Lotus conscious of keeping Kimi Raikkonen comfortable with team management – Formula 1 news
Lotus management say that they are going to bring the best out of Kimi Raikkonen.
Eric Boullier and Gerard Lopez have been adamant that Raikkonen is going to be a strong force in the 2012 season. Despite the general perspective of the Finn considered to be less communicative and hard to manage, they feel that he has been anything but
that.
They praised Raikkonen’s behaviour with the team and said that he is always around with a smile on his face and feels like a part of the family. Other issues raised over Raikkonen’s 2012 campaign have been the Finn’s motivation and dedication towards the
sport.
Lotus though have clearly denied that there Raikkonen has been very dedicated and his work ethics are very good. Raikkonen himself has denied that there are any issues and that his motivational level is very high to do well.
“For most people it's probably one of the big mysteries, because you hear the hearsay and so forth, but we feel very good with him and he clearly feels at home,” Lopez told Autosport. “I think Kimi has a public image that honestly from what we've seen does
not translate into how he really is. He's a very hard worker.”
“Once we talked to him, once we understood why he was coming back, we really felt comfortable. If you look at what happened [at the test], nobody can say that he's not on the pace,” he added.
Boullier added that the management has been very conscious to not bother Raikkonen and made sure to adapt to his personality so that he feels at home with the team.
Raikkonen looked impressive in the first pre-season testing at Jerez, he did not show any signs of a person who has been out of the game for almost two years and set the fastest time lap on the first day. The only other person to better his best time was
his teammate Romain Grosjean.
After the first pre-season showing it is being speculated that Raikkonen will be a strong contender during the 2012 season, especially since the Lotus car E20 has impressed with its pace and reliability.
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