adminPARIS – Finland’s 2007 Formula 1 champion Kimi Raikkonen has driven his last race for Lotus, so will miss the final two races of the 2013 season. The 34-year-old, who will drive for Ferrari in 2014, is to undergo back surgery. The announcement has brought to an end what has been a fractious relationship with Lotus, the team which offered him a second chance in F1 in 2012.
Things came to a head the previous weekend at the Abu Dhabi GP when a fed-up Raikkonen, third in the overall standings, arrived saying he had not been paid all year and unless that was put right he would boycott the last two races of the campaign.
His race lasted only until the first corner – he had been demoted to the back of the grid owing to a technical infringement in qualifying – but he left saying that the problem over his wages had been resolved. The team will make an announcement about the replacement driver for the US and Brazilian Grands Prix in due course.
Meanwhile, Lotus is poised to recruit Nico Hulkenberg to replace Ferrari-bound Kimi Raikikonen for 2014, according to the head of the team’s new investors.
Mansoor Ijaz, head of Quantum Motorsports, a consortium that has reportedly agreed to buy a 35 percent stake in Lotus from Genii Capital said: “As the incoming owners and shareholders, we have made it clear what our preference is. I wish the transition had been smoother between Kimi and the next driver – who we believe will be Nico – but sometimes in life things don’t’ happen so clearly, or as nicely, as you want.”
Ijaz added that a contract for Hulkenberg had been drawn up and prepared and said that the German driver was excited about the move. Hulkenberg is currently with Sauber. –Wheels24.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter