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Lotus F1 team, which is currently running fourth in the race for this year’s Constructor’s Championship had a decent weekend in Japan. With two podium finishes in the previous weekend in Korea; they have been one of the few consistent teams. Both the drivers, Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean have been impressing the stewards with their performances improving in every race.
They are 23 points behind the second runner’s up Mercedes team and they are short of 33 points from the Italian giants, Ferrari. After coming in the top three in two successive races, and also beating the Mercedes and Ferraris, they have shown to become strong contenders for the second position in the Constructor’s title, with four more races remaining in the season.
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Last year, they stood fourth in the end of the season with a huge gap of 75 points between them and third placed McLaren-Mercedes. In the closing stages of 2013 season, seeing their recent performances, there are lot of expectations from these guys. With only four races left in Raikkonen’s F1 career with Lotus— the team which gave him the chance to make his comeback after leaving the sport in 2010—he definitely would like to end it on a high note.
Romain Grosjean
This Frenchman is having a great end to the 2013 season. In Japan, starting fourth on grid, he led the first half of the race. The poor starts from both the Red Bulls resulted in Grosjean jumping from P4 to P1 by passing Sebastian Vettel comfortably in the start of the race.
After retiring in Singapore because of pneumatic problems in his engine (some kind of engine failure), he has finished third in the next two races, thereby taking his points tally to 87; eighth in the Driver’s title, behind Ferrari driver Felipe Massa.
Lets see if he can finish in the top five in this year, with four more Grand Prix to come.
Romain Grosjean in 2013
Number of Race starts: 15Wines: NilPole positions: NilPodiums: 4
Kimi Raikkonen
He has been the most consistent driver from 2012, with a record of finishing in points in 27 successive races. Also had completed 30 races in a row. He unfortunately faced a retirement in 2013 Belgian Grand Prix due to brake-related issues.
In the last three races he finished twice on the podium, third and second in Singapore and Korea respectively. Starting ninth on grid in Japan he managed a commendable fifth position behind his 2014-Ferrari-teammate Fernando Alonso.
He is 30 points behind Alonso in the Driver’s title. With the upcoming Indian Grand Prix on Oct. 27, can the Fin grab the precious second position from the Ferrari driver?
Kimi Raikonen in 2013
Number of Race starts: 15Wines: 1Pole positions: NilPodiums: 8
However, the Japanese Grand Prix has eliminated Raikonen and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton from the Driver’s Championship. They can only fight for the second position, with four races remaining, the final standings of the season is very difficult to predict except for the winner, which would obviously be Sebastian Vettel.
