The team principal of Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, Jari-Matti Latvala, admits that his team will mainly focus on WRC program in the first half of next season, but he keeps the door open for Kimi Raikkonen if he wishes to test the hybrid Yaris in the second half of 2022.
The Iceman announced on previous Wednesday his retirement from Formula1 at the end of this season which means that this year will be his last in Alfa Romeo squad where he had begun his career back in 2001.
It must be mentioned that Raikkonen took part in WRC the years 2009-2011 after leaving Ferrari and he currently has no plans to return in World Rally Championship in the future as he stated on previous Thursday.
"Er… I didn’t think to that at all", said Latvala.
"To be honest, we can do nothing like this for the first six months at least next season.
"We will be so busy with making sure we have the cars we need for the WRC program – there will be a lot of pressure for this side, so we couldn’t even consider it".
Finally, Latvala responded to the question if Raikkonen could test the hybrid Yaris in the second half of the season: "I’m not sure what his wishes are after he finishes his time in Formula 1.
"But when I look back it was clear Kimi was having a very nice time in rallying and he was bringing some nice attention to our side of the sport.
"It was always really nice for the fans to see him.
"Let’s see, it would be nice to have a little feedback from him if he was testing the car.
"Like I said, we focus on our drivers for the first six months, but it could be a nice story..."
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