Zitat– We are here to race. Romain made a mistake and paid for it. That's how simple it is. He tried to squeeze me to the left in the incident but it was already too late.
A French reporter asked what Räikkönen thinks of Grosjean as a driver and if he sees that Grosjean has potential to become a future star?
– He is a fast driver and has now done better than earlier. But I have no interest to start guessing what happens to all of us in the future. We will see at some point what happens. http://www.ts.fi/... Räikkösen ja Grosjeanin välille ei saatu sotatilaa www.ts.fi
If Pirelli didn't change their tyres.. You might see what you did earlier in the season. I think Kimi out qualified Romain 8 of the first 10 races.
It's easy in F1 to have a "only as good as your last race" type of memory. Just look at the points and overall qualifying scores and you'll see the truth
Lotus-team's money problems still don't seem to ease, because Räikkönen's alleged replacement Nico Hülkenberg also re-thinks what he will do next season.
Hulkenberg has given a deadline to Lotus-management to the end of October.
If I interpret correctly what Gerard Lopez and Eric Boullier said about paying Kimi Räikkönen his unpaid wages, they are going to take care of them after the season has ended. In practice that means in December.
Since things are this way, it must be difficult to seal the deal with Hülkenberg because the cashflow is moving so slowly.
Pastor Maldonado is also aiming for the free market and he has an annual support of 30 million pounds from Venezuela. That can be reason enough and sponsorless Hülkenberg may have to wait on Lotus-team's door for nothing.
Achim Schlang from the German media did joke that Hülkenberg could make a double record. Since Sauber hasn't been able to pay him his wages he could now make an even bigger contract with Lotus - and once again be unpaid.
Räikkönen's honesty angered Lotus-team's management when he stated that promises given to him had not been kept and his wage was unpaid. Even after that Kimi has grabbed 33 more WC-points, which means that his unpaid wages will grow with at least one million euros due to bonuses.
It's difficult to understand why Lotus-management scolded their driver for being impatient, basing it on them not paying Räikkönen his wages last year either, so it should had been crystal clear for him that the same would happen this time also.
If this is the case, then why didn't they put it in his contract right away...
didn't Hulk already corrected journos that he didn't give any deadlines and just want to avoid a repeat of Williams 2010 situation when he waited too long and didn't get any seat for 2011?
ZitatLotus F1 Team @Lotus_F1Team 3m 17th October is #Kimi's Birthday! We've got the cake, now we need you...get involved-> http://bit.ly/1frtvUA #Kimi34 pic.twitter.com/we4JLP5eAc
Zitat Kimi Raikkonen struggling with revised Pirelli Formula 1 tyres By Jonathan Noble
Kimi Raikkonen's recent struggles at Lotus are being pinned on the Finn not being as comfortable on the revised Pirelli Formula 1 tyres used since the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The former world champion has been outqualified six times in the last eight races by Romain Grosjean, and it was his team-mate who took the fight to Red Bull in the Japanese GP on Sunday.
Lotus' head of trackside operations Alan Permane reckons that the front end characteristics of the 2012 Pirelli construction used since Budapest do not suit Raikkonen's style.
"He doesn't like the front end," Permane told AUTOSPORT. "He doesn't like the turn in. It is not sharp enough for him.
"But, if you try to sharpen it up too much, you then lose the rear.
"It has just unsettled him a little bit. But he is getting to grips with it.
"There is no stopping Romain at the moment, that is for sure."
Permane believes the gap between Grosjean and Raikkonen has been exacerbated by the fact the grid is so close now, meaning small differences in qualifying can make a big difference in terms of starting positions.
"In race mode, Kimi is fine with the tyres," he said.
"He qualified 13th in Singapore and ninth in Korea and got two podiums. But that won't happen every week.
"You cannot rely on the safety car to deliver strong races from back there.
"You have to qualify better and that is what he is struggling with.
"It was better here. He was three tenths from Romain in Japan, but three tenths was five grid slots.
"It was that close. Normally that might have been two or three positions."
Obviously with driver going away at the end of season less attention will be to changes on his car to cure that issue. But it's just normal business in F1, any team does it.
Zitat von DenorthObviously with driver going away at the end of season less attention will be to changes on his car to cure that issue. But it's just normal business in F1, any team does it.
The remaining 4 races will be painful to watch then! " title="sad" />
quite possibly - team is in peculiar situation. One one hand they are close to 3rd in WCC and this means more money. And to get it they need both cars finishing high, they can't sacrifice any finishes in the last races. Penalties and DNFs for Merc won't be happening often. On the other hand by scoring with two cars but with Romain on a higher position they would 'limit the damage' from mega points by Kimi and get a bit more money left in the pocket. It is not an easy situation of course to manage or should I say 'artificially create'. I bet they were pissed when Romain lost that 2nd in Korea. And by not supporting Kimi he can be 9th 10th again on start and be involved in crash and not finish at all and WCC position suffer.
Anyway, it will be 100% support for Romain and something like 99-98% for Kimi. not a huge difference and Kimi might be able to compensate it by his awesome driving.
I don't know if one can call it painful - I actually enjoy watching him showing fantastic racing and providing all the exitement to the races that would be quite dull if not for him, Hami and Alonso. Well, Webber does his bit as well. All the action is between 3rd and 10th usually and I love watching it.
Likewise. I dont care a rats ass about this , as I know Kimi is leaving and his performance will suffer from it in a way or the other. Lotus can, and the whole F1 press can spank their mouth as much as they want, making Gros-yea to look like next best coming, but all I know Kimi is leaving the boat. The cars, the engines..everything changes next year and I am not that convinced for example about Romains development skills. Think about testing. If they try out the parts that should come to the car say after two months, to some specific track..Do Romain have enough experience to say, this part will work there, this part will not. Lotus has to proceed much more by trial and error, I believe. Its just my thought about Kimi and his skills compared to Romain. Romain may be good with the using Kers and so, but next year you have to understand more about engine and its nature to different tracks. Kimi just has much more experience. Next year is the year, Romain is really tried and tested.
It's not only that, I think Gro still lack some race craft and winning mentality. And that goes for Webber too. Yesterday when I saw the start thought: now let's see if Gro (and Lotus) got what it takes to win... and they didn't. Same goes for Webber, everybody cries about how Vettel gets special treatment or how unlucky he is. Well, yesterday he really had a shot at winning and just like Gro, he blew it.
I think Kimi would have seized the oportunity better.
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