Lopez says that Kimi isn't like people imagine. He is very funny and talks a lot. But only with people he likes to talk and at Lotus nobody minds that he is like that. He is real and that is missing a bit sometimes.
ZitatIn a packed edition we hear from the ever-popular Kimi Raikkonen, winner of the first race of the season, on what he thinks of his fans, what he does on his days off and that infamous radio call to “leave me alone” in Abu Dhabi.
We get the inside track on Lotus’s sensational start to the season from to the man behind that famous win in Melbourne, Lotus technical director James Allison. He also explains what it is like to deal with the 2013 Pirelli tyres
Even though the little girl likes Romain better because he smiles more h" title="hih" /> you should all give this a read, it'll put a smile on your face arts" title="hearts" />
ZitatLotus insists Malaysian GP slump a blip not a trend
Lotus team boss Eric Boullier believes his team's Malaysian Grand Prix performance was an aberration and that it can return to challenging for victory from China onwards.
Kimi Raikkonen had taken an assured win for Lotus in Melbourne, but the team's form dived at Sepang and the Finn finished a distant seventh, one place behind stablemate Romain Grosjean.
In the wake of that result Lewis Hamilton declared Mercedes had assumed the mantle of Red Bull's closest challenger.
Boullier however said the specific conditions in Malaysia had masked Lotus's pace, and that sixth and seventh - rather than Raikkonen's victory – were anomalous.
"I don't think it's completely revealing," Boullier said of Malaysia.
"Obviously we had different conditions and it worked for Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari.
"I don't think it revealed [our] potential in that race. You can expect some much better results in normal conditions."
Where Raikkonen had been able to come through from seventh on the grid at Albert Park due to superior tyre management, Boullier said it had been impossible to recover from a similar starting position at Sepang.
"Qualifying was not in our favour, [and] the time we lost at the start of the race we couldn't recover," he explained.
"I think the team did a safe strategy for both cars in the points and we could keep contact with the leaders so it was good.
"It's all about tyre management to do a nice race. [Malaysia] was a bit tricky, let's wait until normal conditions."
Boullier said he was confident the team could arrest its qualifying deficit to the frontrunners, particularly with new upgrades coming in time for the Chinese Grand Prix.
"With our car we have the pace over one lap now and we also have some good race pace," he said.
"I think Romain's going to have the same upgrade in China as Kimi. There are parts coming at every race and we'll keep pushing, so it's going to be interesting."
ZitatLotus sure it can keep up in title race By Jonathan Noble
Kimi Raikkonen should have no worries that Lotus cannot keep up the development pace needed to maintain his championship challenge, says owner Gerard Lopez.
The Finn's runner-up position in the Chinese Grand Prix, despite a damaged nose, has left him just three points behind leader Sebastian Vettel in the standings.
Although Lotus is independently owned and cannot match the budgets of rivals Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, Lopez sees no reason why the outfit does not have what it needs to fight them.
When asked by AUTOSPORT if he felt Lotus had the resources and infrastructure to keep up a title push, Lopez said: "We get the same question every year, and every year we have the exact same delta with the other teams.
"We like the position of the underdog, because that is what we are. But in terms of development we have never lagged behind anybody.
"I have always said that maybe we spend our money differently and that makes us an interesting team in the championship.
"We are never going to spend what some others are spending, but that doesn't mean we are not going to compete against them."
Lotus's finances suffered a blow over the winter when talks for a title sponsorship deal with Honeywell collapsed at the 11th hour.
Lopez made it clear that discussions were ongoing with other title sponsors and he was hopeful a partner would be found soon.
"There are a number of title sponsors that we can sign up, but any title sponsor is for three to five years and we think the value we have today in the paddock and the championship is one that should be recognised," he said.
"So you refuse to sign certain things that we could have, because we think we should not undersell ourselves.
"It is a choice, and whenever you make a choice you have to live with the consequences. And the consequence for us is that we [the owners] have to finance more of the team.
"But it doesn't mean the budget has gone down, on the contrary the budget has been increased.
"We have good sponsors, and we are probably not far away from signing something that we are looking for. Then there is no question we will have what we want."
" title="ty" /> Kriss. Lopez sounds quite optimistic about the future! I feel a title sponsor may want to know Kimi will continue of they would agree to a 3-5 year deal..
If the team want to be serious challengers they need to up there game on track operations.
Their pitstops are poor, and they are slow to react.
The pitstops are in the region of 3.5s-4.7s, sometimes in the sixes. That's poor, it's costing their drivers when they are close fights, making them having to overtake again.
Zitat von RagingjamaicanIf the team want to be serious challengers they need to up there game on track operations.
Their pitstops are poor, and they are slow to react.
The pitstops are in the region of 3.5s-4.7s, sometimes in the sixes. That's poor, it's costing their drivers when they are close fights, making them having to overtake again.
sure there are teams which do quicker pit stops and they can improve but they are not that bad. 2 of Kimi's pit stops were 3.4s, the third I don't know and Grosjean's were all better, one was 2.9s.
and the strategy wasn't bad this race " title="dunno" />
Zitat von RagingjamaicanIf the team want to be serious challengers they need to up there game on track operations.
Their pitstops are poor, and they are slow to react.
The pitstops are in the region of 3.5s-4.7s, sometimes in the sixes. That's poor, it's costing their drivers when they are close fights, making them having to overtake again.
I have to disagree with you on: "they are slow to react."
I'm not sure who made the call from the pitwall, but someone out-thought Ross Brawn in order to allow Kimi to undercut Lewis for the 3rd round of pitstops. As I re-watched the race: I paid close attention to this pit stop. Kimi wasn't evenin his box yet, and Mercedes were on the radio to Lewis telling him to push like hell and box next lap. I understand Lotus/Kimi is kinder to their tyres than Lewis/Merc. But Kimi was catching Lewis during the 3rd stint (lead up to 3rd pit stop). Brawn could have risked an earlier stop with Lewis to keep P2. I think Mercedes had a 'goal lap' in which to pit Lewis for the final stint, and likely weren't in that range in the lead up to the final stop (I think this is especially true seeing how Lewis' tyres went away as Vettel approached). It could have ended like Kimi's race in China last year. But Lotus took the chance. Mercedes didn't.
In general (a very general statement), the performace of 'on-track operations' was very poor in the beginning of 2012. China 2012 is a very good example. It improved significantly in the second half of 2012. And I think they've done a pretty good job so far in 2013. If it wasn't for the bullshit penalty Raikkonen received in Malaysia, he would be leading the WDC standings. I personally think the operations are doing a good job. It's not all car design which has allowed Kimi to be in this position.
Zitat von miezicatsure there are teams which do quicker pit stops and they can improve but they are not that bad. 2 of Kimi's pit stops were 3.4s, the third I don't know and Grosjean's were all better, one was 2.9s.
and the strategy wasn't bad this race
They are usually losing on average a second or more to those they are racing against in pitstops. Grosjeans 2.9s is the first time they went under 3s from what I can remember, and they got nowhere near that once that was achieved. Even midfield teams are achieving better pitstops.
Sky showed the ranking for pitstops near the end of the race Grosjean was 9th with his fastest, Raikkonen was way down in the teens.
Lotus say they will test their Double DRS after the Bahrain Grand Prix in time for the next race in Spain.
Technical director James Allison said they will conduct straight-line aero tests on the passive device, which enhances the DRS effect above certain speeds.
“We still have work to do with it,” said Allison. “We’ll be trialling the DDRS again between the first round of flyaways and the start of the European season when we have an opportunity to do some straight line testing.”
With just five days between the end of the Chinese Grand Prix and the beginning of practice in Bahrain, teams have limited time to bring upgrades. However Lotus will have some new parts to test this weekend:
“We won’t be bringing anything particularly revolutionary on top of the China upgrades, but we will trial a suspension modification – internal rather than to the wishbones – which is an evolution of something we ran to good effect during pre-season,” said Allison.
“You’re always trying to find the right compromise between the mechanical grip that the suspension’s articulation offers to the tyres and holding the aerodynamic platform at the optimum height from the road, and we believe this is a step forward in helping us achieve that.”
Allison added the configuration of the Bahrain circuit should play into Lotus’s hands this weekend: “There are things that are special about Bahrain which might make us more optimistic.”
“For example, it is one of the most aggressive tracks on the rear tyres and if we have a particular strength it does seem to be that when we get the car set up just right it does seem to use the tyres rather gently.
“Secondly, in Kimi in particular, we have a driver who is able to get the car to go quickly without really burdening the rear axle.”
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Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:02 pm
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" title="ty" /> yining!
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