1 Mar 2012

Lotus to return to F1 pre-season testing

6:45 pm on 1 March 2012

Kimi Raikkonen's Lotus team will take part in Formula One's final pre-season test in Barcelona having resolved the chassis problems which kept them out last week.

The former Renault team, who had to pull out of last week's test, is confident there'll be no recurrence after re-designing and trying out new suspension parts at the factory in England.

Technical director James Allison says the problems had been caused by a suspension problem but they've made new parts new parts for the car.

He says that means the car's now a kilogramme heavier but it won't have a significant impact on handling or performance.

Raikkonen, the 2007 world champion for Ferrari, is making his comeback with Malaysian-backed Lotus after two seasons' absence.