Team Accepts Raikkonen May Need Time on Return
Kimi Raikkonen will be given all the time he needs to get back up to speed in Formula 1, with his new bosses adamant that there is no expectation on him to deliver straightaway.
Group Lotus CEO Dany Bahar said on Monday that Raikkonen's two-year absence from F1 will not make it easy for him to produce results immediately - and underlined that all the outfit was looking for was consistent improvement.
\"You cannot expect from a driver that was absent for two years to come back and adapt to the new tyres and new regulations from day one, so he needs his time,\" said Bahar during a lunch with selected media in London on Monday.
He added: \"I think Kimi is a very good guy, he is a very pure guy. I respect him a lot, we respect him a lot and that is the reason he is with us. He has matured a lot in the past 10 years in F1, so he is a grown-up man and he knows his return to F1 is not easy and he knows he has to deliver.
\"Kimi is Kimi, and he is a world champion in F1,\" he said. \"He deserves definitely to have a higher value than a normal driver, just because he is Kimi Raikkonen.
Full article: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96728
Group Lotus CEO Dany Bahar said on Monday that Raikkonen's two-year absence from F1 will not make it easy for him to produce results immediately - and underlined that all the outfit was looking for was consistent improvement.
\"You cannot expect from a driver that was absent for two years to come back and adapt to the new tyres and new regulations from day one, so he needs his time,\" said Bahar during a lunch with selected media in London on Monday.
He added: \"I think Kimi is a very good guy, he is a very pure guy. I respect him a lot, we respect him a lot and that is the reason he is with us. He has matured a lot in the past 10 years in F1, so he is a grown-up man and he knows his return to F1 is not easy and he knows he has to deliver.
\"Kimi is Kimi, and he is a world champion in F1,\" he said. \"He deserves definitely to have a higher value than a normal driver, just because he is Kimi Raikkonen.
Full article: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96728
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