Lotus F1 Team 2013

[Manoah2u]

Spot on. I'm thinking that something like a back injury would become more serious if you do something like... rallying for example, wher you compete on rougher terrain, have a lot of jumps, big bumps, etc.

The forces involved in Formula 1 are well in excess of rallying.

Unless you crash a lot and get some nice G-forces from the impact.

imagine a crash with a F1 car.


that was 'just' after hitting a kerb and some sensors alarming for a doc check........

[GitanesBlondes]

anyway, what could very well caused his back to need attention now more then before is mentioned here well i think:

http://grandprix247.com/2013/09/22/raik ... p-rumours/

Raikkonen hurt his back in an alcohol-fueled stumble on a staircase.

A Lotus team member said without elaborating: “There was an incident.”

Sure because after all Lotus doesn't have a reason to insinuate something like that?

[erikejw]

When Maldonado comes the team will have a net budget increase of the PDVSA money...

Maldonado is going to Sauber because Sauber are not stupid enough to rely on one uncertain source of money as Lotus are.

PLUS the salary that they wont be paying Kimi. That's like 30 million pounds a year.

There is no way Raikkonen is getting 30 million pounds. I don't know where this comes from. That's what he was allegedly on at Ferrari and not even Alonso gets that now. No driver does. It's no more than ten and probably closer to five. It's a moot point though because it's become clear now that Lotus won't 'save' on Raikkonen's salary because it's evident they never had it in the first place. The back injury is just a convenient excuse even if he really does need the surgery.

Lotus and Raikkonen have come to some arrangement where he will be paid some figure, almost certainly not all he is owed, and he has now effectively been released from Lotus early, especially with him having gone to Ferrari for a seat fitting. It frees him up to prepare early over the winter for next season as well.

Raikkonen is doing Lotus a massive favour here because he's keeping his mouth shut so that the financial woes of the team do not become apparent publicly and handed fourth in the championship to them on a plate at a heck of a knock-down price. His salary is a heck of a lot less than the difference between fourth and fifth money-wise.

am I the only one reading the combination of not having to pay raikkonen and having a maldonado who smashes some millions to the table with pdvsa money combined equals about 30 million in money?

And raikkonen is doing lotus a massive favour here? keeping his mouth shut? actually KIMI is the one who did not keep his mouth shut, made the financiel woes of lotus apparent publicly, and admitted he's leaving for the money. exactly what favour did raikkonen do the last months, what favour did he do by threatening not to drive, what favour did he do whilst being one of the vastly experienced drivers at the grid now yet slamming into a backmarker at the first corner in AbuDhabi? The whole lotusf1team financial situation is brought to light by one man and one man alone and that is kimi raikkonen. If he kept his mouth shut about the finances of the company, nobody at this moment would believe lotus is in trouble and the team would be seen as a company the Quantum thing has huge interest in because of their 'healthy' situation. It doesn't matter if kimi actually is right to speak out or not, the truth is, HE spoke, and HE smeared the image of lotus to the ground if only by saying he has'nt been paid. Not very favourable, honestly.

This is all untrue. Boullier is the one who said Kimi wasn't paid. Lotus mishandled their own economy, not Kimi. Lotus have a long reputation of treating drivers badly. Renault - Lotus is the team who ordered thier driver to crash to win the race. Trust is hard to earn and easy to loose. I rather make business with a company I can trust than a slightly better one with a bad reputation. Lotus bad reputation won´t go away for years, I would be very worried and feel like a real looser if I did new deals with them, everyone would blame me if it went slightly bad and noone would praise me if it did go well. Would you yourself do large business transactions with a company with Lotus reputation?

[munudeges]

am I the only one reading the combination of not having to pay raikkonen and having a maldonado who smashes some millions to the table with pdvsa money combined equals about 30 million in money?

Yes you are because the two have no logical link whatsoever and it's a case of adding up figures that simply aren't there. The money was simply never there to begin with. Only late in the season did Raikkonen reveal he hadn't been paid a penny and only then did something get done about it - and Boullier confirmed it.

Lotus have 183 constructors' points for a heck of a knock-down price and will almost certainly mean they can't pay him at least the supposed bonuses they offered, so the compromise deal is that he doesn't race in the last two races. Simple. Raikkonen then moves on and doesn't say anything else about it, as is his usual style. It's not as if he does biographies.

Besides, Boullier and Lopez in particular still have a good relationship with Raikkonen. Business is business and Formula 1's financial state is what it is right now.

[munudeges]

anyway, what could very well caused his back to need attention now more then before is mentioned here well i think:

http://grandprix247.com/2013/09/22/raik ... p-rumours/

Raikkonen hurt his back in an alcohol-fueled stumble on a staircase.

A Lotus team member said without elaborating: “There was an incident.”

Sure because after all Lotus doesn't have a reason to insinuate something like that?

Errrrr, yer. Whatever. I wonder why that might have emerged just now....................

[munudeges]

Unless you crash a lot and get some nice G-forces from the impact.

I don't think Alonso would agree right now.

[PlatinumZealot]

No one's doubting he needs surgery, just that the timing of it seems odd.

Spot on. I'm thinking that something like a back injury would become more serious if you do something like... rallying for example, wher you compete on rougher terrain, have a lot of jumps, big bumps, etc.

timing is the best for Ferrai's interests in 2014. Testing is only two months away so it's definitely a wise decision to have the surgery now.

[munudeges]

Quite so. Nothing has been said publicly but it became clear from his seat fitting at Ferrari last week that an amicable solution has been found all round.

[Juzh]

When do we get to see raikkonen again? Winter testing? He will now get overtaken for 3rd place so his wish of not coming in top3 unless he wins WDC will be granted and he wont be present at the FIA gala as well

[iotar__]

How about planning it earlier, like after Singapore, Korea wherever but not week before the race and 2 weeks before another so replacement can be found and prepare better? Such a dramatic turn of events, Abu Dhabi fine, suddenly operation. There was no planning because there was no threat.

OK you can't plan it (it's nature)? Fine, how about considering it as a possibility, worst case scenario? Even if the chance is 1%. Nope, still nothing, zero threat of that before yesterday or 2-3 days ago. "Looking forward" to USA. Even if your affection for a driver is unconditional you should see a problem here. Meanwhile hopefully Ferrari seat fitting wasn't too testing for his back.

Good thing you can't BS forever in F1 as both Lotus and Raikkonen realised. They should send him on promotional/marketing tour until the last second of contract even if it required golden litter to squeeze last drop of marketing value for their late but still big buck .

[munudeges]

Raikkonen is gone from Lotus now. They've parted company. We'll only see him again in the new year and it gives him a chance to get his feet under the table at Ferrari.

Lotus didn't have the money to pay him, and still didn't even after Quantum stepped in, so the obvious solution is to stop a few races early. The back problem reared its head in September at Singapore and the prospect of surgery after the season then came up. You could be cynical and claim that was a get-out even then and I wouldn't be surprised. He might pretend to look like a dope Raikkonen but in his dealings he is anything but.

It's a pity that it seems to have turned a little bit sour at the end even if he is still amicable with Boullier and Lopez. His comeback has been a success and the Enstone team in its current incarnation as Lotus is now well in the top four and they seem to have a good structure there. The funding part with 'Quantum' is what I'm not sure of and it just smells like another Qadbak scam to me.

[xDama]

How about planning it earlier, like after Singapore, Korea wherever but not week before the race and 2 weeks before another so replacement can be found and prepare better? Such a dramatic turn of events, Abu Dhabi fine, suddenly operation. There was no planning because there was no threat.

OK you can't plan it (it's nature)? Fine, how about considering it as a possibility, worst case scenario? Even if the chance is 1%. Nope, still nothing, zero threat of that before yesterday or 2-3 days ago. "Looking forward" to USA. Even if your affection for a driver is unconditional you should see a problem here. Meanwhile hopefully Ferrari seat fitting wasn't too testing for his back.

Good thing you can't BS forever in F1 as both Lotus and Raikkonen realised. They should send him on promotional/marketing tour until the last second of contract even if it required golden litter to squeeze last drop of marketing value for their late but still big buck .

How about Lotus following their contract obligations?
How about Lotus actually paying his salary, without an endless amount of BS?
How about Lotus giving him full support, even though he is leaving for Ferrari?
How about Lotus stop talking sh*t about Raikkonen and start taking responsibility for their utterly pour management?

Raikkonen has had enough of their games and politics and if there's one guy in the paddock who can't take that sh*t, it's him. Lotus has been testing the limits of his patience and he decided he's had enough of it, and can you blame it? He's made the smartest choice by going for the back-surgery and skipping these last useless races. The only one benefiting from those races, are Lotus. And he's given them enough gifts these last 2 years.

[Kiril Varbanov]

I struggle to find details - are there any specifics on what type of back surgery he is going to have? This would be extremely important. Lotus team have been amazingly quiet over emails recently...

[stefan_]

How about Lotus following their contract obligations?

You don't know anything about what's in the contract and who should follow what obligations.

How about Lotus actually paying his salary, without an endless amount of BS?

Boullier clearly said that last year was the same situation. Money came late, but they eventually came - still Raikkonen signed for another year.

How about Lotus giving him full support, even though he is leaving for Ferrari?

Depends what you understand by "full support". It is a normal thing for any team to stop sharing all the information with a driver that is leaving. Prior to signing with Ferrari, he was the first to take all the updates and the info that came with them.

How about Lotus stop talking sh*t about Raikkonen and start taking responsibility for their utterly pour management?

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You make no sense.

[xDama]

How about Lotus following their contract obligations?

You don't know anything about what's in the contract and who should follow what obligations.

Neither does anyone else besides Lotus and Raikkonen. Yet Raikkonen made it 100% clear that Lotus didn't follow their obligations, at all. I don't think he'd lie about that. Anyone else but Raikkonen, yes.

How about Lotus actually paying his salary, without an endless amount of BS?

Boullier clearly said that last year was the same situation. Money came late, but they eventually came - still Raikkonen signed for another year.

Maybe under different terms? Maybe Lotus promised to pay in advance/in a correct matter? One thing that -again- has been made clear by Raikkonen is that Lotus didn't follow their agreement for 2013. And yet again, I don't think Raikkonen would lie about this.

How about Lotus giving him full support, even though he is leaving for Ferrari?

Depends what you understand by "full support". It is a normal thing for any team to stop sharing all the information with a driver that is leaving. Prior to signing with Ferrari, he was the first to take all the updates and the info that came with them.

I absolutely agree with the fact that with his departure to Ferrari he's no longer entitled to information about 2014 and probably isn't nr. 1 in the team anymore. But Lotus is now making absolutely sure that Romain is mentally fit and ready for his role as teamleader, at cost of Raikkonen.

How about Lotus stop talking sh*t about Raikkonen and start taking responsibility for their utterly pour management?

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You make no sense.

And why not? If you read/followed their statements from the last races, they're not exactly giving him a lot of credit anymore when he decided to start telling about what's happening at Lotus and why he's leaving to Ferrari. Lotus has screwed up their Raikkonnen deal, and not vice-versa. And without Raikkonen, they would still be searching for a victory and probably wouldn't even scored half of their current points. + a lot of people from the team already left Lotus or is still trying to leave the team. How's that for good management?

I have no problem in admitting I'm a Raikkonen-fan, but every objective viewer of this situation should agree with the fact that Lotus had this one coming, and they deserve it.