prix racing - most of the things that happen outside of the car, in fact - and is ready to commit wholeheartedly to the sport.

Maybe, like many fans, he realises that his prodigious talent isn't done yet with F1 and there's still far more to come, with further victories to be claimed and maybe even another championship - or more - to be won.

Perhaps not always as dedicated as he might have been - certainly not when compared to the intensity of a Fernando Alonso or a Sebastian Vettel - maybe he returns renewed, newly motivated and determined to realise fully his remarkable talent.

That's the Raikkonen everyone hopes to see; and that is the Raikkonen we may just see, for word has it this is exactly the mindset of the man that wants to return to F1. It's certainly a plausible outcome.

The theory is that he'll come back full of good intentions, but become rapidly bored by the prospect of having to prove himself in a team that needs to make a big improvement to compete for wins next year.

Far from being motivated to help rebuild the team, will he allow himself to slump back into going through the motions? He was full of good intentions when he switched to rallying, but according to WRC sources he wasn't as willing to put the leg-work in on esoteric skills like creating and driving to pace notes.

Currently, there's no evidence to box Raikkonen into either of these corners. We will see next year what version of the Finn turns up - and there would be nothing better than an all-guns-blazing Ice man on the grid.

For Renault, which will transform into Lotus next year, 2012 is critical. After this season fell to pieces thanks to an innovative and potentially inspired exhaust system that ultimately didn't live up to expectations, and the loss of Robert Kubica's services, it must regain the momentum that it built in 2010.

And, as team principal Eric Boullier has pointed out, it wasn't just a very fast racing driver that Renault lost, it was the driving force and beating heart around which the team had been built.

Renault needs to bounce back as Lotus in 2012 after a difficult year © Sutton

That is Raikkonen's challenge. To extend the metaphor, he is the transplant heart, and it must be hoped that the team will not reject this new organ.

Those who have worked with the Finn report that he's very easy to get along with, but if there's a feeling that he is not giving of his best, it could be devastating for already fragile team morale.

Raikkonen faces this against a backdrop of two years out of F1 during which it's changed considerably, with the arrival of Pirelli tyres, DRS and the outlawing of refuelling.

The question isn't so much whether he can get back up to speed with limited testing, but whether he can be the driver that a team in desperate need of being lifted needs.

It's too early to draw firm conclusions, but the fact that Raikkonen does have something to prove explains why this is something of a gamble for Renault. And it's going to be a while before anyone knows whether it will pay off.

There's no question that the 2007 world champion has it within him to re-establish himself as a top-liner. Let's hope for the sake of the sport, the team and the man himself, that this becomes one of the great comebacks, rather than an uncomfortable epilogue to a great career. It could go either way.

Now is not the time to judge Kimi Raikkonen. Now is the time to celebrate his return, wish him luck and hope that the driver that we all know he has the potential to be is the one that takes to the grid next year.

We'd also do well to remember that you can't necessarily expect instant results from a man who has been on the F1 sidelines since the end of 2009. So amid the inevitable clamour to draw a definitive conclusion early next season, let's not forget to give him the time that any driver in his situation needs to re-adapt.

If the comeback succeeds, the sport as a whole will be the richer for it. And perhaps a certain Finn will be too.