Kimi Raikkonen quells rift rumours with Lotus F1 team

Kimi Raikkonen quells rift rumours with Lotus F1 team

Gary Meenaghan

Jun 11, 2012 

MONTREAL // Kimi Raikkonen has played down speculation he is embroiled in a feud with his Lotus-F1 team after Eric Boullier, the team principal, refused to allow the Finnish driver permission to compete in his home rally. 

Raikkonen, 32, returned to Formula One this season after a two-year hiatus in which he spent time exploring different race series, including the World Rally Championship and Nascar. In 2009, while with Ferrari, he had competed in Rally Finland during F1's mid-season August break and in recent weeks he had made it known he would like Lotus to allow him to do so again this year. 

However, with the Oxfordshire-based team having already lost former driver Robert Kubica to long-term injury following a rally accident, Lotus refused Raikkonen the opportunity, sparking speculation the enigmatic Finn was frustrated with his new team. Speaking to The National, Raikkonen has dismissed such claims. 

"I wish I could, of course, but it's not like there is a fight between us," he said. "I know the rules, so it's not like it's unexpected. The whole story came up because somebody asked if I would like to. Of course, I would like to, but I know what the rules are of my contract and how things stand. 

"It would be nice to compete because it's my home rally and I know the track and the roads, but I understand completely their position because of what happened in the past. It would be OK for them to let me do it, but then if something were to happen, they would look very bad." 

Raikkonen said he still intends to compete in rally in the future, but will likely stick to jet skis and moto-cross during this season's summer break. 

"I definitely want to do rally," he said. "I have done it in the past and I will do it again some stage in the future when I can. I enjoy the challenge and the rally itself is completely different; a very difficult sport and one day I will do more and, hopefully, get better." 

In 2010, Raikkonen competed in WRC driving for Citroen Junior Team. He took part in 11 races, retiring three times. His highest finish came at Rally Turkey, where he placed fifth. 

The following season, he raced under the team name Ice 1 Racing, but his results did not improve and he was forced to retire from the final three races of the 2011 season.

Fonte: www.thenational.ae/ Dica: Miezicat

Meu pai do céu, que gente doente! Inventam conflito entre Kimi e a equipe só porque ele falou que gostaria de participar do Rali da Finlândia e por não ter sido liberado por seu chefe de equipe, o povo já começa a inventar que a equipe e ele estão com problemas, que Kimi está infeliz por lá e blá, blá, blá... 

Isto é tão ridículo, tão baixo e tão anti-jornalismo que eu fico passada. É doentio, sério! Não há outra explicação! Mesmo depois de tantos anos sabendo que a única coisa que a imprensa em geral sabe fazer com relação a Kimi é criticá-lo, ainda me assusto com a capacidade de ser tão baixa de tal imprensa que se diz série e especializada.

Kimi é um cara que sabe o que pode e não pode fazer e como ele mesmo disse na matéria acima, ele entendeu os motivos da equipe e compreende o que há no seu contrato. Quanto ao rali, ele só fará no futuro, quando for possível, já que é uma coisa que ele definitivamente quer tentar novamente. 

Beijinhos, Ludy