ZitatBritish GP: Lotus set for its biggest upgrade of the year
Kimi Raikkonen's hopes of getting his Formula 1 world championship challenge back on track at the British Grand Prix have been boosted with Lotus planning to run its biggest upgrade of the year.
The Finn has lost ground to points leader Sebastian Vettel in recent races, and a collision with Sergio Perez in Monaco plus disappointing form in Canada have proven extremely costly.
Raikkonen and Lotus are convinced that the return to high-speed tracks like Silverstone will help the team rediscover its form and a major upgrade package is also arriving.
Speaking about the developments, Lotus track operations director Alan Permane said: "We have a tighter, figure-hugging bodywork package which should give some benefit; especially if the weather is quite cool at Silverstone.
"There's a new front wing, suspension profiles and suspension upgrades in addition to various other aero upgrades, which combine to give us what should be our biggest step forward of the year.
"This is a good thing, of course, but we'll be running them in the context of all our rivals probably unveiling significant upgrade packs too."
Raikkonen himself sees no reason why Lotus cannot head to the British GP with a degree of optimism.
"Silverstone is a more normal circuit and we've been OK at every other permanent circuit so far this year," he explained.
"There's no reason why we shouldn't be back to the positions we should be with this package.
We just have to be patient, do our very best over the entire weekend and step by step we can start catching the leaders."
ZitatKIMI RÄIKKÖNEN ON THE BRITISH GRAND PRIX After two race weekends with meagre points pickings, our Finn is eager to get his championship challenge back on track at Silverstone
DOES RETURNING TO A PERMANENT RACE CIRCUIT BRING ANY POSITIVITY? Silverstone is a more normal circuit and we’ve been okay at every other permanent circuit so far this year. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be back to the positions we should be with this package. We just have to be patient, do our very best over the entire weekend and step by step we can start catching the leaders.
HOW CHALLENGING IS SILVERSTONE AS A RACE TRACK? Silverstone is all about long sweeping high-speed corners and high downforce levels. It’s one of the fastest circuits on the calendar; it’s very challenging and the flowing corners are pretty good fun to drive. Hopefully our new parts will help us; particularly in the faster corners. If that’s the case, it could be a good weekend.
HAVE YOU ALWAYS LIKED SILVERSTONE? Yes, it’s always such a good feeling going to Silverstone. It’s a great place to race and it has been a good circuit for me since the very beginning of my career. I have a long history there. It was the real base for the start of my international racing career in Formula Renault in 1999 and 2000. Since then I've always enjoyed racing at Silverstone. I don’t know why; there must be this nostalgic feeling that I have every time we go there.
YOU WON AT SILVERSTONE IN 2007 AND HAVE BEEN ON THE PODIUM FIVE TIMES ALTOGETHER; HOW DOES IT FEEL WHEN EVERYTHING GOES RIGHT THERE? When you win in Silverstone, it gives such a good feeling. You have to get everything exactly right. I won there in Formula Renault and then in Formula 1 with Ferrari in 2007. It would be fantastic to win again there, especially with the factory just down the road. I’m sure we would have some fantastic celebrations.
WHAT ABOUT THE BRITISH SUMMER? It’s always windy at Silverstone. Often it rains too, like we saw last year in qualifying. The track conditions change very quickly, which makes the car more tricky to set-up. Obviously when you are running at the front it’s best to have stable conditions, but I don’t mind really. The weather is just a part of the fun of racing in England. I’ll enjoy the weekend whatever the weather will be.
HOW’S THE FEELING FROM THE TEAM? The team has worked 100% to have a really competitive car for the home race. Silverstone is the closest circuit to the factory so hopefully we can celebrate a good result with all of the factory personnel and their families who bring their support every year.
Just read that. It's great to hear optimism from Kimi for the upcoming race! " title="wink" />
It sounds like the suspension upgrade should help Lotus adapt their tyres to get into the "operating window" in cooler conditions. But i can't gather if this would help lotus in the wet.. " title="dunno" />
Lotus may need to hope for dryer weather if Kimi is to have a chance " title="holy" />
Zitat F1 Racing Global Fan Community - RACER'S EDGE
Want to put your questions to Lotus F1 Team and its Business Consulting Partner Avanade on a special live edition of The Racer’s Edge – AND win signed Lotus F1 Team merchandise? Alan PermaneDuring British Grand Prix week, there will be three special episodes of The Racer’s Edge, the first coming live from the Lotus F1 Team factory on Wednesday 26 June at 7pm. The show’s host Peter Windsor will be joined by Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director for Lotus F1 Team, and Julian Tomison, Senior Vice President, Service Lines UK of Avanade. Julian TomisonAlan joined Benetton in 1989, and was race engineer for Fisichella and Trulli, before becoming chief race engineer for Renault F1 Team and Lotus F1 Team, while Julian is responsible for developing Avanade IT Solutions to help Lotus F1 Team set-up, simulation, race strategy and data analysis. If you’d like to know more about working with Kimi and Romain, why Avanade chose to partner Lotus F1 Team, or simply their views on the race ahead, then click here to ask a question. If yours is chosen, you could win some signed Lotus F1 Team merchandise.
The Racer’s Edge is broadcast live and completely free on the internet, simply subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also download each episode from iTunes as audio or video files, or visit autosport.com to catch up with the latest episode. Click here to learn more about the strategic partnership between Lotus F1 Team and Avanade
Zitat Bianca Leppert ‏@janci1612 12m The @Lotus_F1Team seems to test special DRS again. Grosjean with closed "ears", Räikkönen with open "ears" pic.twitter.com/vm8OFJdcZx