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Lewis Hamilton might have won the 2018 season, but the recently-concluded season was also about other drivers.
It has to be said, in a season where Hamilton and Vettel's on-track war escalated to epic proportions, concluding with the five-time world champion gathering more than twice the number of wins his German rival did, blokes like Kimi Raikkonen arrested the attention of the fraternity with rich aplomb.
It was around Monza where the talks regarding Raikkonen's future F1 move gained new grounds.
And soon, upon the completion of the Italian Grand Prix- where the Iceman's battle with Hamilton sent Monza into a tizzy- it became clear as to where was the Ferrari driver heading.
Sauber, a team where he first started his Formula One career, would turn out to be his next halt, post the Ferrari exit. Since then, only one talk has gained further momentum among the other things in regards to Kimi Raikkonen's career: the impending Sauber Test.
It was public knowledge that Kimi was going to test his Sauber car immediately after the completion of the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix of 2018. And that is exactly what is making the buzz right now.
Earlier on Tuesday, the laconic Finn sat behind the wheel of Sauber, heading back to the stable where he first launched his Formula 1 career. Reporting further on the matter surrounding Raikkonen's much-awaited Sauber Test, popular racing platform Motorsports.com reported the following:
He is driving Sauber’s C37 on Tuesday and completed a first installation lap as soon as the test started at 9 am local time.
Raikkonen, who is not wearing Sauber team gear, has since returned to the track and completed 10 laps by the end of the first hour. He has an unbranded race suit and a black and a simplified crash helmet design like he used at Lotus in 2012.
Apparently, the Formula 2 driver George Russell has also appeared with Williams for the first time ahead of his graduation with Williams.
That said, both from a fan perspective and those who belong to different teams and racing units would be curious to know how Raikkonen fares in a team that might finally be his final racing outfit in the top echelons of Motor Racing.
We know what Kimi was able to do upon his return to F1 racing with Lotus Renault. In finishing third on the Driver's Standings of 2012 in a Lotus whilst there were other biggies such as Red Bull and Ferrari around was something worthy of applause.
This time, however, Kimi's challenge would be quite different: that of having to forge mighty battles in this turbo-powered era of the V6s whilst the likes of Hamilton, Vettel and Verstappen are the regular frontrunners on the grid.
