Gerard Lopez believes Kimi Raikkonen will stay at Lotus in the future – Formula 1 news
Lotus team owner Gerard Lopez has said that their driver, Kimi Raikkonen will stay with them in the future as long as they keep on providing him a competent car.
Raikkonen’s contract with the Enstone based team is going to expire at the end of this year. Furthermore, he has been linked with a move to Red Bull Racing as Mark Webber’s replacement for the next season. However, Lopez has said that he is not concerned
with any speculations and expressed that they want the Finnish driver for the next year. Besides, he asserted that the 33-year-old will hopefully stay with them in the next season as they have provided him a competitive car.
“I'm not concerned,” Lopez said. “We know we want Kimi to drive for us next year, but then we also know Kimi's character well, which means you can't force him to do anything. I know he's happy, and at this stage if he had to choose (which team to drive for
next season) I know where he would be. The main thing about Kimi is he naturally wants a car to win, and he has got that with us.”
In addition, he stated that the Finn will remain in their team until or unless they will keep on providing him a race-winning car.
“But I know we're giving him what he needs, and as long as we keep on doing that then he'll stay with us,” he added.
The 2007 world champion made his comeback with the British squad in 2012 and performed impressively well throughout the season. He came third in the last year’s drivers’ championship and remained the most consistent driver in the field.
He has also performed incredible well in this season so far and has already scored one race victory and three podium finishes in the first five rounds. Even though, he has struggled a little bit with his qualifying pace. Nevertheless, he is positively looking
forward to perform well in the forthcoming race which is going to be held at Circuit de Monaco in Monte Carlo on May 26.
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