Kimi Raikkonen says he is looking forward to focusing ꧂on “pure racing” with Sauber in the 2019 Formula 1 season.

🃏Raikkonen will return to Sauber after 18 years away, having rejoined the team he made his F1ꦡ bow with in 2001 after making way for the arrival of Charles Leclerc at Ferrari.

The Finn spent four of the last five years of his Ferrari tenure alongside multiple world cham🥀pion Sebastian Vettel, and while the🐬 pair largely enjoyed a harmonious relationship, Raikkonen says he is looking forward to a change of environment.

“I’m really looking for𝔉ward to it,” Raikkonen sa🌠id.

“It’s going to be different in many ways, but the aim will still be t💎he same.

“It’s more p🌸ure racing than the other stuff there. Hopefully it will turn out to be good fo﷽r both of us - that’s the aim.

“I think tha😼t’s what we can do but I’m may be completely wrong, but I have a good feeling about it and that’s why I accepted to go back there.”

The move mark𒉰s a step down the grid for Raikkonen but he stressed he is relishing the prospect of helping Sauber continue its rapid rise up the midfield order, following the impressive gains made by the Swiss outfit in 2018.

Raikkonen admitted he was surpr🍬ised not to feel a bigger difference between Ferrari and Sauber’s respective 2018 challengers when he linked up with ಌthe team to conduct post-season testing in Abu Dhabi, though he was keen to avoid setting any targets ahead of the new season.

“I haven’t really thought about it, we’ll see once we start drivin🉐g the new cars,” he explained.

“We’ll see where we are and💮 we’ll go purely by feeling, and we go from there.

“Obviously it𒊎’s a different challenge but I enjoy that, so that’s why I took it. If you ask many people there are many different opinions on how i൩t will go.

“We’ll find out and we’ll📖 do our best and I think we have good chance to do some great things.

“Where 🌃that is going to take us, who knows? We’ll fi﷽nd out.”