- Lotus news
Lotus impressed by Raikkonen
ESPNF1 Staff
February 13, 2012
« HRT sign Clos as test driver
| 'No team orders' at Red Bull - Mateschitz »
Kimi Raikkonen has adapted to F1 2012 very quickly, according to Lotus © Sutton Images
Enlarge
Related Links
- News:
-
Raikkonen insists motivation has never been a problem
- Feature:
-
'A golden week far beyond our own expectations'
- Profiles:
- Kimi Räikkönen
- Teams:
- Lotus
Lotus has been impressed by the speed at which Kimi Raikkonen has adapted to his new car after just two full days of testing in Jerez.
Raikkonen is returning to the sport this season after two years in rallying and had his first real taste of his new car last week at Jerez. Raikkonen set the fastest time on the first day of the test and trackside operations director Alan Permane said his whole approach had been hugely impressive.
"There's an awful lot more to Formula One than just putting one lap together and that's what makes a champion," he told ESPNF1. "That's the sort of thing you can see in Kimi and see how good he is; how he uses the car over a long run and how he looks after the tyres. He's never driven these tyres before and already after a couple of days you can see that he's understanding them and altering his driving to look after them - he's got a lot of feel in the car."
Asked if Raikkonen has the potential to be the leader the team was looking for last year, Permane said: "Being a world champion, we can't get a lot better than that. It's a difficult one, the question of a leader and do we need a leader. I think a driver will become a leader if he delivers and we can deliver to him. Then he can tell us what he wants, we give that to him and then he delivers again, so we build up a trust in each other. I think that's how a driver becomes a leader.
"I think so far everything seems to be working well. Of course there will be ups and downs, we've had a golden week far beyond our own expectations. That, of course, can't carry on. It would be lovely if it could, but there will be ups and downs and that will test us and that's when you see how strong people's characters are."
Permane added that Raikkonen has been very specific about the requests he has made of the team, but has paid them back with "excellent" feedback.
"He's very easy to work with, very, very easy indeed - no complaints at all," Permane said. "His feedback is excellent, he spends an awful lot of time with his engineers looking at stuff, going through data and telling us what he wants. From what I can see, he's happy firstly with the car we've given him, but also the other stuff - the bits that he asked for when he came, the type of steering wheel he wanted, the seat, the seat belts, things like that. We've also delivered the braking stuff he wanted, he's got all that. I think he's a pretty happy guy."
Read the full interview with Alan Permane here.
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
Feeds: ESPN Staff
Comments: 15
Products you might like at espnshop.co.uk
| Comments have now been closed for this article |
||||||
ESPN Staff
Kimi's certainly done a great job adjusting to the tyres but what we all have to remember is that there has merely been a single test. We don't know if the Lotus will be genuinely fast or not so we should not get our hopes of quite yet, although, this is a good sign. I hope Kimi can challenge for 3rd or 4th in the WDC.
Posted byKimi did really surprise the F1-family (Bernie-show) with his speed in the Lotus. But. no surprises for me...predicted that in my article in Sondag few weeks ago!!
Posted byKimi's the man, he is just naturally competitive in any car..Very Alonso like without the lack of any emotion..
Posted byI love that Kimi seems to be fitting in quite well with Lotus. He's truly a great driver.
Posted byThe reason why Ferrari got rid of Kimi because Alonso see's no pressure from Massa Kimi would have been to quick for Alonso and he doesn't like that you just have to look at the Mclaren days when Lewis was to quick for him he spat the dummy and walked out come on Kimi i think Lotus will be good enough to challenge the Ferrari's this year GOOD LUCK if you stiil have it you are still in the top 4 fastest races out there VETTEL-HAMILTON-SHUMACHER-YOU
Posted byI like Kimi alot... the ICEMAN is consistent and fast and above all has driven for Ferrari!... but 'lotus' just 'don't talk to him in the middle of a corner'.. lol :)
Posted byMany people said that Kimi will take a long time to get used to the tires. About 2 days apparently. And Schumacher, without the luxury of Ferrari's test track, Bridgestone giving him the tires he wants and virtually unlimited testing? 2 years and he is still complaining about the tires.
Posted bygreat. Looks like he's ready to compete with the champions. Good luck. GO KIMI!!!!!.............. :-D
Posted byTrue, in 2003 he only won a single race, and Schumacher won 6, but Kimi was 2nd by only 2 points in the final standings. That's consistency, especially taking into account the fact that McLaren/Mercedes never really gave Kimi a reliable car and Juan Pablo Montoya was on the track, so that added to the "spiciness" of each race. Kimi had 10 podium finishes out of 16 races that year (1 victory, 7 2nd place finishes, and 2 3rd place finishes).
Posted byso far so good to Kimi, but if when the real season start and Lotus couldn't get close enough to compete with the Top 3 teams to challenge for the championship, anyhow I'm sure Kimi will able to beat Massa ( a Ferrari ) and Webber ( a Red Bull) as a great consodolation. Go Kimi Go....