Lotus announced their move for the 2007 world champion on Tuesday two years on from a suprise move to pursue a career in rallying and Raikkonen said he was already looking forward to his return to the grid.

"I couldn't care less what people say," he insisted in a team press statement.

"I would not have come back had I not been motivated.

"There's still a lot to be said - but nobody really knows what I do or say. I really don't care what people say - I am happy to be coming back," said the driver nicknamed The Iceman and a veteran of 18 Grands Prix wins with Ferrari.

"I never really lost my passion for Formula One - just maybe for all the other things around it. But when I did some Nascar races this year I noticed that I was increasingly missing the racing side - to race against each other - because in rallying you really race against the clock.

"And then I got the call from certain people in Formula 1. All sorts of things happened and we managed to have a nice conversation with Lotus Renault GP and make a deal," he explained.

On Tuesday, Raikkonen had exlained that "I can't deny the fact that my hunger for F1 has recently become overwhelming.

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