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With their No. 1 driver moving out at the start of the next season, Lotus-Renault have the next most desirable seat and are currently exploring their options. But they have a job to finish in the current season with seven races remaining. The team had a challenging outing in Spa and Monza. Kimi Raikkonen saw his Drivers’ Championship hopes slip away with a retirement in Belgium and a poor qualifying saw a disappointing finish in Italy.
While the low down-force circuits have never really been Lotus’s forte, the one’s with higher down-force are better off for them. Even though a double podium looks unlikely, the team would be happy to see at least one of their drivers among the top three at Singapore.
Kimi Raikkonen
In his own words, Kimi has some ‘unfinished business’ to take care of at Singapore. With the last two races not turning out to be the best ones , he surely has to take care of business. He holds the fastest lap record at the Marina Bay circuit which was set in 2008, the year he won the Drivers’ Championship with Ferrari. The performances that followed didn’t match up to his standards as the best he could manage was a sixth last year with Lotus. The best thing he can do is start the race at the highest possible place on the grid. With his aggressive style of driving, he is bound to hit some kerbs hard and muscle his Lotus around the twisty and bumpy Marina Bay Circuit.
Kimi Raikkonen’s Record at Singapore GP
Number of Race Starts | 3 |
Wins | Nil |
Pole Positions | Nil |
Podiums | Nil |
Grosjean, popular for his recklessness more than his driving skills, seems to be learning from his mistakes earlier in the season and last year. The Frenchman has displayed a sense of maturity in his drives at Spa and Monza. With no more Kimi next season, he will have to take the charge, having spent more time with the Enstone based team. He has seven races to show his team that they can believe in him to be competitive at the top of the order. He was seventh last year finishing behind his teammate at his first outing in Singapore, an appreciative performance at that. But the problem with Grosjean remains inconsistency, thanks to his inability to strike the right balance between speed and control. If he is able to do it in Singapore, he can definitely finish up the order.
Romain Grosjean’s Record at Singapore GP
Number of Race Starts | 1 |
Wins | Nil |
Pole Positions | Nil |
Podiums | Nil |
Teammate Round-Up
The Iceman and the Frenchman seem to have a ‘mind your own business’ relationship on and off the track. Kimi was candid in saying that he was not Jedi of Stark Trek to play master to Grosjean after the reckless crashes that Grosjean had last year. Guess the message was clear for Grosjean, ‘to find a on his own way ’. But they have had some battles during this season and Kimi has managed to get his nose ahead of the youngster.
