| Source: lotusf1team.com |
After a flying start to the weekend, Kimi had to dig deep to pull off a fighting seventh place in today’s Malaysian Grand Prix. Although a far cry from the heroics of Australia, the Iceman is taking the positives from a solid result.
Q: It all started so well this weekend, but not quite the ending you would have liked…
KR: For sure it’s not what we expected, but sometimes that’s how it goes. Although the car felt very good on Friday, yesterday and today have been pretty difficult. Since Saturday morning it has not been behaving as we wanted for some reason, especially in the wet where we really struggled for grip.
Q: How did you see the race from inside the cockpit?
KR: It was a tough race. The start was not good and then I lost part of my front wing on the first lap. The car didn’t handle too well after that and with the wet conditions it was pretty tricky. The pace wasn’t too bad, but it could have been a lot better when you look at our times on Friday.
Q: You had some close tussles out there, particularly with Nico Hulkenberg…
KR: There were a few times where it got pretty close. There are things you should and shouldn’t do but this is racing and at the end of the day I don’t think it changed our result too much.
Q: What positives can we take from today?
KR: It wasn’t the best weekend for us in the end but at least we scored a few points which is better than coming away with nothing. If we can get the car back to how it was in Australia then I’m sure we’ll be at the front again.
FUCK ISRAEL 
It was a really terrible race; makes his win in Australia seem like in another car and team completely. And what with driving off the track, twice in fact? No Kimi, you certainly did not impress like in Australia.
Lotus have got to get pitstops and strategy sorted out. And qualifying, too
World Champion 2013? Very doubtful, not with repeat performances like Malaysia.
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Kimi lost part of his front wing at the start, hampered his balance throughout race which is why he went off at same corner twice. On top of that the car wasn’t great anyway, he wasn’t happy since FP3. Hopefully China will be better.
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Nothing has changed since last year with inters and wets — Lotus is simply hopeless with these tyres. I knew all along that if it rains (which it does in this time of day in Malaysia — thanks to Bernie for moving to evening race time), Lotus will be nowhere.
However more puzzling and worrying is how they simply lost the good form from Fri to Sat.. Even Kimi said he doesn’t understand how it’s possible the car simply changes totally overnight.
It seems to be the case that as track rubbers in, Lotus loses its advantage of being good on tyres. Australia was exceptional case. So I’m not too optimistic unless they get on top of this at once..
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Agree, drastic change of car handling was weird, but I think that’s got to do with them trying to get high starting grid and so conditions affected it.
Bad start pretty much defined the race, if you not with leading pack, get ready to get your tyres destroyed and waste a lot of time while doing it, that’s what happened.
I hope qualifying is going to be dry in China, so we can get a clear view of the pace. As long as Kimi with the leading pack during the race, I don’t mind if it rains, he will handle it.
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Leonardo, please, please stop with pessimistic comments. Kimi is not the best driver in wet, neither is the E21 as a car. Formula 1 is meant to be driven most of the time on dry sunny days.
These problems are not driver related.Period!
Australia wasn’t exceptional race. It was pretty much normal race for that type of track, I mean non-permanent track.
I am really confident for Lotus and Kimi and I know why I should be.
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The only reason why I am pessimistic is directly due to INCONSISTENCY on the part of Lotus F1 Team. One race they win, the next race they don’t understand the car at all.
I have said before that CONSISTENCY is what will get Lotus over the line up with the Bulls, Reds and Mercs. They have to get better qualifying results – and need to get a grip in wet weather.
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. And as good a driver as Kimi is, he is hopeless without a car that can effectively challenge Vettel, Alonso, Hamilton and the rest.
If that is not sorted quickly, kiss 2013 goodbye. Period.
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Agree with JB, the Lotus are nowhere when the track is wet, really a frustrating race and weekend GP, kimi would have been difficult to beat had Q3 been run in dry conditions. Kimi would have certainly started on the front or secnd row. Those laps behind Checo n Nico were stressful n frustrating. Plz no rain in China. Guys what do you think of kimi in wet conditions? Personally i think he always struggle for grip in the wet. Maybe he didnt put the right amount of heat or it comes from his smooth driving style
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