Lotus boss Gerard Lopez has said Kimi Raikkonen will pose a serious challenge for the world title this year after silencing doubters in 2012.

Lopez said he was proud of the Finn’s strong performances last year, particularly when many ‘experts’ were convinced he would be unmotivated for his Formula One comeback.

He added the team’s policy of letting Raikkonen concentrate on driving had paid off handsomely, the Sun reports.

Lopez said the pessimistic views of those who thought Raikkonen would fail made him smile.

He added that Raikkonen put a great deal of work to compliment his talent and the results were the fruit of that.

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