Eric Boullier confident Silverstone GP would not force Kimi Raikkonen to leave Lotus – Formula 1 news
Lotus team principal Eric Boullier has claimed that Kimi Raikkonen will not move to another team simply because of one bad call during the Silverstone GP.
The Finn was in a strong position during the previous race and it appeared that he would finish on the podium comfortably. However, his team decided not to bring him in the pits during the safety car period, which saw him lose three places towards the end.
His rivals opted for a tyre change and overtook him with ease.
As a result, the former world champion ended up in fifth place and was furious with his team. Due to this, it is believed that he might now quit Lotus this year and move to Red Bull to replace the outgoing Mark Webber.
However, Boullier does not think that the outcome of one race would change the mind of hiss lead driver. He said, “Kimi's an intelligent guy and he won't let a single pit stop call define a decision like where to drive for 2014. One of his psychological
strengths is that he clearly lets you know when he's upset about something, then he refocuses and gets on with the next challenge very quickly.”
The Lotus team principal went onto admit, “It was pretty obvious with hindsight that we made the wrong call. No team can say that they make the correct call on every occasion; whether in race strategy, car design philosophy or any other aspect of the sport.
Kimi was pretty frustrated when he got out of the car which is understandable.”
At the moment, Raikkonen is third in the Drivers’ Championship. He started off the 2013 season on a high, but has been unable to deliver solid results with consistency. He remained at number two for quite some time, but has been overtaken by Ferrari’s Fernando
Alonso, who looks in a strong position to challenge reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel, who is at the top of the points table.
Lotus will have to provide a strong chance to Raikkonen in order to keep him for the next season otherwise he will definitely move to Red Bull, where he will get a great opportunity to fight for the title.
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