Kimi Raikkonen will be more competitive in 2013 – Formula 1
Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen impressed everyone with his amazing performance in this year and will come up even stronger in the 2013 Formula 1 season.
Raikkonen left the sport after his pre-mature contract termination with Ferrari back in 2009. He took part in World Rally Championship in 2010 and 2011, but could not prove his potential and came back to F1 with the Enstone based team in this season.
The Finnish driver performed incredibly well throughout the year and scored points with superb consistency. He stood amongst one of the most experienced and talented drivers in the field.
Moreover, he was declared as a major threat to the top drivers by the team principal of Red Bull Racing, Christian Horner after the first half of the season. Additionally, the team boss of Ferrari, Stefano Domenicali also expressed that the Finn is undeniably
the strongest title contenders, after seeing his performance during the opening few races.
It is to be noted that Lotus struggled with their qualifying pace due to which Raikkonen and his teammate, Romain Grosjean failed to attain competitive points for their team in many races.
Nevertheless, the 2007 world champion still managed to deliver some tremendous performances during the season and was considered as one of the most deserving title contenders.
Even though, he could only achieve one race victory at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, but he still secured third position in the championship fight with 207 points behind Fernando Alonso of Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing.
On the other hand, Grosjean also performed convincingly well in some grands prix and secured three podium finishes. However, he was retired in many races and faced a lot of criticism over his harsh driving style due to which he was even penalised for quite
a few times. Nonetheless, the French driver has successfully secured his race seat at Lotus for the next year and is positively looking forward to perform well for his team.
Besides, Raikkonen has said that he has gained a lot of confidence after this season and is targeting to attain even better results in the coming year. He also said that they need to improve their qualifying pace for the next season in order to score good
points.
“Driving a Formula One car still gives me the same inspiration and I feel the same passion for it,” Raikkonen said.
“Of course, the main thing is to do my very best every time, every weekend, every race. I think to be able to perform better in the races I have to find more from myself and from the car in qualifying. This season has shown that you have to be on first two
rows to be able to win every time. It’s important to improve our grid positions for 2013. That’s one of the main targets for me,” he added.
It will be interesting to mention that he has supported the changes made in the DRS rules. In addition, he said that the limitations on the use of DRS will improve drivers’ safety on track.
The competition is surely going to be even tougher in the next season as all the contenders are making significant developments. It will be thrilling to see how the Iceman competes with his rivals in the coming year.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely of the writer’s and do not reflect bettor.com’s official editorial policy.
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