Sauber to sign 'racing rookie' Raikkonen
Finn Kimi Raikkonen will move up to Formula 1 next season with just 23 car races under his belt, according to this week's Autosport magazine
The British Formula Renault champion has twice tested for the Swiss-based squad and is expected to sign a contract this week. Sauber's recruitment of Raikkonen to partner former Prost driver Nick Heidfeld in 2001 will leave the team's Brazilian test driver Enrique Bernoldi out in the cold.
Team boss Peter Sauber said: "There are several aspects why we very strongly believe that Raikkonen is the right man for us. First of all his very professional approach towards his work and his astonishing maturity considering his age.
"Even more impressive is his natural speed," he added. "He seems to crank out fast lap times effortlessly. In comparison with other drivers, we never got the impression that he reached his limits. We still have to find out how fast he can go!"
The 21-year-old does not qualify for an F1 superlicence by dint of results, but is expected to be granted one by the FIA, the sport's governing body, based on his testing pace.
Raikkonen joins a growing list of current F1 drivers who have graduated from karts then jumped to the sport's highest level with minimum single-seater experience. But unlike Jenson Button, Jos Verstappen and Jarno Trulli, the Finn will make the leap without first undertaking a season in Formula 3.
"This is a great opportunity for me," said Raikkonen. "I actually found driving the F1 car was quite easy - much easier than getting back in a Formula Renault car afterwards."
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