It's like Maili said, this reporters have to twist Kimi's words, otherwise they do not get paid. And they for sure aren't going to work for free just for their "love for news"" title="lol" /> " title="ha" />
ZitatF1: Kimi Raikkonen Shows His Class Again Despite Not Getting Paid
The stunning news in Formula One that Kimi Raikkonen hasn’t been paid by his team Lotus highlights once again how much of an old-school racer he is. F1′s press has reported that he stated “I haven’t got my salary. It’s unfortunate but I want to help the team and I want to win.” That last bit just really sums up what Raikkonen is all about. It appears the reason for his switch next season to Ferrari is now down to the fact he hasn’t been given his rewards, but that understandable. Still, the fact Raikkonen has made such little fuss about this is something that is great to see for F1 fans. How many times over the past decade have we seen drivers moaning about one thing or another? Raikkonen just gets on with it. He just wants to race and win. Receiving no money is a serious issue, but to have that desire and focus to simply be a racer deserves some respect. Although he isn’t a very open man, Raikkonen’s attitude is love by many fans. Like the James Hunts and Ayrton Sennas of the past, F1 needs personalities and characters. It needs drivers that make it great fun to follow. He could have make a big noise about this and perhaps even considered leaving early, but Raikkonen has once again shown his respect for his team and also his respect for a sport that is sometimes inundated with money issues. At a time when it has manipulated his future, he never allowed it to get in the way of his main objective: winning. Read more at http://www.rantsports.com/nascar/2013/0 ... 6RipSkk.99
some report like autosport that it's about the bonus money but some like Benson tweeted it's not only that but also main salary! " title="hmm" />
ZitatQ: (Luc Domenjoz - Le Matin) Kimi, it seems that Lotus owes you a lot of money, so the question is simple: why, if the team doesn’t fulfil its part of the contract, why do you respect yours and why don’t you simply stay at home? KR: I like to race and then obviously that’s the only reason why I’m here; it doesn’t matter which team it is and obviously the reasons why they ask from the team but the reasons why I left from the team is purely on the money side, that they haven’t got my salary so it’s an unfortunate thing but like I said, I want to try and help the team as much as I can and I like to race.
And some words from Alonso... now that everybody is praising Kimi, it turns out it was all his idea " title="ha" />
ZitatFernando Alonso : "When Ferrari told me they were letting Felipe go they asked my opinion of his replacement. I said Kimi was the best out there in the market. There are many changes coming next year so his many years of experience in Formula One will be vitally important when we develop the car in January and February. The motivation is always to do my best all the time and I don't think anyone can push me more than I push myself now. Yes, we are world champions but I don't think that makes any difference and people were saying exactly the same thing about my relationship with Felipe when I arrived here (in 2010). He had been at Ferrari for many years so it would be a difficult relationship but he is one of the best friends I have here. Next year will be the same."
Zitat2013 Singapore Grand Prix, Friday 20th September
Romain Grosjean ended the first evening of practice for the Singapore Grand Prix with the fifth fastest lap – despite missing considerable amounts of track time – whilst Kimi Räikkönen set the fifth fastest time in the first session and eighth quickest in the second.
A mere thousandth of a second separated Kimi and Romain after their first outing on the Marina Bay Circuit. The sessions were characterised by hot and humid conditions with a distinct lack of sunlight given the evening timetable in Singapore.
Technical programme notes:
[list][*]Both cars ran with the original length wheelbase configuration E21 in the latest slimline bodywork specification. [/*:m][*] Romain’s car spent additional time in the garage in the first session, as work was undertaken on steering rack balancing. [/*:m][*]Both cars changed brake cooling packages for the second session. [/*:m][*]Romain’s car spent additional time in the garage at the start of FP2 due to a suspected brake master cylinder issue and then ended the session early due to a hydraulic leak. [/*:m][*]Pirelli’s medium [white] tyre was used in the morning, with the medium and super soft [red] compound slick tyres used in the afternoon session.[/*:m][/list:u]
What we learned today:
The E21 demonstrated strong potential using both tyre compounds.
Kimi Räikkönen, E21-03 Free practice 1: P5, 1:48.354, 18 laps Free practice 2: P8, 1:45.778, 32 laps
“It was a pretty decent day. The car felt okay, but I had some traffic on my fast lap on the softer tyres so I wasn’t able to set a faster lap. The car isn’t too bad and there are still some places where we can make it faster. The times don’t matter on Friday so we’ll see what happens tomorrow.”
Romain Grosjean, E21-02 Free practice 1: P6, 1:48.355, 12 laps Free practice 2: P5, 1:45.411, 18 laps
“We had a lot of problems today with the car which meant I didn’t complete many laps. It wasn’t the ideal situation, but nevertheless the baseline we have here is pretty good. Hopefully we can get on top of the issues we had and have a strong car for qualifying as track position is pretty important here. Tyre degradation was better than we expected with the super soft performing well, so we’ll have to look closely at the data for the rest of the weekend.”
Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: “It was quite a difficult day for us today with Romain missing a reasonable amount of running in his car, but he made the laps he did complete really count. He seemed to get to grips with his car and the track very well considering the circumstances. The E21 looks reasonably competitive with both drivers pretty happy. We need to dial out some understeer on Kimi’s car and once Romain has some more track time we should be well placed for the rest of the weekend.”
I don't like Boulier's words about Kimi. It would be understandable if Kimi had left them in the end of his first year, but even though they were late in payments, he stayed for another year knowing exactly what to expect from them again. By saying he is disappointed about him leaving them, after they brought him back to F1, makes him seem ungrateful. And I know he is not, he has said several times he thanks them for bringinging him back, for giving him a good and reliable car and also for the atmosphere and general support. And I also think Kimi has done the same for Lotus as Lotus has done for him in this two wonderful seasons. So I hope next year Kimi (and us) do not regrets making the switch.
I think Kimi should've enphazised about Lotus not being financially able to guarantee being on top for 2014 (wich I bet is the biggest reason) and shouldn't have mentioned his salary. But oh well, what's done is done.
I can't blame Boullier for his words and I think it is understandable he is disappointed. I agree Kimi shouldn't have mentioned his salary. Especially if it was agreed he would get it at the end of the year anyway.. Lopez isn't happy..
Zitat"He would have got his money like last year and as agreed at the end of the season. I'm very irritated by the timing and the content of Kimi's statements. " "In contrast to Michael Schumacher he had after his comeback a car with which he could win. We did everything do make a success possible for him." "The most debts Lotus is owning me, the only one who could push Lotus into ruin would be me. As long I don't do this the future of the team is secure." "I don't need F1, F1 is not my life. I was sure I understood how this business works. Now I finally learned my lesson."
Zitat Singapore Grand Prix 2013: Kimi Raikkonen says he has no qualms about returning to drive for Ferrari in 2014 Kimi Raikkonen is sitting at a table in Lotus’s air-conditioned paddock home in Singapore, away from the heat and commotion outside, talking openly about the possibility of taking his team to court over an estimated £12.5 million in unpaid salary.
Kimi Raikkonen fields questions from the media on the first practice day ahead of the 2013 Singapore Grand Prix Iceman: Kimi Raikkonen looks typically glum fielding questions from the media ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix Photo: ACTION IMAGES Tom Cary
By Tom Cary, F1 Correspondent in Singapore
8:00AM BST 21 Sep 2013
If he finds the situation in any way uncomfortable, with his team bosses and mechanics tucking into their dinners all around us, he is doing a good job of hiding it.
“I don’t know,” he shrugs when asked if he might sue. “I wish all the best for this team – they gave me the chance to come back to Formula One – but obviously there is a reason why we make contracts.”
Classic Kimi. As his former McLaren team-mate David Coulthard wrote in these pages last week, what you see is what you get where Raikkonen is concerned. There are no frills to the Finn. He does not do gossip, or PR, or power games. He just wants to be left alone to drive – something at which he excels.
It is why his return next season to Ferrari, a team that were so keen to get rid of him they opted to buy him out of his contract at the end of 2009, is such an intriguing one.
Not only have the historic Italian marque gone back in for a driver who they felt was not pulling his weight the last time around – who president Luca di Montezemolo infamously described as the “twin brother” of the driver they thought they had hired – but they have done so at the risk of upsetting their golden boy Fernando Alonso. Related Articles
The Spaniard was brought in as Raikkonen’s replacement in 2010 as a clear No 1, the totem around whom the team would be built. But it has become abundantly clear that the relationship has hit a rocky patch. How rocky is not yet clear.
Alonso made no bones about the fact that he would have preferred the more compliant Felipe Massa to stay for another season. The team ignored his wishes.
However “happy” the double world champion now claims to be about the fact that Raikkonen has joined the team, he knows his task will be a lot harder against a driver whose consistent speed is part of the reason Lotus are so broke (Raikkonen finished in the points a record 27 times in a row costing the Enstone team €50,000 per point). And against a driver with whom he will have to share top billing.
“Obviously I would not have signed if I was not happy on that [score],” Raikkonen nods. Is it any wonder that McLaren are now chancing their arm with an attempt to woo Alonso away from Maranello? Could they yet succeed?
Predictably enough, Raikkonen has little time for such speculation. “I don’t know what will happen [with Alonso],” he says. “I’m pretty sure he has a contract. You would have to ask Ferrari. I have no interest to comment on that.”
You get the impression Raikkonen does not much care either way. To him the reason he is going back to Ferrari is straightforward: they represent his best chance of adding another world title to the one he won in 2007, in his first year with the Scuderia. And they will pay him.
“It’s not just that,” he says of the money. “I felt that Ferrari really wanted me and I had good memories from there. I think I got what I wanted in the end. I’m very happy with my decision.”
As for his potential partnership with Alonso, Raikkonen is equally phlegmatic. He admits he has not yet spoken to the Spaniard about his move but says he has no qualms about the pair working on an equal footing.
“There are always a lot of people making a lot of talk,” he says. “I don’t really know Fernando away from the track but talking to him at the track over many years we always had a good relationship and good respect for each other. I am sure we are old enough if there are problems to be able to sort them out.
“When I was there last time [driving alongside Massa from 2007-2009] there was no No 1 and No 2. Obviously that has changed over the last few years but I know what will happen and what I will get, so I have no worries.
“If at the end of the year one driver has a much better chance [of winning the title] then obviously it is an easy choice [to help the other one]. It is a normal thing that this happens.”
And who will win? Not a flicker of a smile. “It will be interesting with the new [engine] rules,” he mumbles. “It’s hard to know what will happen.”
Like him or loathe him, Raikkonen is a unique character. Some of his peers find his attitude obnoxious; one of the younger drivers told this newspaper, before Raikkonen got the Ferrari gig, that he did not think they would re-hire him because “Kimi is a d**k”.
His maverick approach to his craft, the open dislike of the media and PR, the monosyllabic interviews, the radio exchanges in which he tells his team to shut up and stop bothering him, have succeeded in making him a cult figure.
If his attitude sometimes strays into arrogance, then at least no one can accuse him of lacking character. Or of being anything other than a proper racer. This, remember, is a man who has entered snowmobile races in a gorilla suit under the pseudonym James Hunt, who has his own Moto-cross World Championship team, who took two years out of Formula One to go rallying. Raikkonen admits he is keen for more, but says that permission to indulge his need for extracurricular speed “was not part of the discussions with Ferrari”.
Raikkonen is one of the bona fide stars of Formula One. It will be fascinating to watch his second coming at Ferrari, whoever is racing alongside him.
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Thu Sep 19, 2013 6:17 pm
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I was just about to post that, I'm glad not all media is like that 
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