Gerard Lopez defends Kimi Raikkonen’s inclusion at Lotus – Formula 1 news
Gerard Lopez praises Kimi Raikkonen over his performance in the recently concluded Bahrain Grand Prix.
Gerard explained that the kind of results Raikkonen has achieved for the team is exactly what was required of him. The Fin made a comeback this year after a two-year hiatus. Raikkonen joined rally racing after retiring from Formula 1 and since his return
has been very impressive.
During the Bahrain Grand Prix, it was evident that even after staying away from the sport for two years he had not lost any pace and the focus.
The 2007 champion was accused of lacking motivation to make a comeback, but he proved his critics wrong and has so far according to former players has had a better comeback than the veteran Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher.
“I remember not being happy about the interview where people kept on coming back to saying it's a gamble,” Lopez told AUTOSPORT. “The guy's a world champion: he's not old, he's fit and he's motivated.”
“I've seen him before at teams and I've never seen him this way before in terms of his work patterns and his behaviour. So I honestly think he is where he has to be, where he thought he would be and where he expects to be. He has always been a natural, and
you don't lose that. If you've got the speed you've got the speed,” he added.
He added that he could see that Raikkonen was as fit as ever and all he needed was some time behind a F1 car. The team had high hopes that he would be able to deliver the goods and the Bahrain GP was proof that he is doing that.
Lopez also said that he is confident that Lotus has the potential to keep on improving and developing and it will very much be in contention for the world titles.
Lotus has had a lot of developments done to the car and are looking to put up a good fight as the season progresses. It will interesting to see how the team fares as the European leg of the season starts in three weeks from now.
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