Kimi Raikkonen returns to F1 with Lotus F1 Team

[mikhailv]

Kimi out in Q2, how sad Let´s hope for a good race tomorrow.

Hopefully warmer temps like Spain, and an actual strategy work out!

[reppo]

http://www.formula1.com/news/interviews ... 13442.html

Exclusive Q&A with Lotus’s Kimi Raikkonen 09 Jun 2012

Qualifying is not Kimi Raikkonen’s real strength - not so far in 2012, anyway. But when it counts he is there whenever points are within reach. If this is his pattern, then Sunday’s Montreal race should again see him bagging a good result. At least that's what the Finn’s gut feeling tells him, despite a P12 grid slot…

Q: Kimi, out in Q2 - how did that come about?
Kimi Raikkonen: Well, we had a small issue with the hydraulics on the car and that cost us a bit. That’s a real shame.

Q: Do I sense a light irritation over that?
KR: Of course you want to be more in front, but things like that happen…

Q: What is it that is still standing between you and a victory for Lotus?
KR: My guess is that we still have to get stronger in qualifying, as that would give us a better chance to fight for points. So my plan for tomorrow is to fight back. And, of course, the aim always is to win, but sometimes it is better to fight for a good position and bag good points. If the win comes it comes! (laughs)

Q: You said recently that your time will come. When will that be? Which pieces have to fall into place?
KR: Ah, I said that I hope my time will come. (laughs) In the end it is only small details that you have to get right, to eliminate small mistakes, as they cost you a lot these days. I have to keep working and to improve the car with my engineers - then there is nothing to be said against a win.

Q: We hear words like ‘lottery’ in relation to the tyres, but never ‘full throttle’. Are we on the way to the casino or still on the track?
KR: No, that’s bull. There is nothing wrong with the tyres. You just have to get them working and try to make them last the whole race. (laughs) That is sometimes a bit tricky, but no rocket science.

Q: In your analysis, what will determine race wins - and hence the championship?
KR: A good car and a bad car. Okay, that is a bit too simple: you have to have a good package. But if you have a good car as a basis it gives you a much bigger chance, as the likelihood that the tyres will fall your way is much bigger. It is never just the tyres - that is a fairytale. It is not like if the tyres work at Marussia then they will start winning races - that will not happen, no matter how you look at it.

Q: During testing and at the start of the season the opinion was ‘forget about Ferrari this year’. Now Fernando Alonso is leading the drivers’ standings. Why?
KR: Obviously they’ve been doing things right lately - and other people have probably made more mistakes then their usual rate. And there you have it. Even if they haven’t got the fastest car they are able to score points. And in the meantime they’ve also improved the car - that helps.

Q: Ferrari and Lotus both have 86 points. Who will gain the upper hand?
KR: I have no idea. I cannot see into the future. (laughs) All I know is that we have to work hard, score good points, then we should be competitive. And for that you don’t need to look into a crystal ball, you just have to work.

Q: In Monaco you raced with the name James Hunt on your helmet. What did you see in him? Where do you see a connection between you? Soul mates?
KR: To cut a long story short, I like the times when he raced as I believe they had more fun than we have now. Would I have loved to race in those days? I not only cannot see into the future, I also cannot connect to the past. It is just that I believe the fun factor was higher, that’s all.

Q: Has it something to do with Lotus team principal Eric Boullier calling you a ‘wild animal’ that needs to ‘run free’? The ‘don’t fence me in’ character?
KR: I am sure he had his reasons to say that. (laughs) Fact is that I like to do my own thing, but I’ve never made a secret out of this.

Q: Your team mate seems to be a tough cookie. So far he has beaten you 5:2 in qualifying, but in the races you have had the upper hand. Is that down to experience and not panicking if Saturday doesn’t go your way?
KR: I knew that he would be fast, no matter how his first F1 experience was. He’s doing well and that is good for the team. I’m not giving away any secrets when I say that it is the Sunday when you get the points. I was always somebody who likes to focus on the essentials. (laughs)

Q: It’s been quite a while since you’ve raced in Canada and from your eight starts you’ve had one win, one P3 and several P4 and P5 positions. After qualifying today what are your thoughts?
KR: This is a tricky track and it is not so easy to get the car right here. The numerous kerbs in combination with the low downforce - that’s a challenge. It is a nice circuit.

Q: Despite the hiccups in qualifying, what’s your gut feeling for the race?
KR: Believe it or not I have a good feeling for Sunday. I might be wrong, but that is my feeling. I think that I should have a good race. This track allows a lot if you have the right speed. And as this is a track prone to safety-car phases, it could be a funny race.

Q: What would make you happy?
KR: Top five. No, actually better - top three. So let’s see what we can do.

[reppo]

http://www.thenational.ae/sport/formula ... acer#page2

Kimi Raikkonen: Recluse, rascal or a racer?
Gary Meenaghan

Jun 9, 2012

If ever one incident epitomised the enigmatic nature of Kimi Raikkonen, his performance in Spain last month provided it.

The Finn had finished third in only his fourth race since returning from a two-year hiatus. As is customary, he was required to be interviewed on TV alongside his two fellow podium-finishers, in this case Pastor Maldonado and Fernando Alonso.

With the mainstream English-language interviews complete, each man was asked to say a few words in his native tongue. Alonso and Maldonado both spoke at length in Spanish about their race, the issues they faced, their hopes going forward and thanked their teams for their hard work in Barcelona and back at their respective factories.

When the camera turned to Raikkonen to address Finnish viewers, he simply said: "Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers."

Unintentionally, in the space of five seconds, Raikkonen had displayed perfectly his three vastly different personas: the racer, the recluse and the rascal.

Brilliant behind the wheel, mute at the microphone and a wild-child while not working.

In the sphere of world sportsmen, nobody more than Raikkonen juxtaposes an aptitude at his chosen profession with such an apparent lack of enthusiasm.

The 2007 world champion, Raikkonen's cold, insouciant demeanour has seen him earn the sobriquet of "Iceman". He has embraced the nickname; he has it inked into his inner left forearm.

When he sat down at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve last week to speak to The National, he did so wearing a face as straight as the peak of his Lotus F1 baseball cap.

If a font type existed that gradually got smaller and smaller until it became illegible, it would perfectly convey the way Raikkonen answers a question. His response, regardless of the query put to him, is almost always delivered in a muted monotone that tails off in a way that suggests he is bored even of his own voice.

"Interviews are never the best things for me …" he said. "I am here because I like to race and drive, and everything else is not the reason I am here … I have to do it, so I do … But if you take the racing away … I would never come to the circuit …"

Like a conundrum similar to that of buying a birthday present for a millionaire, what can possibly stoke excitement in a man who drives at speeds in excess of 300kph? The answer appears to be "nothing". Yet his stale public persona in the paddock is far removed from the stories that swirl around regarding his extra-curricular activities.

The week before the start of the 2007 world championship, Raikkonen's debut race with Ferrari, while the majority of the driver field were in Melbourne preparing for the season-opening race, he was competing in a snowmobile race in Finland. He competed under the pseudonym James Hunt, a tipping of the cap to the late British F1 driver renowned as much for his playboy antics as his 1976 world championship success.

Six months later, "James Hunt" was registered to compete at a Jet Ski race, but when the day arrived and spectators backed the shoreline hoping for a glimpse of the F1 driver, they were greeted by a group of men dressed in gorilla suits. When asked shortly after the incident, Raikkonen replied: "Yeah, but was it really me? You don't know."

In Monaco last month, after seeking permission from Hunt's family, he wore a specially designed helmet in tribute to the fun-loving English driver who died in 1993 at age 45.

Hunt operated in a hedonistic era when F1 was about racing and partying and chasing girls. Raikkonen, who in 2004 married a former Miss Scandinavia, said it is not so much Hunt he admires, but the way that generation lived.

"It was just something that came up with my friends …" Raikkonen said of his tributary Hunt helmet. "It is not just him, though, but the time that he raced … It was a different way of life … a different way of racing … a completely different atmosphere …"

Nowadays, drivers are increasingly reliant on sponsorship money to the extent they almost always act out the position of positive role model. Raikkonen, 32, does not play the game. In a world of corporate line-toeing, he appears to be racing in the wrong decade.

"We would have had more fun for sure," he said when the theory is put to him. "It was not only the racing that was different, but the whole … First of all, there was not so much money involved; it was kind of more still like if you go in Formula Three …"

Few of Raikkonen's mumbled responses reveal more about his psyche than the admission he recently read a biography of Hunt's life, but stopped with 20 pages remaining. As the pages regarding the modern era approached, his interest switched off.

When asked if he thought he might ever finish the book, he replied: "One day … maybe."

Raikkonen was born on October 17, 1979, in the southern Finnish city of Espoo, and grew up careering a go-kart around a refuse dump with his brother, Rami. He watched a lot of racing on TV - "any kind of racing … of course F1, but also sometimes other …" He had no favourites, but rooted for his compatriots, Mika Hakkinen and Mika Salo.

He watched old videos of Hunt and the rest of the field from the 1970s.

Now, such is his apparent disinterest in anything but physically racing, he revealed at his comeback race in March that he had barely followed the sport since his retirement, a claim backed up when, during the Australian race, he asked over his team radio why he kept being shown blue flags. His engineer replied: "They are not for you, Kimi. They are for people who need to be lapped."

Wearing a pair of large, dark sunglasses to cover his aqueous blue eyes from the Canadian sunshine, Raikkonen elaborated: "In 2010, I watched a little when I was home and it was on TV, but it was never a case of 'OK, it's going to start in two hours, I better go sit and get ready.'

"It was the same last year. I watched the last two or three races because I knew I would be coming back and watched more closely to see how it was and watched for data. If it was on the highlights, I'd watch it, but otherwise: not interested."

Since his return to the sport, he has finished in the points at five of his six races and scored podiums in Bahrain and Spain. The rules have changed since 2009, but Raikkonen's prowess has not been affected.

"If people had said at the start of the season that we would have these results, we would have been very happy … but knowing now that we could have done even better … you can't help but be a bit disappointed …" he said.

Six drivers have won the opening six races of the 2012 season, a series of results unseen in the sport's 62-year history.

Sunday, Raikkonen will start 12th in the Canadian Grand Prix, a race he won in 2005 and that traditionally produces unpredictable results.

He knows a first win is on the horizon, but he is unlikely to concede much more.

"We want to be at the front," he said. "That's it."



MANY MOODS OF KIMI RAIKKONEN

2001:

Tension? What tension? It is less than half an hour before the
season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne and Raikkonen is
making his F1 debut. The 21-year-old is the subject of much
speculation after being given a seat with Sauber, despite only ever
having raced 23 single-seat races. But where is he? As team staff rush
to get gear from garage to grid, their rookie driver is dozing in the
team home. He is eventually awoken by an engineer.

2006:

At the Monaco Grand Prix, after being forced to retire mid-race
when his car caught fire, rather than return to his Ferrari pit
garage, Raikkonen is shown walking along the harbour and hopping
aboard his yacht, the aptly named “One More Toy”. Moments later he is
relaxing topless with friends and bubbles, paying no attention to the
race outcome.

2006:

At the Brazilian Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher – who Raikkonen
will replace at Ferrari the following season – is awarded a lifetime
achievement award by football legend Pele. The majority of the driver
field turn out to show their respect to the seven-time world champion,
but the Finn fails to show.

2006:

While enjoying a break between races and holidaying with friends
in Gran Canaria, Raikkonen is photographed worse for wear and sleeping
on the pavement outside of a nightclub. He is hugging an inflatable
dolphin. “What I do in my private life doesn't make me drive any
slower,” he responds, when faced with criticism.

2009:

During a rain delay at the Malaysian Grand Prix, Raikkonen – for
all intents and purposes still in the race – is shown on camera
dressed in shorts and munching on a Magnum ice cream. The Iceman name
took on a new meaning.

2011:

In December, just weeks after announcing he is returning to F1
with Lotus, Raikkonen crashes out of a snowmobile race, injuring his
left wrist. His team downplay the incident, but three months later,
the Finn reveals he actually broke it. He now sports a large red scar
at he base of his left hand.

[phil1993]

He also said how frustrating it was to get just 200 seconds with Kimi after weeks of email negotiations with Lotus.

Khodr, you are lucky

[reppo]

http://www.thenational.ae/national-blog ... cleID=2465

KIT BAG
Edited by The National sports desk

200 seconds with Kimi Raikkonen

Posted by: Gary Meenaghan
Jun, 10 2012

Interviewing a subject who does not like to talk is never an easy task. It involves rapport-building, ego-massaging and - most crucially - time. Sadly, in the increasingly popular world of Formula One, time is the one thing not widely available.
The interview with Kimi Raikkonen published in today's paper came about after months of email correspondence with the Lotus-F1 media department. Initially, the official line was Kimi was too much in demand and a QnA with him would not be possible. A week later, after further emails back and forth, the offer arrived of an e-mail interview: Send us six questions and we will do the rest.

However, for me, one of the most intriguing aspects of the Finnish driver is not so much what he says, but rather what he doesn't say. He is notorious for shrugging his shoulders, mumbling and dismissing out of hand frivolous questions. Once, when asked to imagine what he might do if he met an alien - run away out of fear or try to talk to him? - he simply waved his hand and replied: "The problem won't arise, so I don't imagine meeting one."

An e-mail interview would provide only half the story - the largely dull, monotonous, predictable half. The offer was courteously rejected and a final request for a physical, tangible sit-down was made. And this time it was accepted.

Rarely does a journalist get exclusive one-on-one access to a top team's driver. McLaren-Mercedes run weekly sessions called "321", where three scribes sit down and share 15 minutes with either Lewis or Jenson. For Kimi, it was something similar, only four journalists and 10 minutes. Or, in other words, 150 seconds each.

Fortunately, in the case of the 2007 world champion, one of the invited sports writers failed to turn up, so we saw our quotas rise to a remarkable 200 seconds each. Now, consider how little Kimi speaks and you may imagine three and a half minutes is enough for around 20 questions, but in reality it means more like five. At a push.

Additionally, each reporter tends to approach a sit-down interview with a specific angle they would like to explore. While I was intrigued by Kimi's admiration for the 1970s and James Hunt, my inquisitive colleagues were focusing more on his days at Sauber and his future in F1.

The result was a session where the subject matter changed repeatedly and thought-patterns were lost almost as quickly as they were generated. It is little wonder Kimi loathes being interviewed. The only time he cracked a genuine smile during the session was when he was getting up to leave.

Pulling his cap down and readying to traipse off into his team's hospitality cabin, one of my fellow interviewees threw one final question his way: "Is there a question you have never been asked that you would like to talk about?"

"No," said Kimi. "I like to be quiet..."

[iceman1]

He also said how frustrating it was to get just 200 seconds with Kimi after weeks of email negotiations with Lotus.

Khodr, you are lucky

When we went to Lotus, there were 2 tables. 1 for Grosjean and 1 for Raikkonen. I sat on a table and the other journalists were preparing themselves to sit on the other one. After that, a lady came and put the name of Romain Grosjean on my table and Kimi Raikkonen on the table table, I didn't want to talk to Grosjean so I switched the names and Raikkonen came and sat in front of me.

I guess Jonathan Noble and Michael Schmidt were not too happy

[Kriss]

thanks reppo for the articles

[phil1993]

He also said how frustrating it was to get just 200 seconds with Kimi after weeks of email negotiations with Lotus.

Khodr, you are lucky

When we went to Lotus, there were 2 tables. 1 for Grosjean and 1 for Raikkonen. I sat on a table and the other journalists were preparing themselves to sit on the other one. After that, a lady came and put the name of Romain Grosjean on my table and Kimi Raikkonen on the table table, I didn't want to talk to Grosjean so I switched the names and Raikkonen came and sat in front of me.

I guess Jonathan Noble and Michael Schmidt were not too happy

Sneaky t***!

[reppo]

http://www.ts.fi/moottoriurheilu/f1/356 ... n+nopeasti (in Finnish)

Räikkönen's car was fixed quickly
F1 | Turun Sanomat 17:49

The hydraulics flaw in the differential of Kimi Räikkönen's E20 car, which disturbed his qualification performance, was fixed promptly.

- It wasn't a great problem, and the car was repaired by five o'clock on Saturday afternoon, Lotus team principal Eric Boullier told to Turun Sanomat.

Differential controls slipping of the tyres. Once it has broken down, the slip is not in balance, when the other half works differently than the other.

Raikkonen was praised by the team for his will to fight, but when Finnish driver fell marginally from Q3 stage, starting place is now the 12th, second lowest of the season.

- Differential was not working as it should. It made the qualification so difficult, when lap times are so close to each other. The car was ok, but due to the defect it was difficult to push hard enough. Certainly, time was lost, but it happens. However, I am confident that in the race all is okay, Raikkonen said.

- During the whole season we have in every track been stronger in the race than in qualification and practice. It will be a little warmer in the race than in qualification and it should fit to our car even better. Zero points has yet been lost, but not won either. We try to get a good start, avoid all the hassles at the first cornerss and then see what we can do.

Villeneuve's argument garbage

Jacques Villeneuve, who won the world championship in 1887 with Renault, blamed in Sky TV's interview Lotus' current drivers and profusely praised the car.

- If Lotus had in this car, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel, they would have won all races of the season, breezed Villeneuve.

Boullier snorted to the claim.

- Villeneuve talks to keep warm, what happens when no one else is interested in him anymore, Lotus team boss acknowledged.

Turun Sanomat, Montreal

HEIKKI KULTA

[mikhailv]

I think Villeneuve may have a point though.

If lotus had Alonso Hamilton and/or Sebastien, they wouldve been on the podium every race and/or won. Think about it, bahrain was Lotus' to lose. The car was clearly great but one car kept crashing out, the other was screwed over by bad team strategy. Hamilton, Alonso and Vettel are much more independant. Alonso made the call yesterday and it was wrong. But he did the calls in other tracks and it was correct.

Grosjean had the possiblity to win/podium in a good 2-3 races. Kimi had bad luck in the other but Lotus couldve won half the races.

[reppo]

http://www.ts.fi/moottoriurheilu/f1/356 ... 970luvulle (in Finnish)

Andretti was touched by Räikkönen's respect for the 70's
F1 | Turun Sanomat 3:31

Kimi Räikkönen's open admiration of the 70's racing have risen warm response in older driver generation.

In the paddock of Canadian Grand Prix was seen 70's world champions Mario Andretti, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda and Emerson Fittipaldi.

72 year old Andretti is newly appointed Austin's new Grand Prix circuit's official ambassador. He thanked in Turun Sanomat's interview Räikkönen's jarring respect for the sport's past.

- Of course I noted Kimi's James Hunt helmet in Monaco race. It gave a comfortable feeling. James was a good friend of mine and it was nice when a star of current driver generation paid tribute to him and the whole era like that. It is a good for whole of F1, Andretti chuckled.

- Among drivers representing different times there has always been certain fraternity and cohesion. We will not forget those who are no longer with us.

Andretti won 1978 championship in Lotus. Now Raikkonen drives Lotus. Although the brand is the same, the teams have nothing in common from the past, where Andretti belonged to Colin Chapman success squadron and current Lotus is just a name of a racing team from Endstone.

Nostalgia and progressive mind

Andretti says he understands Räikkönen well, even he represents completely different spirit.

- I myself like a lot of today's race driving, he points out.

Where do you think the current driver's respect for the 70's racing roots from?

- That depends entirely on the individual, how we deal with things and how we look at the world. If you have a nostalgic mind, you are happy to look back. If you have a progressive mind, you prefer to look forward. I have this such a progressive spirit and therefore enjoy so much of what F1 is today.

- I dream that I would be 20 - or rather, 30 - years younger and I would get to race here today, Andretti revealed.

All in all, Räikkönen's return to F1, and also to Austin's new Circuit of the Americas track in November clearly touches Andretti.

- I am very happy for Kimi's return. He has shown immediately that he has not lost anything in pace or competitivity and it's really great.

- Kimi's comeback is a very interesting, because he is compared all the time to Michael Schumacher. It is wonderful to see aboard a world champion, who is still in such good shape as Kimi is.

Cigar model a fine selection

In the lift of nostalgy I asked Räikkönen what era car he would most likely drive , if he could choose any.

- Those cigar looking models probably would be the most coolest to drive. They were gorgeous, Raikkonen would choose; even he did not even know the car brands of the time, he opted for the first half ot 60s F1 cars.

Andretti smiled for such a wish of Räikkönen.

- A great choice. It just proves how unique racing driver Kimi is. That aspect I like in him especially. Kimi does not conceal anything, but says straight away, what he thinks, the American veteran said, shook hands politely and went to Austin to represent the track onwards.

Turun Sanomat, Montreal

HEIKKI KULTA

[iceT]

Thanks for article, reppo. Now I know why Mario was in Canada. TV coverage had a shot of him on screen, but he sure didn't look 72! At last some positive comments out of Canada for Kimi. I'm having a good feeling for him in Silverstone... Would be better if he can do it earlier in Valencia but I don't think much of that circuit.
Good job to Romain, whom I dub the Smiley Baguette, aka the Happy Baguette, aka the Beaming Baguette after this weekend's achievement!

Thanks for sharing your "trade secrets", iceman1. Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do! Way to go!

[reppo]

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

Räikkönen was regretting - "A second or two faster"
Posted on 11/06/2012 1:00 (updated 1:03)

Kimi Räikkönen complained after the Canadian GP the fact, that he could not find just enough pace at crucial moments.

Räikkönen came to the finish line on the eighth place, though before the pit stop he still kept behind him Sergio Perez, who eventually drove to third.

- If I had been a second or two faster at some point, then we would have gained rather many positions, but not today, Räikkönen said to MTV3.

Perez came from his pit stop to the track just ahead of Räikkönen and with Mark Webber the same was repeated in Australian driver's second pit stop.

- Quite a good start, but then the pace was not quite enough at some points. Always felt that we fell just behind them, who came from the pit, Kimi complained.

Team mate Romain Grosjean showed the speed of Lotus car by driving to second.

- Yes, in the race we have always been better than in qualification. Depends of course on the track, the location and the weather conditions, but there is nothing to complain in the car, Kimi said.

MTV3, Jack Merimaa and Timo Pulkkinen

[reppo]

Yet an other news leak from HNA office.

According sources Lotus will implement a new tyre tactic, starting from Valencia. Since it is, honestly, quit obvious that Räikkönen is faster with used tyres than fresh ones, and Grosjean can utilize fresh tyres better than old, Romain will get all new tyres and Kimi will use all Romains used tyres. That way, according Boullier, Lotus will have a competitive edge to other teams who can not get the best out of tyres in every condition as Lotus will in the future.

An other innovation is moving to constant five pit stop strategy in every race. But instead of making five separate pit stops, all five changes of tyre sets will be made in a single pit stop. According sources Lopez has calculated that time saving can rise to over 60 seconcs when four unnecessary pit entries and exits can be left out. He was quoted to say: "Pity that we can't have 100 sets of tyres. Then we could win the race even before we have started it".

According sources they got the ideas from the same seminar where Martin Whitmarsh was listening Michael Schumacher's lecture about beer's positive effects to speed of the pit crew. Later Whitmarsh was heard telling to Lopez: "It must be true. I heard Michael say 57 times honestly and 39 times obviously". Lotus is expected to follow McLarens example and change all soft drinks in the garage to beer. According sources negotiations with several breweries are currently going on.

[Kriss]

thanks reppo, interesting