Kimi Räikkönen’s press conference after Abu Dhabi Grand Prix free practice said it all. The reason why he wanted to stay home became clear to everyone.
– The radio message alone didn’t alone affect his decision, but the line has to be put somewhere. It’s not nice when you hear claims that you are not a good team player, or rather, that I don’t think about the team’s benefit at all. When you have got zero euros this whole year it’s not the best situation for anyone, Räikkönen said.
Then why did the emotions run so high in India after Romain Grosjean’s overtake went through?
– I don’t know. For me it was like any other race. I drive the same against everyone else, but some people see the situation differently. Everyone have their own opinions, Räikkönen said.
The situation has calmed down for now at least.
– We found a mutual understanding of how to deal with the situation, Räikkönen said.
i can fully understand why Kimi reached his limits! to do your best, not get paid, be possibly ignored, get yelled and cursed at, and finally be called not a team player? come on, you really must be more than an iceman to take this all...you must be dead!
Kimi Räikkönen's unpaid salaries is at the moment the topic in F1-world. It's very exceptional that contracts and arrangements in the background become this public and open. According to the unwritten rules all contracts with drivers, sponsors and other related parties are super confidential. While business life is becoming more and more transparent, F1 again wants to do it as slowly as possible.
It's easier to share or open slightly details of positive matters, but defects are always dealt with in a very small group, safely and soundly behind locked doors and through very private phone discussions.
Usually the parties are first unwilling to give in an inch. Even during the very first problems lawyers are called in, but when big decisions are taken they often find the solution only in the final negotiations. F1 is an endless trade.
Kimi Räikkönen let the situation go unusually far. Lotus didn't follow the schedule of paying his salaries last year either. Now things in the team are even more messed up. This has been known already when the season began. Yet Räikkönen and his manager have been surprisingly patient. I would even say too kind.
On Räikkönen's behalf money is the main issue; several millions. Not paying is the most substantial breach of contract one can do. Here we have to remember that only few know the context of a contract and clauses might change if the situation requires it, with the agreement of both parties. Hence amounts, terms of payment, ways of payment and things related to that could differ hugely from the original.
Let's look at this as a breach of contract. Räikkönen has for the first time publically informed about the chance of strike; not driving races. They have probably discussed this subject with Lotus-management earlier also, but only now when the season is about to end is this matter finally made public.
It hasn't been easy for Räikkönen to find the right way to play this game. Before signing the Ferrari-contract he simply could not afford to skip races. And I'm not talking about money, I'm talking about the driver's prestige. Making results on track was much more valuable than getting the money from Lotus when thinking of the future. Every raced metre is also preparing for the upcoming season. It's very important to keep the finger on the pulse about matters that changes will bring along.
The whole tangle exploded in their hands when it was clear that Räikkönen is really going to Ferrari. The co-existence with Lotus practcially ended right there. The final countdown began. There was no real reason to be silent and just bear with the situation. This had nothing to do with his driver performances. Räikkönen had a clean report; he had done an impeccable job.
After the Ferrari-contract Räikkönen rised up in the group of powerful people stronger than before and at the same time he made sure he got everyone's sympathy. How dare any team treat a world champion this badly, someone who is still racing for WDC-titles?
Disputes over salaries, radio discussions, speculations about the team's icy atmosphere has been an efficient media campaign, which Lotus lost. Räikkönen got to show his power and get even more appreciation above the team. Only a few drivers in history have managed to wrap a team around their little finger in the same way. I can only remember one driver: Ayrton Senna. Whatever Senna wanted from McLaren and whatever he said in public was approved by Ron Dennis.
Tense radio discussions are only one visible indication of Lotus-team's unstable situation. The team has all the possibilites for success, but the fragile economy and uncertain future torture all workers. In these situations the genuine personal chemistry surface. It's an illusion to think that the team's all workers, up to the bosses, would like their drivers and stand by them 100%. Professionally yes, but in crisis real emotions and attitudes come out. Hypocracy vanishes and the truth is revealed.
Professionally Räikkönen lets only a few persons in the team close to him. They can be counted with one hand's fingers at the most. The race engineer is of course one of them, but the rest are mainly from the ownership-department.
Räikkönen finally got enough after they accused him of supposedly not keeping the team's interests in mind. After the Ferrari-announcement some in the team probably felt that "Kimi is no longer interested in us" and started to talk out loud about it.
Can anyone think - and act - more childish?
Lotus owes Räikkönen almost 20 million euros. No matter what the amount is, the debt is massive since we are now talking about a work already done and about unquestionably spectacular results.
Now it looks as if that debt - with interests - will finally be paid. The amount is so big that they are probably forced to make up a schedule of payments.
Until the whole amount is paid Räikkönen has been - and is - one of Lotus-team's biggest, if not the biggest sponsor. And at the same time he has performed top results on the track.
One can hardly prove their own committment and loyalty any stronger than that.
great article, thanks Kriss! i really cant even think how the hell some are incapable of seeing this! that Kimi is indeed the team's bigger sponsor and asset!
Not Sebastian Vettel (26) - Kimi Räikkönen (34) is the man in Abu Dhabi everybody is talking about. First the strike threat, because his Lotus team hasn’t paid him. Then the grid penalty to the last place because of a broken floor. And in the race the retirement in the first lap because he rammed a Caterham and broke his suspension.
Kimi stays cool with all the fuss around him but refuses all interview requests – apart from one! With us the Finn talks exclusively about his anger at Lotus, the move to Ferrari, his friend Sebastian Vettel and a Finnish buddy in Leverkusen.
Mr. Räikkönen, please explain us one thing. You threat to go on strike for your money but Lotus boss Gerard Lopez says however, it was agreed that you get it only at the end of the season.
Räikkönen: We have not signed a contract for nothing, he must accept it. But that does not change my relationship with the other Lotus employees.
Is it a lack of respect towards you?
It was not nice to hear in India that you are not a team player and on the other hand not getting paid. But I do not want to talk further about the situation.
You have fun at work also on these days?
In general it is very important that you have fun in life and enjoy the things with which you are dealing. I still have a lot of fun in racing but the business is unfortunately part of it too.
Can you forget all that when you put on the helmet?
Yes, I do not really think about it. I told my opinion otherwise I’m here to race.
How do you deal with your anger, also about the penalty? Do you take it out on your crew or your opponents?
No, at first I was pleased with how well the car ran here. Such situations are not ideal, but I do know long enough that you can not change them. I will always try to improve myself, from whatever place.
Do you still hope - despite the retirement – on the vice title - against your future Ferrari team mate Alonso?
I don’t care. It makes no difference to me whether I'm going to be second, fifth or tenth. This means nothing to me. I am here to win - nothing else.
When you came back from rallying, you said that the second title is your big goal.
Yes, that stays. This year it did not work out so hopefully it will go better next year.
You could bring Ferrari the first world title since yours 2007. Do you want to make the Tifosi happy again?
First, it’s a new year with new rules. It is difficult for me to say how far are they with the new car and which team is going to solve the tasks best in 2014. I can only give my best with the team and material that I get.
Have you spoken with your future mate Fernando Alonso about it - or engineers that you remember from your time at Ferrari?
Not too much. I first signed my new contract there and drive now for Lotus. Everything else will follow later.
You will meet Lotus engineer James Allison again who moved to Ferrari in July. And you should also take race engineer Mark Slade with you.
That's not true. But that's no problem. I know the people at Ferrari and I achieved some good results there.
Niki Lauda sees in you and Alonso explosives. You too?
Oh, I give nothing to such statements.
Also the fans look forward to your duel. A photomontage shows Alonso as he hackels after your success. Does such things amuse you too?
It 's nice what people put on the internet. But there are also unpleasant things which are not true.
And how do you like Vettel’s humor? He showed you on the podium in Bahrain in 2012 rabbit ears. Do you want to pay him back next year?
Oh that was harmless. Who cares? It does not change anything in our relationship. We get along well and play badminton once in a while. And there I always win.
You are said to be friends with Bayer coach Sami Hyypiä. How did that happen?
He loves motorsports like me. I met Sami at some motocross races. We drove there together and had a lo of fun. He is a funny guy and often invited me to soccer games. But unfortunately I've never managed to watch one.
Even in his time at Liverpool?
Yes, I know Sami since he played at Liverpool. Also then we met from time to time. Maybe it works sometime soon that I see a game of his present team.
the translation would actually be "I don't give a shit about the vice title" but I have my doubts Kimi said that.. also I wonder when they did that interview, it sounds like after the race but must be saturday
so much talk about Kimi in the media!! now journalists even go into his head and say he has already regretted signing with ferrari...or that its ok he hasnt been paid there are so many young drivers waiting in line...
i just hope the whole thing with payment is settled and KImi goes back to racing the way it should be....i think lotus has done good work these years when you think of their budget but they have massively goofed in terms of pr after Kimi's move to ferrari was announced. why couldnt they just behave as maclaren to Kimi or Hamilton???
Quote: Olga wrote in post #1312so much talk about Kimi in the media!! now journalists even go into his head and say he has already regretted signing with ferrari...or that its ok he hasnt been paid there are so many young drivers waiting in line...
i just hope the whole thing with payment is settled and KImi goes back to racing the way it should be....i think lotus has done good work these years when you think of their budget but they have massively goofed in terms of pr after Kimi's move to ferrari was announced. why couldnt they just behave as maclaren to Kimi or Hamilton???
Well the Lewis fans were also not very happy with the treatment Lewis got at Mclaren after his announcement that he would go to Mercedes. But that was nothing compared to this situation. This whole drama was unnecessary, Lotus had a lot at stake, I think though this incident they might have just lost themselves a position in the WCC through all of this nonesense.
For a person who hates media and who shies away from t much press, Kimi sure as hell has a way of staying on top of the headline news.
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#1314 | RE: IcemanWed Nov 06, 2013 7:14 pm (Last edited: Wed Nov 06, 2013 7:15 pm)
The situation between Räikkönen and Lotus is sad. Of course outsiders don’t know the truth about the amounts of money. Rumours are always rumours, but it doesn’t lift anyone’s spirit if they don’t get paid during the whole year, and it is much worse if they have to travel with their own money, and then on top of that, the team even starts to screw you around. At that point, anyone would have opened up. Kimi did absolutely right: There comes a time when you have to give them some feedback.
Let’s see if Kimi races in Austin — and with what car? It will probably be the most anticipated news in the whole Austin GP weekend. Will Kimi show up or not? There have even been rumours of Kimi driving for Sauber instead of Lotus. It’s just a rumour. In any case, Kimi likes to race even though the atmosphere in Lotus is now really bad. Sauber is also in financial trouble and they haven’t paid Hulkenberg. Yet I don’t see any reason why Hulkenberg should be put aside, because he has had some really good races recently. If Kimi shows up in Austin, then he will definitely drive flatout. Finnish people’s mentality is such that emotional matters don’t affect the driving perfomance. When we sit in the car, we drive as fast as we possibly can. In Abu Dhabi, the background of Räikkönen’s disqualification was that it was the second time that the same defect was in the floor. The judges had already told Lotus to change that part in their car, but the team didn’t do it. Now Kimi had to take the blame for Lotus-team screwing it up. The team just hoped that it wouldn’t happen again, but it did. Not everything was lost although Kimi was in the last position on the grid because Vettel came 3rd last season after starting from the pitlane. However Kimi was in a slightly compromised position in the first corner and he got into an incident. The cars are so fragile that if they get a hit from a bad angle, then it’s game over. As a whole it was a weekend which could have gone better had Kimi not shown up in Abu Dhabi at all.
As for Williams, it was good to see that the car worked a bit better after they tried last year’s exhaust pipes. They caught the front runners remarkably and the car appears to be more stable. Both drivers liked it much better. It’s good when thinking of next year that they start to find out what causes the problems so they don’t make the same mistake in next year’s car. In Alonso’s case, the car’s floor hit the kerbs. When the G-power indicator goes over a certain point, you have to go and get checked to see that nothing is broken. It’s nothing more spectacular than that. I believe Alonso will be in good shape for the next race. As an older driver, I know that everybody’s backs get a lot of strain. Nearly everyone who has raced in F1 have back problems, because the driver practically lies on the floor, which means that the back receives the hits when the cockpit’s floor hits hard on the ground.
Vettel makes the races pretty boring at the moment, because the winner is already clear. Unless something happens to his car or the team makes some bad strategy errors, there is nobody who can challenge him on the race track. The track in Abu Dhabi is such that the race is not good unless something surprising happens. This year, there was a really good atmosphere in Abu Dhabi. The stands have earlier been sold out but people haven’t showed up. When everyone showed up on race day, there was an insane amount of people.
Next we go to Austin. They had a good race last year and lets hope that we now also get a good race. I don’t see how anyone can stop Vettel, but the track might well suit Lotus. Kimi could pull off a good race – if he shows up.
For W, who wants to read this. Its not my translation, I have it from facebook.
quoteBernie has plan B, if Quantum doesn't pay Kimi.
Ecclestone got scared from Raikkonens threat and made a plan to secure Kimis money.
F1 financial leader Bernie Ecclestone holds a emergency plan if Lotus and it's new inverstors (quantum) cant keep their promise and pay Raikkonen his money.
Lotus driver revealed last week that he has not been paid at all in this season, and if he will not get an agreement with team, he would forfeit from last two races, USA and Brazilan GP.
German magazine, Der Spiegel tells that this situation has worried the mightiest man in F1, Ecclestone, so much that he has prepared for the worst.
-Raikkonen is one of the most adored and followed driver in F1 so he has to think how to get the Finn to drive in CotA and Brazil, Der Spiegel tells,
So here's the plan: He wants to give TV-broadcast money that is supposedly being paid to lotus, straightly for Raikkonen.
Raikkoses manager Steve Robertson confirmed to Spiegel that this would be very welcome choice for them.
Last week the f1-billionaire made hes opinion clear of this case by demanding lotus to pay their drivers.
I'm not sure how much to believe the broken part on Kimi's car and Lotus being reluctant to fix it. What if the FIA investigated Romain's car? Although, someone could speculate that Lotus knew Kimi was the next lotus pilot who would be selected for a car examination. I'm not sure how this works. But either way, a team with the second best race car on the grid again made a stupid mistake that cost them a significant amount of points. Lotus should have been in the drivers seat for P2 in the constructors, and that now appears out of reach. I'm glad Kimi is leaving. Even if they had the best car, they don't exude the professionalism needed to win a world title.
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