I'm glad Boullier and Lopez are more fair to Kimi because they are Permane's bosses. Of course Permane wanted Kimi to use the LWB for his own interests but now that all the world is watching closely he can't mess up Kimi's races that easily anymore.
Quote: WHATEVER wrote in post #76I'm glad Boullier and Lopez are more fair to Kimi because they are Permane's bosses. Of course Permane wanted Kimi to use the LWB for his own interests but now that all the world is watching closely he can't mess up Kimi's races that easily anymore.
It's more in the interest of Gro's manager and the team owner for Gro to do well going forward. Mr Soup keeps a client and Lopez could Potentially sign a big sponsor other than Total.
I definitely agree that Permane's strategies have been circumspect and aren't receiving enough criticism for such ridiculous mistakes for a team capable of finishing p2 in the constructors! He would be under much more intense scrutinity for his strategy blunders If he were wearing red on the pitwall
quote2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Saturday 2nd November
Kimi Räikkönen ended the day fifth with team-mate Romain Grosjean seventh in a tightly contested qualifying session for tomorrow’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Hot, dry, still conditions prevailed during the final practice session, with cooling temperatures the feature of qualifying as the sun set over the Yas Marina Circuit.
A straightforward Q1 session saw both drivers set a banker lap on medium tyres, before emerging for a single stint on soft rubber to sail through in third [Kimi] and seventh [Romain]. Q2 by contrast was a closely fought affair; the Finn and Frenchman progressing in ninth and eighth respectively, separated by less than three hundredths of a second after two runs apiece on softs.
The top ten shootout of Q3 again saw both black and gold cars make two appearances on soft tyres, with their opening runs good enough for a pair of top six placings. As the chequered flag dropped under the Yas Marina floodlights, Kimi found himself fifth with Romain seventh.
Kimi Räikkönen, E21-05 Q: P5, 1:40.542 FP3: P9, 1:42.387
“Today wasn’t too bad overall. In the early sessions both yesterday and today I struggled a bit to get the car working how I wanted, but in the evening when the temperature is cooler it’s been much more to my liking. This is good as the race will be in the evening so we’d prefer it that way around for sure. The short wheelbase car seems to suit my style a bit better too, so hopefully we can continue this way for tomorrow. Of course, you always want to be as far up the grid as you can and we clearly weren’t the fastest today, but you never know what might happen on Sunday so we’ll see what we can do.”
“That was one of the trickier qualifying sessions we’ve had recently, and seventh on the grid is not where we expected to be after the pace we’ve shown so far this weekend. The car felt quite different this evening – particularly in terms of front end – so we’ll need to investigate where it’s not quite working. It’s a long race tomorrow in tough conditions and everyone around us will be starting on the same tyres, so we need to try and find some performance from the data tonight to achieve our target of the podium.”
Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: “We expect strong race pace tomorrow”
How was qualifying for the team? That was a great qualifying performance from Kimi who was unlucky not to be in front of both Mercedes after the final sector of his qualifying lap narrowly cost him a potential third position. By contrast, Romain had a bit of a struggle today and wasn’t as comfortable with his car as he has been so far this weekend. Having both cars inside the top ten is a decent result however, as we expect to see strong race pace from the E21.
What is possible tomorrow? Our target on pace alone is to race and beat Mercedes; ending the weekend with another good points haul over them in the Constructors’ Championship in the process. Of course, we’ll be ready to capitalise on any opportunities that Red Bull may present us, but they are looking very fast once more here.
What are the tyre strategy considerations for the race? There don’t appear to be too many permutations here, so it could be quite a straight-forward race. Certainly, the different options that presented themselves in New Delhi don’t look to be available here so we’ll watch how the race evolves and react accordingly.
Seriously I knew things were going to well for Kimi. There was a similar incident with Grosjean earlier in the year, I hope Lotus can prove that there was damage to the floor and it wasn't intentional. But with Kimi's luck lately I am prepared for the worst.
Quote: Boudica wrote in post #83Seriously I knew things were going to well for Kimi. There was a similar incident with Grosjean earlier in the year, I hope Lotus can prove that there was damage to the floor and it wasn't intentional. But with Kimi's luck lately I am prepared for the worst.
Is the matter finally over?
The officials were Ok with the damage from kerb impact and will allow him to start 5th?
Adam Cooper @adamcooperf1 1m Looks like Kimi Raikkonen will be excluded from qualifying for the floor problem - which means he starts from the back of the grid
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Sat Nov 02, 2013 3:48 pm
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