Raikkonen: At Sauber I can focus on what I love

For most of his career, Raikkonen has been with top teams the biggest of which of course is Ferrari which, although an honour to race for, is a cauldron of polemics mixed with the corporate appointments for their driver, all of which he loathes.

At Sauber the veteran Finn is expecting a much quieter time in the paddock and even though he is unlikely to add to his 21 grand prix victories, during his second coming, he is looking forward to the challenges heading his way and of course some peace finally.

In an interview with Gazzetta Dello Sport, Raikkonen explained, "At Sauber, I can focus on what I love - and that is driving. I love driving and that's the only reason why I'm still here next year."

"Why should I be worried about going to Sauber? My goal is to help the team get back on track and and enjoy myself. When I returned to F1 after my rally with the Lotus team, everyone said I made a mistake and nothing could be achieved, but we all know it was different then. And that can happen again with Sauber."

Raikkonen is referencing an intriguing period in his career, namely his comeback stint with Lotus under the Genii ownership which reportedly ended with the Finn out of pocket for a fair whack.

So much so that Gerard Lopez and his pal Eric Lux disappeared off the Formula 1 scene.

The season finale Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will be the Iceman's final race for Ferrari, ending the second stanza with the Scuderia which was winless until Austin last month. In his first stint with the Reds he won nine times and claimed their last drivers' title in 2007.

Next year he heads back to Sauber powered by Ferrari with rookie teammate Antonio Giovinazzi in the garage next door to enjoy two more seasons with the team that went out on a limb and gave him his F1 debut at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix... the rest, as they say, is history.