kimi raikkonen Archives - Page 27 of 27

Mar232013 by Blaž ŠtremfeljNo Comments

Is history repeating itself?

Before the start of the racing weekend in Sepang, Malaysia, Kimi Raikkonen wished to celebrate the anniversary of his first victory, which he achieved right here in 2003, in style. Raikkonen raced for the McLaren team in 2003. He started the race, which he later won before Rubens Barrichello in Ferrari and Fernando Alonso in Renault, from seventh place. Today, ten years later, he will stand exactly where he stood at the start of the race, as the Lotus racer ranked seventh in qualifying under variable conditions. For those more superstitious, it is worth mentioning the fact that Raikkonen also started the race for the Australian Grand Prix a week ago from seventh place and in the end won sovereignly.

Mar222013 by Blaž ŠtremfeljNo Comments

Friday gave Finc optimism

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After the first two free practice sessions, Kimi Raikkonen assessed that the Lotus team was in a very good position, even though he was tempted by the KERS battery in the morning. The Finn mostly drove with larger amounts of fuel all day and still stuck to the top of the timelines, so he believes they will be very competitive in qualifying practice on Saturday. "We drove a little bit in the rain, which is very common here. The feeling in the car is good. We were tough today, so I don't know where we will be when the rest of the qualifiers are driving with little fuel. I'm happy with our form and I expect that we will be solid tomorrow, ”said the Australian Grand Prix winner. On the other side of the Lotus garage, however, not everything went so smoothly. Romain Grosjean did not find the right balance in the second lotus E21, which he is looking for

Mar222013 by Blaž ŠtremfeljNo Comments

The Germans hint at an unfair advantage

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German Auto Motor und Sport shot the first arrows against Lotus after Kimi Raikkonen's victory at the Australian Grand Prix, where Mercedes cars did not do well. Already in the first race of this year, as well as after the first two free practice sessions before the Grand Prix of Malaysia, tires are obviously crucial this year. This year, Pirelli prepared even softer tires, from which pieces flew while driving through the bends of the Sepang track. But in both Australia and Malaysia, Lotus with Kimi Raikkonen topped the timelines. At Auto Motor und Sport, they think they have already found the answer to why. Pirelli developed its tires with a three-year-old Renault race car that was designed and built in Enston, where Lotus race cars are now made. "The competition suspects an unfair advantage," the Germans wrote. “We admit it, Renau

Mar222013 by Blaž ŠtremfeljNo Comments

Vettel: We have to make progress

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Current world champion Sebastian Vettel has called on his Red Bull Racing team to make improvements after failing and not being able to make optimal use of Pirelli tires in the first two free practice sessions before the Malaysian GP. The German finished his second free practice in second place, just behind Kimi Raikkonen, and confided to the assembled journalists that they will try to find the key to reducing tire degradation with engineers overnight. "Today was a bit unusual, because in the second training session the track was wet in one part and completely dry in the other. But even the wet part soon dried up in the heat. We couldn't do much in the afternoon due to the weather, and in the morning training we it went quite well, even though the tires don't last very long.Tomorrow we have to try a few things that might

Mar222013 by Blaž ŠtremfeljNo Comments

In another Raikkonen

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After a fantastic start to the season, Kimi Raikkonen also took first place ahead of Vettl and Massa in second practice in Malaysia. Finch’s fastest lap was, of course, set just before the rain, which virtually interrupted training half an hour before the end. Of course, this did not stop the action, but only catching the fastest times, as the teams and racers wanted to prepare for the rain race as well. Luckily, it was hot enough in Sepang that the track started to dry quickly, but it just wasn’t completely dry by the end of training. It is worth mentioning the fourth place of Alonso in Ferrari ahead of Webbro and Grosjean. Rosberg, di Resta, Hamilton and Sutil followed to tenth place, but he had mechanical problems. It is also worth mentioning the rotation of Gied van der Gard when it started to rain, and Hulkenberg, who did not replace the BC in time.

Mar222013 by Blaž ŠtremfeljNo Comments

First training in Sepang Webber

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Host Mark Webber won his first training session with Red Bull before the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang. His best time was 1: 36.935. The Australian was 0.068 seconds faster than Melbourne winner Kimi Raikkonen. Sebastian Vettel was third. The typically hot and humid weather forced the teams to think tactically, and so for the most part they decided to procrastinate by using a harder rubber compound for as long as possible. The first fast laps were recorded after about thirty minutes. Raikkonen ran into some technical problems before and after his fast lap. He was bothered by KERS and the gearbox. Nevertheless, Finc managed to set a better time than Vettl, who drove 21 laps, which was the most in this training session. Fernando Alonso was Ferrari’s top-ranked racer. Its two hundred racing shouts

Mar172013 by Blaž ŠtremfeljNo Comments

Raikkonen is not yet considering a title

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Kimi Raikkonen said after winning the race in Australia that he is not yet thinking about what chances he has to win the championship title this season. The Finn says the result will not change Lotus ’approach. The Lotus racer defeated the competitors with the tactic of two stops, who had to make three stops due to the rapid wear of the tires. “That was our plan before the race,” Raikkonen said of the successful tactics. "I was sure the tires would hold up and we had a very good race car all weekend. I thought we could easily carry out the two-stop tactic. I started the race well and then everything went according to plan. I think it was one of the easiest victories in my career I hope there will be many more such races The race car was very good all weekend and the victory is a very nice start to the season

Mar172013 by Blaž ŠtremfeljNo Comments

Raikkonen surprising winner of the first race of the year

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Kimi Raikkonen started the race in seventh place, and Lotus used two-stop tactics that worked out in the best possible way. The Finn won and confirmed the speed of the E21 lotus. Fernando Alonso in Ferrari was second with ten seconds behind the Finn, and Red Bull Sebastian Vettel stepped on the lowest podium. Vettel started the race very well and kept the lead. Felipe Massa overtook Mark Webber on the inside and thus broke through to second place. Fernando Alonso also overtook Hamilton on the inside before the sixth corner and immediately started attacking Felipe Masso. Webber dropped to fifth place. He was overtaken by Raikkonen, who broke through to fourth place in the third lap, two seconds behind Ferrari. In the sixth round, Mark Webber is already seduced

Mar162013 by Blaž ŠtremfeljNo Comments

Lotus better in the rain

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At Lotus, they have managed to draw some positive conclusions from today. They were even happier with the fact that their E21 car behaves much better in the rain than its predecessor. "Today is very positive. In the last free practice I was the fastest, which is the first time in my career that I was at the top of the official training, for which I thank the team for all the effort. With the settings we took a whole new approach, which Unfortunately, the continuation of the qualifiers has been postponed, but we can already be satisfied with the achievements in the first part. Despite the bad weather, we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow, which seems to be mostly dry, so we hope that

Mar162013 by Blaž ŠtremfeljNo Comments

Lotus is closer to the top

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Kimi Raikkonen is convinced that Lotus have managed to close the gap with the leading teams. “Even compared to last year’s races, they seem to me to be a bit closer,” the Lotus racer told Autosport. "Vettel was fast on Friday and very close among all the others. But this is only the first Friday. We have to wait at least the first two races before we can assess the situation. We can certainly still improve greatly. Red Bull was fast on "hard tires, so you'd probably be even faster on soft tires. But you never know. Some other teams weren't even that much better with super-soft tires compared to hard ones. That's right, the race is a story in itself," said the Finn, who he is not worried about problems in pre-season testing. "We had some minor problems in testing. Unfortunately