The 30-year-old Finn will be returning to the scene of his rallying debut last year when he finished 13th behind the wheel of a Tommi Mäkinen Racing-prepared Abarth Grande Punto S2000.

And he will be looking to get to grips with his Citroën C4 WRC car on what is sure to be a challenging course ahead of the opening race of the 2010 World Rally Championship (WRC) campaign in Sweden in a fortnight’s time.

Räikkönen will be partnered by co-driver Kaj Lindström and joins new team-mates Dani Sordo and Marc Marti for the annual Rovaniemi-based event which will see temperatures dip to an anticipated -20°C.

The 2007 F1 champion said of his hopes for the weekend ahead: “I got to know the C4 a little bit during a test session close to the Citroën Racing workshops.

“This rally is a very good opportunity for me to work with the team in competitive conditions and continue my learning curve with the car. I took part in this rally last year with Kaj, and as the route is largely the same I think that could help us a bit.”

Citroën Racing Technologies team manager Benoît Nogier believes the Arctic Lapland Rally will be beneficial to the team as a whole as they prepare for another assault on the title won by Sébastien Loeb for the sixth year in a row.

Nogier said: “Kimi will drive a C4 WRC in identical specification to the one that he will race over the season. Similarly, the crew of technicians in Rovaniemi will remain on his car for the remainder of the year.