Räikkönen underwhelmed by Lotus
by Bruce Hepburn 28 January 2012, 08:43
Kimi Räikkönen has admitted that his test drive in a Lotus F1 car at Valencia this week did not feel very fast.
After two years and limited success in the World Rally Championship, the 2007 F1 world champion returns to the track for Lotus, formerly
Renault. The 32-year-old Finn tested a 2010 model Renault in Spain for two days this week.
"I was expecting it to feel faster than it was," said Räikkönen on the BBC's website. "OK, Valencia is not the fastest
circuit, but it was still pretty normal. I was expecting it to feel fast when you really go with the throttle but I had the sensation maybe
once."
Räikkönen will make his debut for Lotus in the team's 2012 car in Jerez, Spain on 7 February in F1's first official test of the season.
"We have to see how the car is in the testing and go from there," he continued. "Hopefully we can have a good car to
challenge in front and that would be nice, but if not we try to improve it and go to the front. The team has everything we need to produce a
good car. We are not missing something that's the reason we don't have a good car. The people are very keen to have a good year. The
atmosphere is great, it is a bit more family like than in other big teams, very nice people to work with and I've been enjoying it so
far."