Pics of Raikkonen's first go in an F1 car since 2009!

ottostreet

Great to see him back where he belongs!

Dempsey

ottostreet wrote: »

Looks like the engineer is explaining something daft to Raikkonen

lolie

Dempsey wrote: »

Looks like the engineer is explaining something daft to Raikkonen

Maybe he's tellin him their out of icecream. Cant wait for melbourne

PJTierney

Dempsey wrote: »

Looks like the engineer is explaining something daft to Raikkonen

"We're holding off on the Magnums and vodka until you get your first podium with the team, hope that's okay."

Mickey H

PJTierney wrote: »

"We're holding off on the Magnums and vodka until you get your first podium with the team, hope that's okay."

To which Kimi replied: "Fair enough. I'm going for a snooze...".

Great to see him back again. I feel he will do well.

Mickey H

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Id like to see him to do well, I think there will be a fair amount of pressure on him though.

Good point. I also think that his comeback will constantly be compared to Schumacher's and whether he's doing "better" or not.

Time will tell, but Kimi being Kimi, he will do a good job.

seanmacc

It's a totally different sport to what he left, I'd say as with Schumacher he will struggle in his first season. But a driver like Raikkonen as with Schumacher will bring an awful lot of experience which would be invaluable to a young team like Lotus. Merecedes also haven't been keeping Schumacher around for his fantastic results, these veterans obviously have something to give.

frostie500

seanmacc wrote: »

It's a totally different sport to what he left, I'd say as with Schumacher he will struggle in his first season. But a driver like Raikkonen as with Schumacher will bring an awful lot of experience which would be invaluable to a young team like Lotus. Merecedes also haven't been keeping Schumacher around for his fantastic results, these veterans obviously have something to give.

He's a lot younger than Schumi was though making his comeback and I wouldnt underestimate how big an impact that will have on things. It will be interesting to get feedback on how he does in Valencia

ottostreet

I can't help but think that if Hamilton/McLaren have another duff year as a partnership, Hamilton will leave for Mercedes/Red Bull and Raikkonen will return to McLaren alongside Button. Stranger things have happened! Having said that, is Kimi still Red Bull affiliated?

Autosport

Good to see him back in F1 but i dont think he will make a big impact as Shumacher did. Love his dont care attitude though

marco2068

Autosport wrote: »

Good to see him back in F1 but i dont think he will make a big impact as Shumacher did. Love his dont care attitude though

I don't remember shumacher making much of an impact when he came back, he did ok. that was it really

vectra

Autosport wrote: »

Good to see him back in F1 but i dont think he will make a big impact as Shumacher did. Love his dont care attitude though

The only impact Schuie made was with other cars and barriers:pac:

freestyla

frostie500 wrote: »

He's a lot younger than Schumi was though making his comeback and I wouldnt underestimate how big an impact that will have on things. It will be interesting to get feedback on how he does in Valencia

"he was running around with a lowish fuel load in the car and we put an awful lot more fuel in. We calculated what the difference should have been and his first lap was absolutely on it – to the tenth. That was impressive."

http://totalf1.com/full_story/view/405179/Lotus_impressed_by_Raikkonens_laptimes/

vectra

LIGHTNING wrote: »

To be fair he showed a few of the younger lads that you have to work for an overtake.

And the older lad's including Barrichello

seanmacc

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/16932283

Kimi fastest in testing.

Its a good indication that he hasn't lost his edge but in terms of the state of the teams and drivers for the new season tells us nothing else.

freestyla

2nd test day this year, Webber leads with time 1m19.682s

Live timing here
http://live.autosport.com/commentary.php/id/436

Kimi did 1m19.670s yesterday

vectra

I think he misses the ralying ..:pac:

Tea 1000

vectra wrote: »

I think he misses the ralying ..:pac:

Probably asking the team to call pace-notes over the radio too!

freestyla

Tea 1000 wrote: »

Probably asking the team to call pace-notes over the radio too!

Actually i hope he will be spinning from time to time i.e. friday practice..

1. gets media attention --> team gets more attention --> sponsors like when car is more on pictures

2. but more importantly also.. I think when testing own and car's limits, you have to slip from time to time! I don't think drivers, who don't go off, are finding all the limits of all components.

Of course spins could occur because of faulty components but again that's testing and pushing factory team to produce spot-on components, or race team for better set-ups.

Maybe I have wrong approach to testing/racing but I don't see anything bad in occasional spins, unless of course during the last qualy lap or race.. so yeah.. better to test limits on fridays

lord lucan

freestyla wrote: »

Maybe I have wrong approach to testing/racing but I don't see anything bad in occasional spins, unless of course during the last qualy lap or race.. so yeah.. better to test limits on fridays

That was almost Vettels hallmark last season. Push the car to its limits on the friday,find the boundaries,often resulting in a spin or an off. Come quali and race and he was virtually flawless as he knew exactly where and when he could push it.

ottostreet

Ted Kravitz reporting that Kimi has said the car has pace, and that his times yesterday were set on Medium compound, as well as having decent fuel in the car.

Apparently Kimi has said the Lotus is good and balanced, but steering is too heavy, so new steering rack will be produced.

freestyla

ottostreet wrote: »

Ted Kravitz reporting that Kimi has said the car has pace, and that his times yesterday were set on Medium compound, as well as having decent fuel in the car.

Apparently Kimi has said the Lotus is good and balanced, but steering is too heavy, so new steering rack will be produced.

:eek: Trulli had steering problems whole last year and was just couple of times faster than his team mate Kovalainen.. Dont know why they couldn't figure it out.

Hopefully Kimi's team will resolve this prob until next test!

Jordan 199

freestyla wrote: »

:eek: Trulli had steering problems whole last year and was just couple of times faster than his team mate Kovalainen.. Dont know why they couldn't figure it out.

Hopefully Kimi's team will resolve this prob until next test!

Yeah, Jarno was having problems with the power steering. Kimi probably will have a new steering rack for the next tests.