Kimi Raikkonen returns to F1 with Lotus F1 Team

[sleenster]

High res photos from today:

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[Kriss]

F1 2012 Pre-season Test Jerez - Kimi Raikkonen

[Kriss]

Exclusive Q&A with Lotus’s Eric Boullier

He may be two years older and wearing different overalls as he strides through the Jerez paddock, but it almost feels as if Kimi Raikkonen has never been away from the Formula One fold. And after impressing during the opening day of pre-season testing, Raikkonen appears to be in fine form in the Lotus too. Team principal Eric Boullier discusses how the Finn is settling in…

Q: Back in November Raikkonen didn’t seem to be on your agenda but then not long after you made an announcement. When did you first start talking to him about joining the team?
Eric Boullier: Well, the first talks started just after Abu Dhabi and we closed the deal in less than ten days. It all went very quickly! Just before that we were evaluating internally which driver we wanted to recruit and we only wanted to share those discussions within the team. Then we contacted Kimi - and it was done! Obviously his negotiations with Williams were going nowhere but he wanted to be back in Formula One. So it was the right time and the right situation. Clearly money was not the point. He liked the package that we offered and that was it.

Q: Did it help that he would be driving for a team with such an iconic name?
EB: I am not so sure that this played any role in his reasoning, but then of course it is better to drive for an iconic name than a ‘no-name’. I think that the key motivation for him was the feedback that he got from the team. We are not a marketing machine - we are a race team! I am not blaming anybody in the pit lane, but we are more a racing family than a machine. And he started to feel very comfortable with our crew after he realised that we are racing people!

Q: You said that the absence of Robert Kubica after his accident was the biggest blow to the team last season. Will Raikkonen help fill the void?
EB: Right away - yes! Because in terms of team morale and motivation - and even team guidance - he is there, because he is a guy that knows what he wants. I promise you he is committed and, as I just said, he knows what he wants.

Q: What is it that you expect from the ‘Iceman’? His reputation precedes him but after two years away will he struggle?
EB: I know already that he is not struggling.

Q: Is that after his running on the opening day of this week’s test?
EB: Yes - I have seen how he has been driving. Without even looking at the times, you can see from the line that he was cruising around the track on and how he uses the car. I am sure that he will need some time to find the last tweaks to be 100 per cent sure, but believe me, he is there!

Q: How much time will it take until he is back at the performance level of a race winner?
EB: He will be a potential race winner if we give him an adequate car. Obviously this is the package that he needs to have. My guess is that at the beginning of the European ‘season’ he will be ready.

Q: You needed a big name to join the team in its first season as Lotus and Raikkonen needed a drive as he wanted to return to Formula One racing. The pressure is on for both sides, which could prove explosive. Are you ready for it?
EB: Do you know any world championship contender - either team or driver - that was not explosive? And I don’t really see it as explosive in any way. Sure, for a team named Lotus it is a benefit having a big name. It’s a perfect match because we were looking for somebody with his background, experience, charisma and speed, but he also was looking for a team to join to make a good return into Formula One. And the match is working. Obviously we all don’t know right now how it will develop, but from what we have experienced over the last weeks we can be positive. Nothing can be worse than what we have experienced in the past. Let’s take it easy.

Q: The team’s 2011 season started with an absent star driver, a replacement who struggled and a driver in just his second season. The team’s 2012 season starts with a driver who hasn’t been in the sport for two years and a virtual rookie in Romain Grosjean. What did you learn last year that could help this year?
EB: What a tricky question! You never know how people will develop. Sometimes you believe it will be a perfect fit - and it is not - and sometimes the unexpected comes your way and it becomes the missing link which in turn produces a sharp step forward. In the end it all boils down to the human combinations. The fit between you and other people. And then comes the performance of the car, the team’s performance and everything else that makes a Formula One team tick. Robert’s accident was completely unexpected and from there we had to react. I have to say I believe that we were still doing well under those circumstances. But strategy-wise, I am happy that Genii has kept their faith in the team and they are going with us down another path, as I now believe that this is the path that we always wanted to take.

Q: Romain Grosjean’s first experience of Formula One racing was tough. How can you help?
EB: In 2009 he replaced a driver without any testing at all to take over a car that was not easy to drive for a team that was completely focused on Fernando Alonso. He was not ready and he was not given a real chance. When he came to see me 15 months ago to discuss his future I told him that he had to recover first as a driver. He had lost confidence and had to rebuild, so I sent him racing in many different categories to get his feet on the ground again and to improve his reputation in Enstone again. He’d won every category that he had ever raced in and then his career spiralled when he got his Formula One chance. In 2011, as well as winning the GP2 title, he was our reserve driver which was a role that didn’t come with any pressure but allowed him to gain back the trust from the engineers in our factory. And little by little he did it and the practice session he took part in last season helped him regain that respect. It will not be easy for him alongside Kimi, who is fast and a strong character, but Romain has to be ready. This is not a nursery and if you want to survive and be successful you have to fight. Kimi is not the political person that Fernando was, but Kimi is like a rock - an icy rock - so don’t expect any warmth!

Q: Force India almost caught you in the constructors’ standings. This year they are aiming to take fifth place from you…
EB: There are too many maybes and ifs! Yes, they were almost catching us at the end. We know why and have learnt from that. So let the past be the past. Of course we are focusing on breaking into the top four now - like we should have done last year if it had been the year that we had planned. Sure the forward exhausts were brave - possibly too brave - but that was all in 2011.

Q: Raikkonen is spending the first two days of this test in the car. What has his feedback been like so far?
EB: Kimi is very confident and he is very happy with the car, its balance and handling. We are heading into a long test programme that hopefully will bring some satisfaction in Melbourne for all of us. The chemistry is already working well.

http://www.formula1.com/news/interviews ... 12995.html

[Kriss]

Sky F1 2012 - Jerez morning report - Kimi fastest

[Kriss]

Lotus F1 Team

A big crowd gathers outside the @Lotus_F1Team motorhome... wonder who they're waiting for?

[miezicat]

http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/form ... 68923.html

“I just take all as it comes”

Why did you return to F1?

Raikkonen: If you want to race and I have a choice, you go first in Formula 1

But what tipped the scales?

Raikkonen: When I drove one race in Nascar, I realized how much I missed racing with wheel-to wheel battles. That does not mean that I was fed up with rally. I would prefer to do both. But that's not possible.

Was driving in circles in the Nascar series really tempting for you?

Raikkonen: I had a great time there. The teams there are very professional. It's just a different kind of racing. I can imagine that at some point I would try it again. But if you want to do it right, then you have to move to the United States. You can’t compare driving in oval with nothing else. Driving in a tight group, always contact with vehicles, always passing the wall with high speed, that has its own laws. And then still it depends a lot in which team you are.

What is there to expect from you after two years break?

Raikkonen: I have not thought about where I stand and what results I can expect from myself. I'll takes things as they come. Of course I want to win races again, but if that is not possible, we'll just have to work hard to improve the car. It is impossible to make predictions at this early stage. The rules have changed, no one knows what the new cars can do.

What has changed in your absence?

Raikkonen: Apart from the cars, little. I look into the same faces. I know what to expect. What excites me is in Formula 1 is the racing. With the rest I have to live, whether I like it or not. There hasn’t changed anything since my departure, except perhaps that the test work was scaled back somewhat. But that has been looming already at the end of my time with Ferrari.

Did you follow the formula 1 in the last two years?

KR: End of last year I've waiched a few races on TV. The DRS wings seems to me a bit ridiculous. Overtaking isn’t difficult now. You put the wings flat, and you go past easily. The guy in front can not really defend. But I accept that it makes the show better.

You've already achieved everything in Formula 1. What still motivates you?

KR: The people who accuse me that I was not motivated, do not even know me. It's always the same. If I were not motivated, I would have quit two years ago. Of course it's easier if you drive at the front. But the fact that in my last year with Ferrari I no longer fought for the title, was not my fault. You drive your heart out but the results are still disappointing. From the outside that might give the impression that one is no longer motivated. But of course that is nonsense. It is always easy to blame the driver in such situations. I have a feeling I have driven in 2009 better than ever before.

Lotus has slipped to midfield last year. Are you ready to fight at the back?

KR: The last year at Ferrari has already prepared me quite well on it. We are hopeful that our new car is better. Although it is difficult to predict with the new rules. At the far end I won’t drive around. Whatever it will be, I will do my best.

How do you look back on your sacking from Ferrari?

Raikkonen: I have no regrets. This is history and I don’t look back bitter.

Have you already got a feel for the Pirelli tires?

KR: The biggest difference I can see in used condition. Then the rear starts to slide away. For me it's easier to get used to the tires as it was for my colleagues a year ago. They were changing from Bridgestone to Pirelli and of course had certain expectations. For me it's more like a new beginning after my break. I'm approaching the tires unbiased.

Also new for you is the race format. For the first time you start with a heavy car without refueling.

KR: That's no big deal. The pit stop is just a little shorter. The driving with a heavy car is compared to light one not a difference like day and night. I don’t have to learn to drive again. It's still the same sport. There a button on the steering wheel more, here one less. Kers I still know from 2009. For me the DRS button is new. After using a few times it will become ingrained.

Do you want to present yourself at Lotus for 2013? Since many contracts are running out, also at the top teams?

Raikkonen: Guys, the season has not even started yet and you already talk about the next. I have no plans and take everything as it comes.

Were you impressed last year of one of your colleagues?

KR: There has nothing changed. There are still the same faces. That Vettel will become a great driver one could see already in 2009.

Why are at Lotus and not Williams?

Raikkonen: Let me say so. What was offered and what I wanted was too far away.

How important was the money?

KR: That's always important. It’s my job and I want appropiate money for it. But because of the money I don’t have to drive anymore. The main thing is the appeal of driving.

Did you have more time for yourself in the last two years?

KR: Yes, because the rallies are further apart and less work for the sponsors. I enjoyed it to have more time. The only thing I missed a bit was the intense traveling. It sounds funny, but you get used to such things.

Would you become as good as Sebastien Loeb with more experience?

KR: Who can say that about himself? He has ten years of rallying experience more than I have. I've noticed in my second year, that I improved. But to the absolute top I've been missing a few years. But I do not know how far I would have come. It is certainly one of the most difficult sports. But put a rally driver in a Formula 1 car, then they also have their problems. It’s really two completely different sports. Perhaps it would have been different if I had started my career as a rally driver.

What is more dangerous: rallying or Formula 1?

Raikkonen: At the rally you pay for a great price for a little mistake. There is always some rock, a tree, a wall or a ditch in the road. There are no 200 meter run-off areas. You do not get second chance like in Formula 1 where you open the steering after a mistake and you are safe through the run-off. You try your luck more often in a rally car.

[sleenster]

[eleanor]

@adamcooperf1: Just had a social chat with Kimi Raikkonen, away from the cameras he's really pumped and clearly enjoying every minute. Says he read the story I wrote just under a year ago saying he was the man to replace Robert Kubica! I guess Renault didn't read it...

good one

[iceman1]

Lotus E20 Launch (Jerez):

[Mar]

Lotus F1 Team

A big crowd gathers outside the @Lotus_F1Team motorhome... wonder who they're waiting for?

there were another 30 inside the motorhome (I know because I was one of them )

[Kriss]

Lotus F1 Team

A big crowd gathers outside the @Lotus_F1Team motorhome... wonder who they're waiting for?

there were another 30 inside the motorhome (I know because I was one of them )

I hope you have a great time, you're doing a wonderful job

[Mar]

Thank you

[reppo]

http://www.mtv3.fi/urheilu/f1/uutiset.s ... -voitoista (in Finnish)

Kimi, can we start talking about winning?

07.02.2012 19:46

Kimi Raikkonen took calmly the top time in Jerez F1 test on the opening day.

Raikkonen charged his new Lotus car to top speed immediately, faster than any in the last year's Jerez test. So can we start talking about victories or podium finishes on the beginning season?

- Hard to say. I have no idea. This first day has not changed anything. I do not know how we compare to others. Maybe we will know it in the last tests, or the first race. Then you'll see it. Hopefully we get a good result to be able to fight against the other top teams. It remains to be seen, Raikkonen said to MTV3.

The new E20 car worked well in the hands of Räikkönen.

- The car left a good impression. It worked quite well. There is of course room for improvement. If you run longer stints, tyres go bad and starts to slip. There is still work to be done to keep the tyres in better condition. But I would say that I have had worse first days, Raikkonen summed up feelings of his car.

MTV3, Jani Merimaa, Jerez

So, Finnish media is hoping for early podiums

Mar, thanks for updates

[Kriss]

Fastest time makes no difference - Raikkonen

Kimi Raikkonen said setting the fastest time in his first day back at an official Formula One test made absolutely no difference to him.

Raikkonen set a 1:19.670 in the new Lotus E20 and completed 75 laps over the course of the day. But despite catching the eye of Jenson Button, who said the time was "quick" even if he was running low fuel, Raikkonen was typically blasé about it.
"It makes no difference," he said, "It's the first day, it would make a difference on a race weekend but here it means nothing. "

He said the first impressions of the car compared well to those he has driven in the past.

"The feeling was pretty good with the car and it's handling quite nicely," he added. "So just going with feeling, I'm quite happy with the thing. There are areas that we can improve and have to improve but I've had much worse first impressions from other cars than I've had from this one. I'm quite positive."

To prepare for his comeback Raikkonen took part in a two-day test in a 2010 Renault last month and also completed some promotional filming mileage in the E20 on Monday. He said he felt perfectly happy with his personal performance so far.

"I'm happy how I'm driving and I was already happy with how I was driving three weeks ago, but for sure you can improve always and make it better. Like I said already before I'm not worried and three weeks ago once we did the test I wasn't worried about it. We still have plenty of testing before the season and hopefully we can improve the car and be up there when the season starts. We don't know yet [where we will be] so we will just try and do our own thing and get 100% ready."

Tuesday marked Raikkonen's first run on the proper 2012 Pirelli tyres and he reported no problems with the new rubber.

"They seem to be pretty OK," he added. "Every day it will be a little bit different as the conditions change and the tyre's behaviour changes, the circuit might change it a lot. It was definitely better than the tyres were used three weeks ago. They are what they are and you try to get the best out of it. But when they were new they seemed to be pretty nice tyres and of course they probably go away more than they did in the past. But it's the same for everybody and you try in the long run to get the best out of them."

http://en.espnf1.com/lotusf1/motorsport ... CMP=chrome

[Kriss]

February 7, 2012 · 7:07 pm

Kimi Raikkonen: “There’s still a long way to go…”


Raikkonen was the star attraction on the first day in Jerez

Kimi Raikkonen refused to read any significance into his performance today after he topped the time sheets in Jerez.

Raikkonen got up to speed by driving a two-year old Renault in Valencia recently, and also did some slow filming laps in the Lotus E20 yesterday.

He was fastest from the very start of the day as most teams focussed on systems checks with their brand new machines. Even allowing for that, it was a serious statement of intent from the 2007 World Champion.

“It was OK, we had a few small issues,” said Raikkonen. “It’s pretty normal with a new car, but nothing major, so that was a good thing. I have no idea what the others are doing, I don’t really care if they are first or we are fifth, it doesn’t really make any difference.

“As long as we can do what we want, that’s the main thing, and for sure there are still things to improve and to work on. I think it could have been much worse the first day, so I’m pretty happy with it.

“I don’t think it makes any difference, testing doesn’t give you anything. You try to do all the things that are necessary to get ready for the season, the times only count when there are racing. We did more or less what we were planning to do before we started the day.

“Like I said I have no idea what the others are doing. I’m not too interested in it right now. It feels OK to drive, it felt already OK after yesterday.”

Raikkonen said that overall, his first full day with the E20 was a positive experience: “You learn always, it’s a new car, first day, so if you didn’t learn anything about the car it would be funny. But like I said, it was a good start.

“It was the first time two weeks ago, it felt pretty normal straight away, no really big issues, and here it’s been the same story. I’ve been on this circuit many times and I know how it should feel.

“Right now we have no idea where we going to be, and I don’t think anyone knows where they’re going to be in the first race. There’s still a long way to go, so let’s wait and see.”

http://adamcooperf1.com/2012/02/07/kimi ... way-to-go/