Kimi Raikkonen says Lotus has potential to improve – Formula 1 news
Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen believes that Lotus car is capable to push for better results.
The opening race in Australia did not have the outcome Lotus would have hoped for prior to the race. Lotus was being billed as one of the teams to contend for the wins as the E20 showed good pace and reliability during the pre-season tests.
Raikkonen had an unfortunate qualifier as he finished after the chequered flag and could not have another go at Q2 which he had hoped for, resulting in his 18th grid start on Sunday. Raikkonen eventually started the race from 17th as Sergio Perez got a penalty
during the qualifiers.
The Finn got a good start as he finished 12th by the end of the first lap. He battled on with the Saubers during the race and was going to finish the race on 10th but incidents during the race made way for him to be promoted three places up.
“It feels like I've never been away,” he said. “Yesterday we made some mistakes which cost us quite badly so it could easily have been better in the race. I made a good start but then there was an accident in front of me at the first turn, so we lost a few
places there as I had to almost stop and move onto the grass to avoid it.”
“That made the race harder again as we had the speed, but a lot of traffic to get through. When you look at all these things we could have finished in a much better position,” he added.
Team principal Eric Boullier praised the pace of the E20 and said that it is proof that the Lotus can achieve more during the season. He said that the team is looking for to Sepang for Malaysian Grand Prix.
It will be interesting to see how Lotus fares at the second race of the season, from the looks of it, they will be fighting it out with Mercedes who also had an unfortunate race and Sauber who showed good promise. The Malaysian Grand Prix will take place
on March 25, 2012.
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