Re: The 2013 Formula One Season Quote:
Originally Posted by mayankk Why him?
He sort of broke the perception, and let us know that not all finns fly. |
Maybe Lotus wanted to break another perception about Finns after all the retorts from Kimi over the radio Quote:
Originally Posted by StarrySky It's not easy jumping into an unknown car with zero testing. An active F1 driver like Fisi could not manage to perform when he moved to Ferrari mid-season in 2009. I guess very few will want to risk career suicide, even someone like Hulk, who is essentially a free agent and who is looking to join Lotus for 2014. |
Hulk knows very well that his 2014 seat could be at risk if he took Kimi's seat for last 2 races and didn't perform as well as Grosjean, which is why he turned down the offer. Quote:
Originally Posted by deetjohn I really don't get it. Then, what is Davide Valsecchi and Jerome_d'Ambrosio for? They are Lotus' own Third driver and Reserve driver.
The last time Jerome filled in for Romain at Italy, he didn't do too bad. Wouldn't they have better knowledge on the car than Heikki? |
The actions from Lotus camp seems to make Kimi's actions more sensible.
They've just proved that the reserve driver at Lotus is the last place someone should opt for! Are they trying to say Caterham has better reserve drivers than Lotus. If so, I don't see why they are still holding onto these guys. I'm sure Valsecchi and d'Ambrosio might be equally pissed off and looking for a way out with this denied opportunity where they could prove themselves and possibly a chance for a 2014 race seat.
#3 in WCC is out of reach after Kimi's first lap retirement in Abu Dhabi unless something dramatic happens in last 2 races. If Lotus still thinks they have a shot at #2 or #3 with a car that is not as quick as RBR, they are out of their minds. Their 4th position is already assured. I don't see any reason for such desperate moves like trying to bring back Schumi or trying for Hulk to move across early. This is probably the best opportunity for them to give a chance to the reserve drivers.
Its just Kimi's WDC #3 that might get toppled to #5 or even #6 with Kimi pulling out and Hamilton, Webber and Rosberg behind him having a chance at #3. That's probably lost earnings for them, but they can't say anything since they asked Grosjean to race Kimi for position in the last couple of races. Hiring a better driver is not going to prevent that from happening too.
Unlike Alonso at Ferrari, where the team needs to look at short term and long term about Alonso's injury, Lotus need not worry about Kimi's long term prospects since he is anyway leaving the team at the end of the season. Kimi's surprise decision could have something to do with team's over-ambitious and unrealistic last minute push for remaining races. |