Boullier thinks that Räikkönen will fight for the title
Despite a mixed race in Monaco, where Kimi Räikkönen only took ninth place, Eric Boullier, team principal of Lotus-Renault, believes that the Finn can fight for the world championship title.
Kimi Räikkönen’s Monaco weekend was rather eventful. After missing the first practice session due to steering issues, he struggled to qualify for Q3 and then suffered during the race, particularly with tire management.
Michael Schumacher’s late retirement gave him two points for ninth place, which was a slight disappointment for the team and its driver.
But these points, all in all so important, allow Räikkönen to find himself only 25 points (or one victory) behind the championship leader Fernando Alonso. Enough to see something positive for Boullier: « In the end, the two points we scored are disappointing, but as the championship is so tight, we haven’t lost too much ground on our rivals. »
The Frenchman even thinks that Räikkönen still has every chance in the championship: « We have the same number of points as Ferrari in the constructors’ championship, while Kimi is 25 points behind Fernando Alonso, who is leading the drivers’ standings. Anything can still happen, and the championship is very open. We are now looking forward to being in Montreal, the first low-downforce track of the season, where the E20 should be strong. »
This optimism is not naive, and Boullier believes that the result achieved in Monaco by his team is not indicative of the true performance of his team: « We arrived in Monaco after two consecutive podiums and didn’t really know what to expect on such a unique circuit. Before qualifying, it was evident that the E20 was going to be competitive, but things didn’t go as planned. Our positions on the grid do not reflect our true pace, which made us appear a bit behind this weekend. »
