Kimi on Monaco: “a lot of parties going on; or so I’m told”
| Source: lotusf1team.com |
After five races and four podiums, Kimi heads to Monaco a tantalising four points off the Drivers’ Championship lead. As our Iceman explains, the challenge of Monaco is quite different from that of the circuits seen so far this season.
Q: You must be feeling pretty good with your championship position and the performance of the car this season?
KR: Well, we’re not in first place so we can’t be too happy. For sure it’s not a nightmare, but we’ve still got a lot of races yet to come and anything can happen in Formula 1. Monaco is a different challenge, so we’ll have to see what happens there this year.
Q: Last year’s Monaco Grand Prix was not one of the team’s better outings, so you’ll be hoping for better this year?
KR: We certainly won’t make the mistakes we made last time. There were a few things we didn’t do right over the weekend and we suffered because of that. Sometimes that’s the way it goes, but the important thing is not to make the same mistakes again.
Q: How do you define the Monaco Grand Prix?
KR: It’s useless to put races in different categories, because all of them are as important as each other if you want to win a Championship. However, as a real special race there is nothing like Monaco; there is no better feeling than to get things going well there. To race in the streets of Monte Carlo is really different from everywhere else and it’s a challenge I look forward to every year. It is very, very difficult – almost impossible in fact – to have a clean weekend down there.
Q: You won in Monaco in 2005; how did that feel?
KR: I’ve only managed to get it right once before and you really experience the greatest feeling you can get by winning it. My win in 2005 ranks up there with my most memorable, so to win it again would be just as special.
Q: What’s the challenge behind the wheel?
KR: It’s such a narrow, twisty track; you have to be extra sharp and focused through every single metre. It gives such a good feeling; a fast lap around Monaco. Overtaking is almost impossible, so to really enjoy racing there you have to be in the front.
Q: What about the atmosphere?
KR: It’s an interesting place to go to, with a lot of fans and a lot of parties going on; or so I’m told
Q: What’s your approach to the weekend?
KR: We have to focus on qualifying. It’s a difficult place to race as it’s so narrow and – as I said before – passing is nearly impossible. I was stuck behind Rubens [Barrichello] in 2009 and we had KERS then, but you just couldn’t get past. We’ll have to see how the tyres perform and if there are any good strategies to be made, but the most important thing is to qualify well. It’s difficult to know how good the car will be in Monaco as you can’t simulate its characteristics; certainly not at any of the circuits we’ve visited so far this year anyway. We can say the E21’s been fast everywhere else so let’s hope it’s also fast there.
Q: With qualifying so important, is it a worry that this doesn’t seem to be one of the E21’s strongest areas?
KR: We’ll do the best we can, but of course everyone will be trying to be on the front row. It’s not impossible for us, but we won’t know how good we are until we get there. We know that tyre changes have to be made so there are opportunities if you run a different strategy to your rivals, but it’s certainly more difficult here than anywhere else.
Lotus confident on qualifying gains for Monaco
Lotus is heading to the Monaco Grand Prix confident it has made the steps it needed to with its qualifying pace.
The narrow confines of the Monte Carlo street circuit always puts a premium on grid position, with Lotus an outfit that has sometimes struggled to extract single-lap performance from its car.
After a difficult Monaco last year, Lotus’ trackside operations director Alan Permane thinks the situation should be better this time around, although admits the outfit is not taking anything for granted.
“It’s no secret that this is an area we’ve been looking to improve and we haven’t done a bad job in this regard,” said Permane.
“We took a front row slot in China and – disregarding Mercedes – we were less than a tenth from the front runner in Spain.
“I wouldn’t go as far as to say our qualifying pace is perfect as it’s clear there are still gains to be made, but we’ve certainly made significant inroads into understanding how to get the most out of the tyres over a single lap, in addition to balancing setup for both qualifying and race pace.”
Lotus will be using a high-downforce specification rear wing, as well as an updated front wing and floor modifications in Monaco.
Permane added: “We’re confident in the upgrade package for this race and the car has worked well at every circuit so far this season, so there’s no reason it won’t be strong here.”
Wallpapers: Spain
A set of desktops from the last Grand Prix at Barcelona, enjoy!
Download more here.
Photos: Spain Grand Prix… before it happened
A photo gallery of Kimi before the race…
Spain GP: Post-race press conference
| Source: fia.com |
PODIUM INTERVIEWS (Conducted by Eddie Jordan)
Q: Kimi, four points off the championship lead at this stage and you’re coming in under the radar so to speak, because nobody is really giving you enough credit for what you’re doing at the moment. How do you respond to that?
Kimi RAIKKONEN: I don’t mind. I’m here only to do as good races as we can and always you want to win and it’s disappointing to finish second but sometimes we have to take what we can get. Like I said, I don’t mind if people don’t notice us. We do our work, be happy what we do and obviously try to achieve in Enstone.
Q: Is the lack of attention possibly helping you?
KR: It makes no difference really to me. We know in the team, and all the sponsors, what we try to achieve and what we are doing and that’s the main thing.
Press Conference:
Q: Kimi, we heard you say on the podium there you were disappointed you didn’t win. You had a different strategy to Fernando, doing one stop less than the Ferrari today. Was there a point at which you thought you might have an opportunity to challenge Fernando for the win today?
KR: Maybe half way through. Obviously, we were leading but when we were on old tyres and he had newer tyres, it’s too easy to overtake. There’s no point to really fight against [him] because you cannot hold him behind. I knew if I could somehow stay a bit more closer, even with old tyres, maybe I have some chance, even if I’m already behind and will be with old tyres in the end but you never know. But they were just too fast. He had a good start around the outside of me. I don’t think the end result really was decided there but we just did a different way of doing the race. It wasn’t a winning way today but… We’re never happy if we’re not winning. We’re only here to try to win. But we kind of caught up with Vettel few points and obviously Fernando caught me up [by] some points but we’re still in the hunt and we’ll keep ourselves there and hopefully in the future just try to win a bit more.
Q: Consistency is the key though, isn’t it? It’s the fourth time in five races you’ve stood on the podium, including that win in Australia and as you say you’ve got it down to just five points to Vettel. How do you feel about your championship situation and what comes from here?
KR: Obviously it’s better than before the race now. It will not be easy. We cannot fight against… it’s the same for everybody. Everybody wants to win it, but sometimes you have a bad day. You try to minimise those and make the most out of them and give yourself a chance to be up there and fight for wins. I think if you can do that often it will give a good chance in the end to fight for the championship. It’s only a five race-old season, so there’s an awful lot to be raced. We’ll see what happens. We’ll try to do well and see where we are in the end.
Q: [Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Fernando, historically this has always been a track where it was pretty difficult to overtake but today we have seen that there were many manoeuvres. You made history because nobody every won starting fifth, so how do you feel about it? And also, to all of you, don’t you think it’s too much with these tyres having too many pitstops and there is too much confusion?
FA: I don’t know. I’m happy to win from whatever position to start. Here, I think this historically has been difficult to overtake and starting off the front row was hard for the race but now with this year’s degradation and this year’s tyres we see the races keep changing all the time. Whatever car keeps the tyre alive normally is on the podium at least – or winning the race. So, happy for this. If it’s too much confusion for the spectators? There is no doubt. I think it is impossible to follow one race now. Here it’s good because you have the tower and I think you follow the race on the tower with the numbers and you see who is first, who is second. But in some other circuits, if I’m sitting in the grandstand, without any information: radio, telephone or something, you only see cars passing.
Kimi, your thoughts on that?
KR: I don’t really think it’s any different to last year. Obviously I wasn’t there the year before but they had a lot of pitstops also. So that’s the way it is and it’s the same for everybody. For sure sometimes it’s a bit tricky, even for us, who is where and what is going on if you haven’t seen it as the guy in front, what’s going on. But that’s what Formula One is today. It might change, it might not.
Q: (Pierre Van Vliet – F1i.com) Kimi, in the early part of the race when you had your first pitstop, you came back with new soft tyres and you spent… you lost a few laps behind Vettel. Without that time lost do you think you could have been in front of Fernando on the last stint?
KR: It wasn’t a new, it was used from qualifying. So, I mean obviously I have to overtake and I took maybe a few laps more than I expected but I got past him and I really could pull away but in the end I really don’t think those were the decisions that were the deciding story of the race. I think we had the speed but we should have done it different. Maybe more pitstops, then you can push all the time – but I think this was our best way of doing the race. That’s what we planned and that’s what we did and I think we deserved to be second and not really winning today. It’s OK for the team, the guys did a good job and we go for the next race to try to do better and get the best out of it.
Q: (Leonid Novozhilov – F1Life) Kimi, what do you think about the pit stop strategy in Monaco?
KR: I have no idea. I know what we did here and yesterday. There’s a few weeks to go. We will see what happens, what tyres they bring and how everything plans out. I think it’s usually quite straightforward there. Usually, if you’re not in the front, you start behind somebody else and it’s really difficult to overtake. We will see.
Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, you have three successive second places and now you’ve managed to catch up Sebastian by six points; was this the most rewarding of these three races, and how do you see your chances to do better in Monaco?
KR: First of all, Monaco is a different place compared to this, so it’s a bit hard to say. Last year I wasn’t very good there. For sure, it should be a bit better but I’ve had some good races there – it’s a dangerous thing to say – but as Fernando said, I think Mercedes will unfortunately be pretty quick there and after that it’s difficult to overtake. The only difference that they have made against most of us is in the last sector where it’s tight so you can really expect, from what they did last year and what they did here, that they should be pretty fast there. We will see what happens there, but gaining the points on Sebastian was nice. If he would have lost more points and still be second it would have been even more annoying, but OK, you also want to win but we cannot still put ourselves in a better position for the championship so at least something good came out of it.
Q: (Jussi Jakala – YLE) Kimi, all top drivers are kind of supermen; did you have time to enjoy the battle that you had with Sebastian?
KR: Yeah, it didn’t last very long. It took a few laps. I maybe had a chance earlier but I didn’t think that I would take him at the end of the straight but actually they were very fast at the start of the straight so I couldn’t catch him there, so it took a bit longer than I expected but then it was quite nice, fair but quite tough fight, but it worked out OK.
Sunday in Spain: “Disappointing to finish second”
| Source: lotusf1team.com |
After a hat-trick of second place finishes, Kimi moves to within four points of Sebastian Vettel at the head of the Drivers’ Championship; he’s not getting carried away just yet though…
Q: P2 for the third consecutive race; how are you feeling?
KR: Unfortunately it’s second place again so it’s not time to celebrate too much. The car felt good and we did pretty much all we could today, but we didn’t have the pace to challenge Fernando [Alonso]. I drove to the maximum and it’s good for the championship that Sebastian finished behind us. It’s nice to be on the podium for me and the team; let’s see what we can do in Monaco.
Q: You achieved your result with a three stop strategy today when many rivals opted for four; talk us through that decision?
KR: That’s the strategy we chose and it worked pretty well for us. Fernando did make four stops, but we didn’t think we could beat him whatever the strategy today as he has looked pretty quick all weekend.
Q: Did you enjoy your battle with Sebastian Vettel?
KR: Yes, but it didn’t last very long; just a few laps. I maybe had a chance to pass a bit earlier but I didn’t think I could take him at the end of the straight; they [Red Bull] were very fast coming on to the straight so I couldn’t catch him there. It took a bit longer than I expected but then it was a good battle – fair, but quite tough – and it worked out okay for us in the end.
Q: Some say your championship challenge is somewhat under the radar; is that a good thing?
KR: I don’t mind if people don’t notice us. We do our work, we’re happy in what we do and we obviously try to achieve the best for Enstone. I’m just here to race the best I can. You always want to win and it’s disappointing to finish second, but sometimes we have to take what we can get.
Spain Grand Prix – Race Results: P2
| Source: autosport.com | lotusf1team.com |
A strong drive to P2 puts Kimi just 4 points off Championship leader Sebastian Vettel, whilst bad luck sees Romain retire in the early stages at the Circuit de Catalunya…
Pos Driver Team 1. Alonso Ferrari 2. Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 3. Massa Ferrari 4. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 5. Webber Red Bull-Renault 6. Rosberg Mercedes 7. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes 8. Button McLaren-Mercedes 9. Perez McLaren-Mercedes 10. Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 11. Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 12. Hamilton Mercedes 13. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 14. Maldonado Williams-Renault 15. Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 16. Bottas Williams-Renault 17. Pic Caterham-Renault 18. Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth 19. Chilton Marussia-Cosworth DNF Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari DNF van der Garde Caterham-Renault DNF Grosjean Lotus-Renault World Championship standings, round 5: Drivers: Constructors: 1. Vettel 89 1. Red Bull-Renault 131 2. Raikkonen 85 2. Ferrari 117 3. Alonso 72 3. Lotus-Renault 111 4. Hamilton 50 4. Mercedes 72 5. Massa 45 5. Force India-Mercedes 32 6. Webber 42 6. McLaren-Mercedes 29 7. Di Resta 26 7. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 8 8. Grosjean 26 8. Sauber-Ferrari 5 9. Rosberg 22 10. Button 17 11. Perez 12 12. Ricciardo 7 13. Sutil 6 14. Hulkenberg 5 15. Vergne 1
Video: SkySports interview
Sunday Quotes:
Raikkonen – No point fighting Alonso
When asked if he thought that victory had been possible, Lotus driver Raikkonen replied: “Maybe halfway through, when we were leading, but we were on old tyres and [he had] newer tyres.
“It is too easy to overtake, so no point to really fight again because you cannot hold him behind.
“I knew if I could somehow stay a bit closer, maybe I had some chance, even if I am already behind them with old tyres. But in the end, they were just too fast.”
Raikkonen pointed to his poor opening lap, when he dropped a place to Alonso at Turn 3, as a moment that shaped his race.
“We didn’t have a good start, but I don’t think the end result was decided there. It wasn’t the win, and we are only happy with the win, but [in terms of the championship, with Sebastian] Vettel we are close and Fernando has caught me, but we are still in the hunt and hopefully we can try and win a bit more.”
Raikkonen is now just four points behind Vettel in the championship, and is looking forward to future battles as he aims to win his second world title.
“Sometimes you have bad days and make the most out of them and give yourself a chance to fight for wins,” he said.
“If you can do that often you will have a good chance in the end to fight for the championship. Only five races done… we will see what happens and see where we are at the end.”
Kimi Raikkonen – 2nd: “Unfortunately it’s second place again so it’s not time to celebrate too much. The car felt good and we did pretty much all we could today, but we didn’t have the pace to challenge Fernando [Alonso]. I drove to the maximum and it’s good for the championship that Sebastian finished behind us. It’s nice to be on the podium for me and the team; let’s see what we can do in Monaco.”
Romain Grosjean – DNF: “I made a poor start but after that I was on the pace and we know we’re able to produce good race strategies, so there was potential for a strong result today. The car was feeling pretty good until we had an issue with the rear suspension which meant I had to return to the pits and retire from the race, which is a great shame. It’s always disappointing for everyone when something like this happens but there’s no-one to blame; it’s just a part of motor racing.”
Eric Boullier, Team Principal: “We’re very happy with a podium. Losing out to Fernando in the first corner was a blow, and being held up behind first Lewis [Hamilton] then Sebastian certainly hampered our progress, but even so I don’t think we quite had the pace to take the win today. Unfortunately for Romain, and through no fault of his own, a rear suspension failure curtailed his race very early on. The cause of this has yet to be determined and we’ve completed many, many kilometres with this suspension configuration, so it’s difficult to pinpoint what might have occurred. We’ll be sending the parts back to Enstone to have a good look at what went wrong and avoid any recurrence.”
On Twitter:
@NickHeidfeld Congrats especially 2 @Kimi_Raikkonen on 2nd place + for apparently matching my consecutive race finish streak.He deserves it. #strongracer
@f1zone Kimi: “It’s only 5 races. We are here to win races and championships. I want to win, the team wants to win. 2nd is disappointing” #f1
@f1zone Kimi: “But we gained points on Sebastian today so it’s good. But we need to finish higher up more.”
@KimiFanPage Kimi: ”We choose to do that (three stops). It gave us second place. We gained points on Sebastian, something good came out of today.”
Spain GP: Post-qualy interview with Kimi
| Source: formula1.com |
Lotus’s Kimi Raikkonen has been there or thereabouts at the top of the timesheets all weekend in Barcelona, but he ended qualifying on the second row of the grid in fourth position. After climbing out of the car the Finn spoke to reporters about his performance in qualifying and his prospects for the race tomorrow…
Q: Kimi, you’ll start from P4 tomorrow – one of your best qualifying result so far this season. What do you make of that?
Kimi Raikkonen: Well, I have to make a good start and then I take it from there. What else do you expect I do? Mercedes have not been as strong in the races as they have been in qualifying so everything seems possible.
Q: After the morning session had you hoped for a spot on the first row of the grid?
KR: It’s been pretty good all weekend long, but unfortunately during qualifying it was a bit more windy than it was in the morning session and that made it a bit more tricky in Sector 3. For sure we didn’t have the speed of Mercedes, but we have seen that before so I am open for anything in the race.
Q: Did you have had any idea before qualifying where you would fit in?
KR: After I made it into Q3 it could have been P1 or P10. Everything is pretty tight, so I am satisfied where I am as it was the best qualifying result in quite a while.
Q: A penalty points system for drivers has been spoken about recently. Sebastian Vettel clearly said in the FIA press conference that he is not in favour of it. What is your opinion?
KR: Why should I make a comment over something that is not finalized yet? Nothing has been decided and I am sure there will be changes made to the proposal. We always had penalties when a driver did something wrong – now they are looking at a new catalogue for handling misbehaviour. The best way to avoid being confronted with any penalties? Do nothing wrong, don’t break the rules – then you’re fine!
Q: Do you expect Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso will be in close combat tomorrow? Alonso sure wants to put on a show in front of his home crowd…
KR: How would I know what’s on Alonso’s agenda! Go and ask him.
Q: Do you think that you can do one stop less than the others or will it be an equal playing field?
KR: We will sit down and discuss our strategy this evening. And you would have to tie me to a stake to get a word out of me! All I can say is that we will see a very interesting race tomorrow and that is what fans want to see.
Saturday in Spain: “Not too bad”
| Source: lotusf1team.com |
On previous form, P4 on the grid for tomorrow’s Spanish Grand Prix should bode well for our Finnish maestro; but what does the man himself think?
Q: Did qualifying live up to your expectations?
KR: It was not too bad; better than last race for sure. It’s very close here and we could have been P1 or P10 in that final session, so P4 is not too bad. Of course, unless you’re on pole you want to be further up the order, but tomorrow’s when really matters.
Q: How’s the car feeling?
KR: It’s been pretty okay over the weekend. Today in qualifying was a bit more windy than we saw this morning, which made the final sector a little more tricky. We didn’t have the pace get on the front row, but we should have a pretty good car in the race.
Q: What do you expect from tyre strategy?
KR: I don’t know what the others are doing but we’re still working out what our plan will be. A lot depends on how the tyres are working in the race and that’s part of the job for the guys on the pit wall tomorrow. I don’t expect that we’ll do anything massively different from anyone else; maybe we’ll stop at a different time, maybe we’ll stop at the same time, who knows…
Q: What are your chances in the race starting from P4?
KR: You can’t really say on Saturday what will happen; you just have to make a good start and then see what you can do. We’ve got two fast Mercedes ahead of us and we’ll have to see how strong they are over a full distance. I’m sure the Ferrari and Red Bull will be competitive, so like any race we’ll just do our best and see where we end up.
Video: NBCSports on Kimi
Spain Grand Prix – Final Practice Results: P2
| Source: autosport.com | lotusf1team.com |
An overcast but dry start to the second day’s running at the Circuit de Catalunya saw Kimi and Romain take P2 / P4 respectively in the final practice session…
FP3 Times:
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap Laps
1. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m21.901s 13
2. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m21.907s + 0.006s 14
3. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m22.044s + 0.143s 17
4. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m22.069s + 0.168s 13
5. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m22.229s + 0.328s 17
6. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m22.254s + 0.353s 15
7. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m22.574s + 0.673s 11
8. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m22.729s + 0.828s 17
9. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m22.740s + 0.839s 24
10. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m22.759s + 0.858s 15
11. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m22.839s + 0.938s 26
12. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m23.151s + 1.250s 13
13. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1m23.371s + 1.470s 21
14. Sergio Perez McLaren-Mercedes 1m23.373s + 1.472s 13
15. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m23.385s + 1.484s 17
16. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 1m23.388s + 1.487s 18
17. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1m23.660s + 1.759s 16
18. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m23.767s + 1.866s 17
19. Charles Pic Caterham-Renault 1m24.775s + 2.874s 18
20. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth 1m24.793s + 2.892s 16
21. Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 1m25.135s + 3.234s 17
22. Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 1m25.250s + 3.349s 18
Friday in Spain: “It wasn’t a disaster but we have to improve”
| Source: lotusf1team.com |
Fourth fastest after the opening day’s action, Kimi gives us his view on a closely packed field here at the Circuit de Catalunya…
Q: How was your Friday in Barcelona?
KR: It was a pretty normal Friday. We tried some new things on the car, ran with some different tyres and we’ll have a look at all the data to see where we think we are. We finished the day not too far off the fastest time, so we can say that the day wasn’t a disaster, but for sure there are some things we have to improve with the car which is normal after the first day’s running.
Q: Times are pretty tight at the front of the pack today; should that make qualifying interesting tomorrow?
KR: I guess it’s going to be very close in qualifying too. We aren’t always especially fast in qualifying so we’ll have to see what we can do. We have to get everything right to fight for a good position and then we’ll see where we end up.
Q: How did you find the revised hard compound tyre?
KR: It’s okay.
Q: Does the car feel any different with the latest upgrades?
KR: It’s difficult to compare. We were here last time in the winter and the car has changed quite a lot since then. It feels okay on track; we’re looking at the data to see if the new parts are doing what they should, which is the normal way we do these things.
Q: Does the change of tyres to a harder allocation for this race make any difference to you?
KR: It makes no difference to me; they’re the same for everyone and we all try to get the most performance from them.
Spain Grand Prix – Second Practice Results
| Source: autosport.com | lotusf1team.com |
With a dry circuit now at their mercy, Friday afternoon at the Circuit de Catalunya meant a session of upgrade evaluation for Kimi and Romain. P4 / P18 was the result; here’s how it happened…
FP2 Times:
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m22.808s 34
2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m22.825s + 0.017s 35
3. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m22.891s + 0.083s 36
4. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m23.030s + 0.222s 32
5. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m23.110s + 0.302s 37
6. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m23.140s + 0.332s 35
7. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m23.398s + 0.590s 45
8. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m23.840s + 1.032s 37
9. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m24.058s + 1.250s 31
10. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m24.104s + 1.296s 25
11. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m24.175s + 1.367s 32
12. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m24.306s + 1.498s 35
13. Sergio Perez McLaren-Mercedes 1m24.854s + 2.046s 31
14. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1m24.888s + 2.080s 38
15. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 1m25.167s + 2.359s 38
16. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m25.321s + 2.513s 32
17. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1m25.441s + 2.633s 37
18. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m25.851s + 3.043s 35
19. Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 1m25.963s + 3.155s 30
20. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth 1m26.078s + 3.270s 31
21. Charles Pic Caterham-Renault 1m26.930s + 4.122s 35
22. Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 1m26.970s + 4.162s 25
Kimi Raikkonen – 8th/4th: “It was a pretty normal Friday. We tried some things on the car, ran with some different tyres and we’ll have a look at all the data to see where we think we are. We finished the day not too far off the fastest time, so we can say that the day wasn’t a disaster, but for sure there are some things we have to improve with the car which is normal after the first day’s running.”
Romain Grosjean – 4th/18th: “Today was okay. It may not look great on the timesheets, but we didn’t finish our lap on the medium tyres as I had to come back in. The circuit isn’t an easy one to understand in terms of tyre performance as there is a lot of degradation, and of course this morning the weather conditions made things a bit difficult. We completed a good number of laps to collect as much data as possible, so we’ll be working on the set-up this evening where we should be able to take some steps forwards.”
On Twitter:
@charlie_whiting
@Lotus_F1Team Kimi is on pace to #CatchTheBull. When he does, he still won’t care. And that is beautiful.
@KimiFanPage
#Kimi long run times in P2: 1:29.0 1:29.3 1:29.8 1:30.3 1:35.0 1:29.9 1:29.6 1:29.8 1:28.9 1:29.2 1:29.3 1:30.0 1:31.6 1:36.7 1:29.8 1:36.3
@dipakragav
@KimiFanPage the first 9 were on mediums. that last 8 were on hard tyres.
Spain Grand Prix – First Practice Results
| Source: autosport.com | formula1.com | lotusf1team.com |
A cool, damp start to the weekend at the Circuit de Catalunya saw Kimi and Romain end the morning in P8 / P4 respectively; a somewhat mixed field the result of drying conditions out on track.
FP1 Times:
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m25.252s 20
2. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m25.455s + 0.203s 20
3. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m25.667s + 0.415s 25
4. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m26.042s + 0.790s 21
5. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m26.212s + 0.960s 24
6. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m26.374s + 1.122s 19
7. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1m26.456s + 1.204s 20
8. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m26.614s + 1.362s 21
9. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m26.621s + 1.369s 21
10. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m26.755s + 1.503s 16
11. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m26.940s + 1.688s 26
12. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 1m27.061s + 1.809s 24
13. Sergio Perez McLaren-Mercedes 1m27.135s + 1.883s 6
14. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1m27.250s + 1.998s 26
15. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m27.576s + 2.324s 24
16. Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 1m28.600s + 3.348s 19
17. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth 1m28.887s + 3.635s 14
18. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m29.177s + 3.925s 14
19. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m29.457s + 4.205s 11
20. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m29.473s + 4.221s 21
21. Rodolfo Gonzalez Marussia-Cosworth 1m30.314s + 5.062s 12
22. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes no time 6
Kimi: ruling out title “would be stupid”
Kimi Raikkonen says Lotus would be ‘stupid’ not to believe it is knuckling down for a world championship fight this year.
The Finn is just ten points adrift of points leader Sebastian Vettel after the first four races of the year, and its car has proved to be a step forward on last year’s challenger.
Although there is still a view that Red Bull has the out-and-out fastest car, Raikkonen says there is absolutely no reason for Lotus not to set its sights on glory at the end of the campaign.
“It would be stupid to say we are not going to fight for the championship,” he explained.
“The only reason why we are here is to try to win championships and races. Obviously we want to fight for it, but you only have to have a couple of bad races and you might be out of it completely.
“We’ll try to make the maximum out of every weekend and in the long run that’s key to the championship.”
Raikkonen said that Lotus was not concerned about any specific element of its package – with qualifying the most notable area it can do better – and was just focusing on trying to improve in all areas.
“We try to improve everything,” he said. “If we improve the car, we’ll automatically improve our qualifying. It all goes hand in hand.
“There’s no magic where you suddenly do one thing and you’re faster in qualifying. If we make the car faster we improve our pace in all conditions.
“You always want to do better. We still have some things that need looking after, and especially in Malaysia [where it rained] we had some issues that could have been better.
“Right now we’ve put ourselves in a pretty good position so let’s see if we can keep it going and improve.”
Video: Raikkonen at the Burn Yard Live
| Source: formula1.com | f1socialdiary.com |
Kimi Raikkonen proved that driving is not his only talent on Thursday, when he tried his hand at spray painting as part of a Lotus team sponsor event in Barcelona. True, Raikkonen’s work may not yet make the Tate Modern, but for an amateur his skills were surprisingly impressive.
As part of the inaugural ‘burn yard live’, the Finn helped to ‘re-livery’ a Lotus race car under the guidance of world-renowned street artist, M-City. It was the first of a series of such workshops designed to bring together leading innovators from the worlds of youth art, music and sport.
Kimi Raikkonen: “It looks cool. And it fits perfectly with the team’s philosophy of being that extra bit creative. Would I like to race a car designed like this? To be honest, the livery or the colour is the least of my concerns. It has to be fast – that is all that matters.”
The location for Raikkonen’s master class was the regenerated Astilleros shipyards on the shores of Barcelona’s Mediterranean coast. But his artistic education will not stop there – future burn yard live events are planned for locations including Hungary, Korea and Brazil, with the former champion getting a lesson in a new field at each.
Video:
On Twitter:
@burn
Nothing but cool from the #Iceman #Kimi at #burnYard BCN #CatchTheBull #FuelYourFire @Lotus_F1Team http://instagram.com/p/ZGYbkcTT6w/
@AdamHayNicholls
Is Kimi Raikkonen Banksy’s real identity?
Lotus F1 Team Official Partner Burn to introduce exciting new event to the Formula 1 calendar by the name of ‘burn yard live’. On 9th May 2013, the event – the first in a series – will be taking place at the Astilleros shipyards on the shores of Barcelona’s Mediterranean coast. The event will see burn bring together a collective of leading innovators from the worlds of art, music and sport to create a groundbreaking fusion of youth culture. One of the key highlights of the event will see M-City – a street artist renowned globally for his giant monochrome murals – take an unusual canvas in the form of a Lotus F1 Team show car and apply a series of bespoke artwork live in front of an audience.
Q: How long is it going to take to create this artwork?
M-City: It will take me two and a half days to complete the car. At the end of the process, I’ve got a very special guest from Lotus F1 Team – driver Kimi Räikkönen – coming along to help me put the final piece of the design to the car. It will be really cool to collaborate with him.
Thursday in Spain: “We should be fine”
| Source: autosport.com | more: adamcooperf1.com : espnf1.co.uk | audio @ lotusf1team.com |
Kimi Raikkonen thinks Lotus has enough strength in depth to shrug off the loss of technical director James Allison. Raikkonen said only time would tell if the highly-rated Allison’s exit would harm Lotus, but that he suspected the team was well prepared.
“For me it doesn’t really make a difference. I cannot tell if it will make a difference in one week or in one year, or if it won’t make a difference at all.
“It’s not like it suddenly happened one day. People have discussed it and the team will have known it was coming for a while.
“So it’s not like we woke up it’s different to what it was when we went to sleep.
“I think there are a lot of strong people and we should be fine.”
He added that the Allison announcement had no bearing on his 2014 plans, as he was not spending any time considering whether to stay with Lotus or move on at present.
“My decision will be purely on what I think is best for me overall,” Raikkonen said.
“I have no idea what will happen and right now I’m not even putting much thought into it because we have only done four races and we have a long season to go.
“It’s a long time until next year. Everybody always talks about it, but I’m not in any hurry.”
“Not really,” he said when asked if he was worried. “We don’t know if it’s going to change anything, or what it’s going to change. Obviously there are people who will replace him already. We’ll see if it has any effect on what the future brings. I don’t really have any idea.”
Meanwhile Kimi refused to be drawn on what his plans for 2014 might be.
“My decision will be purely on what I think is the best overall for me, and we’ll see what happens in the future. I have no idea what will happen and right now I don’t put much thought into it because we only have done four races. There’s a long season to go and there’s a long time until next year. So now we put effort for this race and this season.”
Asked if he had a time frame he said: “I have to know before next year… You keep asking me the same question, I have nothing to tell, I don’t know. I purely put my effort for this race and this year, and when things happen, people will know. There’s nothing to tell and I don’t really put much thought about it. Everyone always talks about it, but I’m not in a hurry.”
He also refused to be drawn on whether the change to Pirelli’s hard tyre might affect Lotus.
“We’ll see on Sunday, I cannot predict anything. There’s no point to try to guess what will happen. We’ll get some idea tomorrow and we’ll see if it’s good or not good.”
Must read – Article from the Guardian by Paul Weaver:
Whenever he is asked a question, the infamously reticent Raikkonen looks rather put out, as if you have just trespassed on his spiritual retreat, so his response to the speculation is hardly a surprise. “You keep asking me the same question but I have nothing to tell. I don’t know,” he says with a shrug. “Right now I’m purely putting my effort into this race and this year and when things happen, people will know. I have no idea what will happen and right now I’m not putting much thought into it because we have only had four races.
“There’s a long season to go and there’s a long time until next year. I have no contract for next year. There is talk about this and that. In the end I will make the decision at the right time. Things change quickly in Formula One. There might be a few options. I want to get the things right for me and get the things right for myself. I’ve been long enough in Formula One to know how important it is to get things as I want.
“I never make a plan. When you are in Formula One there is a point in your life when you want to do other stuff. There is not much time to do anything else. Just normal life, normal things.”
This looks very much like the longest speech ever made by Raikkonen; in fact it is a sort of montage, a splicing together of his responses when inevitably asked questions about his future here this weekend.
The Finn, to put it mildly, does not like being interviewed. And it was largely understood to be the demands of media and sponsors that led him to leave F1 under something of a cloud in 2009. He appeared to have lost his hunger for the sport two years after his world championship success with Ferrari. However, he has another explanation. “I thought I drove very well in the Ferrari in 2009. The car was pretty shit. It was just a bad car, a bad year for making a really good result and fighting for the championship.”
But in a sport well known for its lack of connection between stars and supporters does he still dislike media work and indulging sponsors? “I’m doing an interview right now,” he says. “I’ve always said that I enjoy racing. That’s the only reason I’m here. Nothing has changed in me. But I know how it comes. It comes with other things.
“That’s the way it has always been in Formula One. You will never get the perfect thing without some other stuff coming with it. If you get what you want you always have to pay some price for it.”
On Twitter:
@adamcooperf1
Journalist: “Did you watch the last race?” Kimi Raikkonen: “I was in it…”
Video:
Interview: Kimi’s thoughts ahead of Spain GP
| Source: lotusf1team.com |
After taking his third podium finish of the year in Bahrain, our Iceman looks forward to racing closer to home with the start of the European season.
Q: Yourself and the team currently occupy P2 in both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships; are you pleased with how things are going?
KR: For sure it’s an okay start and we’re in a better position that this time last year, but there’s a long season ahead and it’s too early to say if we can fight for the Championships right to the end. It’s going to be hard to catch Sebastian [Vettel] if he keeps taking good results so we need to start taking more points from him, but you never know what can happen. We’ll keep pushing to improve the car and see where we end up.
Q: What’s required to bridge that gap to P1?
KR: Some more wins! To catch the leaders, we have to work twice as hard as they are. It’s no secret that we want more speed from the car in qualifying; it’s so tight up there at the front and we really need to be on the first two rows to fight for victories every time. It’s good to be able to start the European season where we are as this is when you see teams starting to push on with lots of new parts for the cars. It’s still early days, but to have scored strong points since the start of the year is obviously better than not having them. We need to keep scoring points in the same way; even if it’s a bad weekend for us, we need to keep finishing as well as we can. That’s how we will fight to the end of the season.
Q: How is the Circuit of Catalunya for you?
KR: I have won twice in Barcelona and I was on the podium there last year too, so I really look forward to going there again; hopefully to end the weekend with another good result. It’s a circuit where you have to get everything exactly right to be at the top. All the teams have tested many times at this circuit, so to get an advantage there is not very easy. The set-up is crucial as the track changes with the wind and temperature so there’s plenty of work for the engineers too.
Q: Is it good to be racing in Europe again?
KR: I really like racing in Europe. We don’t have to travel that far so all your energy is saved for the weekend itself. Traditionally the real season starts when coming back to Europe. For me, it’s great.
Q: The Circuit de Catalunya is the only circuit at which you’ve tested the E21 so far; does that help matters?
KR: That’s true, but you have to remember that was at the end of February and the beginning of March so conditions were very different compared to what we hope to see in May. It was very difficult to get the tyres working properly when we were last there, but it was the same for everybody. We all start from zero again in FP1.
Q: The team didn’t get so much mileage at Barcelona during testing, but reliability doesn’t seem to be so much of a concern now the season is underway?
KR: I didn’t have that many laps there in testing as there were problems with the car and I also missed a day as I was unwell. That said, me and the team know the track pretty well so I don’t think we’ll be too surprised about which way the track goes or what setup to use on the car. Even though I didn’t get a lot of mileage in pre-season, the main thing was I felt good in the car the whole time. Our car seems to be good at every circuit so far…
Q: You were quite reserved after the podium finish in Bahrain; were you happy with the result?
KR: You’re never really happy if you don’t win, but I suppose second place is as close as you can get. We could maybe have been a few places higher in in qualifying which would have made things easier, but I drove to the maximum and luckily we found the pace in the car that was missing in qualifying. Let’s hope I’m happier in Spain.
Jonathan Noble on Kimi’s title fight
You could be forgiven for thinking that Kimi Raikkonen’s talk about needing to stop Sebastian Vettel’s charge already may sound a bit defeatist for a man just 10 points adrift of the top of the standings.
But a quick look back at the title standings last year shows that Raikkonen has good reason to understand the need to not let his German rival edge clear.
After the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix, Raikkonen was just 11 points behind Vettel in the standings, a gap that he never really got back under control again.
With an intense development race on the horizon, and little separating the frontrunners in pace terms, every point from now on is going to count.
And while there is only a seven points difference between winning and second, in championship terms a victory or defeat can turn into a ’14 pointer’ if they are against your main rival – and titles are often won by much less than that.
Kimi’s Column: Bahrain GP Review
| Source: kimiraikkonen.com |
Step by step
The first part of the season is behind us. Our target was to improve from what we got in first four races of 2012, and, obviously, we have gain some better results, and, the most importantly, a few more points.
Winning and clinching podiums has given a good basis for this championship campaign. We have not had the fastest car, but it’s realiable and competitive, so no complaints so far.
The Bahrain weekend showed again, how crucial it is to get a top result in qualifying. We didn’t have the speed for one lap, my lap was not perfect and all in all, we dropped too many places behind the leaders.
The race itself was a matter of taking care of the tyres. I was already on Friday thinking of two stops, and, it prooved to be the fastest way for us in the race. It could have been a little bit easier with the Force India, but we played it safe and I stopped quite early.
There was no way to fight for the victory against Vettel. We got second and third place and, for sure, that was a great result for the team. Obviously, we have work to do to keep on fighting with the top guys, but so far, so good. I’m quite happy with that.
Now it’s time to move to European season, starting from Barcelona. This is so refreshing time of the year. I don’t like the long journeys, so it’s nice to be that much closer to the racing circuits from home. For Barcelona everybody will bring new parts to their cars. It’s going to be interesting to see, how it turns out to be there in Friday practice.
Pictures from Bahrain:
Kimi at the KINI Full Gas event in Austria
| Source: motorsport-magazin.com | krferraricommunity | gallery |
David Coulthard @therealdcf1
Kini’s full gas event in Austria with Karl. Kini and Kimi pic.twitter.com/MvPnqClONj
He is not only the prelude winner of a Formula 1 season, but also a proud KTM Motocross World Championship Team Owner (ICE1Racing) – Kimi Raikkonen comes to KINI full gas at 01 May 2013 to Schlitters the Zillertal, Austria. The Finn will possibly from the huge array of unique entertainment acts and originals from various motorsport disciplines can thereby also be carried away into a smile, all for the charity Wings For Life.
Video: Kimi at the event
Between 10 and 18 clock offers Heinz Kinigadners extraordinary exhibition Motorsport Motorsport up close in the usual manner. The warm-up party on the eve of a 20 clock begins.
Also this year fulfills Motorcycle legend Heinz Kinigadner with the range of issued racers all desires. The pits in Schlitters offers enough space for noble Formula 1 racing cars, rally trucks and lightning-fast MotoGP bikes. Besides KTM prototypes and e-motorcycles, Moto 3 – and motocross bikes, originals from the Dakar Rally and Nascar series will be admired up close with the motor sports show. New in the show program is the demonstration of the former Supermoto World Champion Bernd Hiemer and its industry peers, as well as the “KTM Zero Emission Race” with the electric freeride bike and numerous Showruns.
The KINI Fullgas day is traditionally a meeting place for motor sports fans as well as for the stars of this year and as follows for the first time Formula 1 star Kimi Raikkonen Heinz Kinigadners invitation. The absolute motocross fan and championship team owner is in the Zillertal including the Austrian ski downhill “bulls” from Oeblarn, Klaus Kroell, can meet and talk not only with Felix Baumgartner and Gregor Bloéb and Tobias Moretti on the orange bikes from Mattighofen .
A dedicated stop the Zillertal railway takes visitors directly to the arena for many thousands of horsepower, engine and freestyle shows, when “Motorsport up close” as the theme and will be opened jointly with the sports-loving celebrities the season. In less than 10 minutes to get from Jenbach half hour easily and directly to the event site, from the bus stop in Mayrhofen one needs about 40 minutes.
The evening before, there is the full gas warm-up party (admission € 5) is directly at the event site and as part of the gas KINI full day in the calendar of every motorsport fans. The total proceeds from the sale and big raffle will benefit the research Wings for Life Foundation (www.wingsforlife.com).
Special for all wheelchair users: for she and a companion applicable to the entry of an € 8 and on the other they get on the podium in a state holiday event area to get a better view of the action.
(Google translation)
Wallpapers: Bahrain
A set of desktops from the last Grand Prix at Bahrain, enjoy!
Download more here.
Raikkonen exclusive – Sportbild interview
| Source: sportbild.de | courtesy of @KimiFanPage |
The man of few words talks. The reason why he is taking Vettel in his private jet, why he doesn’t extend his contract with Lotus at the moment and why a second world championship title wouldn’t make him happier…
Q: Mr. Räikkönen, the drummer of Guns Roses told us, that you had been drinking together. Is there a little rocker inside of you?
KR: ”In general, I like music, but not such music. The guys of guns ‘n’ roses are just cool. I don’t care if they’re famous musicians or not. I just like being together with such guys.”
Q: You were flying home from China together with Sebastian Vettel. From Munich on, in your private jet. Would you do so for every driver colleague?
KR: ”No, but not everyone lives near Zurich.”
Q: It says, Vettel has no more friends in the paddock. Is that true?
KR : ”It is basically difficult to have friends inside the Formula One, but we two are. We aren’t seeing each other as often as before because Seb moved a bit wider away, but I still would call him my friend in Formula One. I know him best of all.”
Q: He (Seb) is still being critized for ignoring team-orders in Malaysia. How would you have acted if the team told you to stay behind your slower teammate?
KR: ”Always you journalists with your would-if-questions! Team-orders are a part of Formula One. Sometimes you stick to it, sometimes it doesn’t make sense. Team-orders can be that your engineer tells you to do this or that, but you wanted to do it the other way round. Then I won’t listen to my engineer and do what I want.”
Q: Just like Vettel. Afterwards he told honestly what he’s thinking about his teammate. How did you like that?
KR: ”Seb has his opinion and he told it. He is honest and open. That’s a good thing, I like that.”
Q: How did Seb change because of his three titles?
KR: ”He didn’t change. Sure thing: He’s getting older and gets to know more about the sport. But apart from that, his personality didn’t change at all. He’s still a normal, funny and nice guy.”
Q: Now you two are fighting each other for race victories and the championship. Will you remain friends?
KR: ”Yes. We trust each other, that neither of us will do something stupid in a in fight. We’re honest and open. If it comes to a crash between us, we probably will be complaining about each other (laughs). But that should be it then. Everyone has an argument sometimes, it’s just normal.”
Q: In Bahrain, he beat you. Are you still winning against Seb in Badminton?
KR: ”We haven’t played for a long time. But the last time we did, approximately three years ago, Seb lost, that’s right.”
Q: Lotus team owner Gerard Lopez is assuming that you are staying with Lotus.
KR: ”It can be that he wants me to stay. In fact, I haven’t got a contract for next season yet. But things in Formula one can turn around fast. Honestly: I just don’t know what I will be doing next year yet. Ask me again in six months.”
Q: You told the Bild newspaper that you want to return to a top team. At RedBull Racing, Mark Webber’s spot will likely be available. And Dietrich Mateschitz wants you.
KR: ”I don’t know what you want from me! Here at Lotus, we are winning races. That’s enough. It doesn’t matter that we are spending less money than the other top teams here at Lotus as long as I am winning. But once again: I don’t know what happens next year. For now, I am trying to get the maximum out of the season. Then I will make the right decision for me. I am not wasting my thoughts on the future. And I’m not worried about finding a seat. I can live without Formula One, too.”
Q: Then why are you sitting here with us and doing an interview?
KR: ”Because Formula One is motorsport on the highest level. And according to that, there will always be days like this, when I have to do a lot of boring interviews.”
Q: Currently, you’re 2nd in the championship. Are you able to win the title against Sebastian Vettel?
KR: ”It’s true: At the moment we’re doing pretty well pretty often. But that doesn’t guarantee the championship. The second place in Bahrain was good, but it doesn’t help when Seb keeps winning all of the time. We have to find something else.”
Q: What would a second World Championship title mean to you?
KR: ”A second title would be nice, but it wouldn’t make me happier. The most important thing is to be satisfied with yourself.”
Q: What is so special about your right foot that your tires last longer?
KR: ”It isn’t just my foot. It’s a combination of the driver and the car. My Lotus is gentle with the tyres and that makes it easier for me.”
Q: It seems that you’re happier at Lotus than that Ferrari or Mclaren.
KR: ”No you can’t say that. A team from Italy is complete different to one from England. I had a good time everywhere.”
Q: You aren’t showing that at all. Are you going to laugh in the basement? (German proverb, I don’t know how to translate it properly. It means, that you won’t show your humoristic side to all people)
KR: ”I don’t show the real me in Formula One. Most of the people are behaving differently at work and in private.”
Q: While listening to your team radio, one could get the opinion that you aren’t getting along well with your engineer…..
KR: ”Yes, but you can only listen to a small piece of it. Of course, we have different opinions at some times. It seems that i’m yelling at him all the time, but that comes with the loudness. Inside the car it’s terribly loud.”
Q: You are a big James Hunt Fan. Are you going to watch the new movie about him and Niki Lauda?
KR: ”Yes, I will. In these times, Formula One was just pure racing. Motorsport how it should be. Not so much talking about it. I like that.”
Kimi to attend Gumball 3000
| Source: autoevolution.com | gumball3000.com | maxrally.com |
Kimi Raikkonen will squeeze in a rally in between the Spanish and Monaco grands prix next month – but sadly he won’t be competing. Or will he?
The 2007 Formula One World Champion – who competed full-time in the WRC from 2010-2011 – will be attending the start of the 15th anniversary Gumball Rally, which starts from Copenhagen on May 18th. After that, we’ll have to wait and see.
The Gumball Rally isn’t quite rallying as we know it: instead it’s all about a load of supercars driving around Europe – a bit like the Carrera Panamericana, but with better parties. As one team’s motto puts it: “we don’t drive fast, we fly low.” But as it’s all on public roads, officially there is no competitive element.
And while Kimi isn’t taking part, he has some very good friends who are: car number 34’s team description is simply: “four crazy Finns.” The Finns in question are the ‘Dudeson brothers’: four Finnish stuntmen with their own TV show, which is broadly the equivalent of Jackass.
The first stage is from Copenhagen to Stockholm, followed by a stage from Stockholm to Helsinki – and rumours keep persisting that car 34 might have an unscheduled guest driver on the opening leg…
Other confirmed drivers for the Gumball include the legend that is David Hasselhoff and a car crewed by members of the band Cypress Hill, as well as professional skier Jon Olsson.
The Gumball 3000 finishes in Monaco, after going via St Petersburg, Tallinn, Riga, Warsaw and Vienna.
In the Gumball Rally entry grid list, we see Team 34 with the description “4 crazy Fins.” The car shown is a BMW but according to this link, Kimi will be driving a special 1967 Shelby G.T.500. The Dudesons are Team 06.
On Twitter:
Pete Johnston @cptjohnston
Can’t wait to like up on the start grid in Copenhagen next to @Kimi_Raikkonen #gumball3000 @bavmajithia @MRGUMBALL3000 @gumball3000
Follow The_Dudesons and Jukka Hilden for updates during the rally.
The Dudesons have participated in the 2011 rally where they bumped into Kimi Raikkonen in Monaco. Kimi gave some advice to the Dudesons in this video.
Lotus promises a car to match Kimi’s wishes
| Source: ts.fi @ racingnerds.com | Translation courtesy of Nicole
Last year Kimi Räikkönen came 3rd in the WDC-serie and Lotus came 4th in the WC-serie. Immediately after that Lopez said that the goal is to do even better in 2013.
Lopez leaned on Lotus-premise’s wall in his laidback style shining with satisfaction after Bahrain GP.
“I’m now even happier than I was a year ago here when the endresult was exactly the same. We have now proved that we have a strong car for every track. I strongly believe that we can renew these positions in the future also with performances of the same level,” Lopez smiled to Turun Sanomat.
“Kimi is – as usual – a fantastic racing driver in every race and for Romain Grosjean the 3rd position was an even bigger victory.”
“Kimi also had a difficult weekend. I rank him really high also in the sense of how he always bounces back in races after difficulties. Kimi is an unbelievable driver, he is equally good every weekend and it’s guaranteed that he is in stitch in every race – despite his starting positions,” Lopez praised.
What kind of chances do Räikkönen and Lotus have in challenging Vettel and Red Bull for the championship?
“I believe they are good. It’s up to us to give Kimi the best chances. As long as the car is the way he wants every weekend his chances to drive for victory are good.”
“We all know that in order for Kimi to win Vettel he needs races where he can score more points than him. It’s a tough challenge but we are up for it and hopefully we get help from above in the form of hot weathers, since they suit our car so well,” Lopez said.
Kimi speaks up in drivers’ meeting about Perez
| Source: Heikki Kulta’s Blog from Bahrain |
Lotus-team’s radio traffic in Bahrain GP was very two-folded. You could hear blabbering in the radio all the time from car number 8, whereas they could have played the song ‘Sound of silence’ in car number 7′s radio.
Romain Grosjean was extremely nervous in the cockpit. The endresult rewarded the man’s spectacular battle – and hopefully brings back some patience in his mind.
Kimi Räikkönen’s performance compensated once again for everything that has been said. When they put new tires in Kimi’s car, Kimi snapped after getting back to the track that it’s sliding a bit – and banged at once the fastest lap so far in the race.
The weekend as a whole was just as difficult for Räikkönen as China was. Now the car wasn’t damaged but the quali-speed disappeared and on the racing day he got an annoying allergic reaction which fortunately didn’t disturb his actual race performance.
Räikkönen clashed with Sergio Perez in China. It bugged the Finn so much that Räikkönen talked for the first time during his whole F1-career in Bahrain’s driver-meeting .
Räikkönen asked Charlie Whiting if a penalty would be handed for the crash. Based upon what I heard, three drivers were of the opinion that Perez should be penalized, but the rest were silent. Whiting replied that the jury did the right thing in China when they didn’t hand out penalties for that incident.
That’s that then – and I’m sure that the silence will continue in the following races also. Räikkönen can now focus on what he does best – drive for the championship with his killing consistency, which so far has produced 21 races with scored points in a row and four podiums from the last seven races.
Lotus: medium tyre key to Kimi’s title hopes
| Source: autosport.com |
Lotus believes that unlocking a better understanding of Pirelli’s medium compound tyre is key to helping Kimi Raikkonen deliver the grid positions he needs to win more races and maintain his title shot.
The Finn is just 10 points adrift of leader Sebastian Vettel in the 2013 Formula 1 standings, but his chances of building on his Australian Grand Prix victory have been compromised by not starting near enough to the front of the grid.
The only race where he has been able to produce a front row performance was in China, and his race chances there were badly hit by a slow getaway.
Lotus team principal Eric Boullier thinks his team’s situation is different to the difficulties it faced with the tyres at times last year, as the qualifying issues this season are more specifically related to one type of tyre.
“It is more a balance issue when we go to the medium tyre,” Boullier told AUTOSPORT.
“In China, that problem did not help our drivers deliver, and the car was difficult to drive.
“So we need to maybe pay more attention to what the medium tyres are doing and know better how to handle them in both cool conditions and hot.”
The medium compound was the qualifying tyre of choice in both Malaysia and Bahrain, whereas the super-soft was best in Australia and the soft in China.
Boullier believes the fact that Lotus made progress with its general qualifying issues last year – and delivered on the soft tyre in China – gives him cause for optimism over its medium compound troubles.
“We know we can do it,” he said. “It is just a matter of doing it regularly.
“We are definitely in a stronger position than last year. We have built up from 2012, plus we have some stability with the drivers.
“So it is clear we can be stronger than last year.”
LOTUS AND TYRES: THE 2013 PATTERN SO FAR
Pirelli has used all of its four compounds in the first four races of the year, but it is clear that Kimi Raikkonen has performed better at the events where the medium tyre has not been crucial to qualifying.
Australia (super-soft/soft)
Qualifying: 7th
Race: 1st
Malaysia (medium/hard)
Qualifying: 10th
Race: 7th
China (soft/medium)
Qualifying: 2nd
Race: 2nd
Bahrain (medium/hard)
Qualifying: 8th
Race: 2nd
Video: Behind the scenes at Lotus
Sky Sports F1 aired this feature during the Bahrain GP weekend, where they go behind the scenes with the legendary team’s members and drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean:
