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A lot has happened at Lotus since Kimi Raikkonen’s decision to switch to Ferrari next season. Lotus showed their disappointment on a social media site that got everyone talking.
Kimi’s teammate Romain Grosjean has been in the limelight with three consecutive finishes at the bottom of the podium. Lotus have scored a bagful points, second only to Red-Bull (95 in four races – Singapore, Korea, Japan, India out of which 50 points were scored by Kimi).
Not to mention the profanities exchanged at Sunday’s Indian GP between Kimi and the pit crew to let Grosjean pass through. Blame it on the ‘silly season’ but one question that is being asked in the paddock and in the media is whether Raikkonen has lost his motivation to compete in the Lotus.
Is it him or has Lotus sidelined him? Here’s an analysis of the whole Lotus and Raikkonen affair before and after his decision to quit the Enstone based team at the end of the season.
Kimi’s stay at Lotus
While the Lotus team can be credited for getting back one of Formula One’s most loved drivers, judging Kimi’s performance with the team, he has returned the favour in the best possible way.
Kimi finished third in the driver’s table last year and helped Lotus finish fourth in the Constructor’s tally. His win at Abu Dhabi for Lotus came after a considerable gap.
In 2013 season as well, Kimi did what he does best – fight hard in a car that lacked pace at times but more often was beaten by a dominant Sebastian Vettel and Red-Bull.
Before his announcement to move to Ferrari next season after the Italian GP, Kimi had one win(in Australia and five second place finishes in the season) and had comprehensively beaten his younger teammate.
He showed that he still had the skills to win and the hunger for a second driver’s title despite some people had doubts over his comeback being successful. Even though the Finn had struggled for form in qualifying since the Hungarian GP, his race performances were pretty much on track and an extension of his form earlier in the season.
The Lotus and Raikkonen relationship was quite successful given the fact that the team gave Raikkonen the space he wanted until Raikkonen decided to make the switch.
The Rift
Could Lotus have been the best team to help Kimi win races in 2014 given their financial woes?
Raikkonen candidly admitted that the move to Ferrari was financially motivated. The reason being that while he was being paid his basic salary, he was not given performance-based incentives as per his contract.
That may have been the tip of the iceberg but in a larger perspective and for the benefit of his Formula One career, Raikkonen had to be sure if Lotus was the team that could help him to win races and probably another title. After all, that’s what every driver aspires to do in Formula One.
Raikkonen thought that Ferrari was in fact his best option and the team would help him to fight for Grand Prix victories and maybe even enable him to win a long cherished second world championship.
It was Raikkonen’s disclosure of the pay issue that left Lotus team principal Eric Boullier fuming and made things even more bitter between the team and the driver.
What followed was a cold shoulder to Raikkonen and a shift of focus towards Grosjean(not to mention the Frenchman’s resurgence as a driver), who is touted to be Lotus’ no. 1 driver next season.
He fights to win despite pain
Kimi reached the podium at the 2013 Singapore GP despite starting from 13th on the grid and fighting a re-occurring back pain.
It was at the Singapore GP that he suffered a back pain – which had pertained since a crash during testing in 2001—and was able to qualify only 13th. But then the Iceman – with his never say die attitude – made it to the podium(thanks to some brilliant driving and critical Lotus strategy) at one of the longest races of the year, on a bumpy street circuit in the sweltering Singapore heat.
That’s the attitude of a driver who just loves to ‘race’. A driver who is committed to the team and motivated to fight for a top finish despite suffering physical pain. He continued his streak of performing at his best in Korea with a second place finish but lost out to his teammate in Japan and India.
Kimi is someone who loves to drive, to win every race and thrives on going fastest on track. While the refusal to give way to Grosjean at the Indian GP was debatable(considering he might have handed over the place eventually to Grosjean given the state of his tyres and Grosjean being faster or it could have led both drivers going out of the race), it was proof enough that he was fighting and wasn’t ready to let go off his podium place.
With three races remaining, he has a third place in the table to defend and would fight for every possible point and place. The fact is that while money could be a motivating factor for the Finn, there’s nothing that motivates Kimi Raikkonen more than just driving. That’s just what the Iceman loves to do, be it at Lotus, Ferrari or any other team.
