ZitatKimi Raikkonen back to his very best, says Lotus's Eric Boullier
Kimi Raikkonen is back to his very best, reckons Lotus team boss Eric Boullier.
The Finn triumphed in the Australian Grand Prix after a controlled performance where a two-stop strategy proved key.
With Raikkonen taking his second win in four races, Boullier has no doubts that the 2007 world champion has kicked off the new campaign in the same manner as he ended last season.
"Kimi built up himself over the last year," said Boullier. "You could see a strong second half of the season in 2012.
"And he is starting the season like he finished last year. We can expect him to be strong."
Raikkonen has thrived in the atmosphere at Lotus following his F1 return, and Boullier says he has no plans to change the way he deals with the former world champion.
"I don't think there is anybody on earth who can tell Kimi what he should do, so I am not going to start," he added.
"It is true that the environment we have at Enstone is that we want the people to be creative and be themselves.
"It is much better for them, and we are doing this by limiting the politics and in Kimi by limiting what he hates."
Boullier also believes that the whole Lotus team has stepped up in 2013.
When asked in what area he felt the outfit was most improved, he said: "It is everywhere to be honest. There is better co-ordination.
"We have good people in Enstone, from the aerodynamics, electronics, engine, and design. They know what they need to do. It is working."
Unilever marks Lotus F1 partnership with new SureMen range
Unilever is seeking to capitalise on hype surrounding the new Formula 1 season with a SureMen anti-perspirant range showcasing its sponsorship of the Lotus F1 team.
The launch of the products coincides with the beginning of Unilever’s three-year global sponsorship of Lotus, which was celebrating yesterday, after its driver Kimi Raikkonen won the first Grand Prix of the new season in Australia.
Unilever has designed new packaging for the products that feature the official Lotus F1 logo and is positioning the anti-perspirant as a product that works even in "high-adrenaline situations".
Launch activity includes an on-pack promotion running this week, giving consumers the opportunity to win a trip with three friends to drive the Lotus F1 car in the south of France.
Additional marketing in the £4m push will include TV, digital, outdoor and experiential activity that will launch in May.
Unilever is hoping the high-profile partnership will help the SureMen brand achieve double-digit sales growth.
SureMen's fellow Unilever-owned brand Dove Men+Care recently placed rugby at the heart of its marketing strategy.
just a quick thing on this 'Sure' thing for those living outside of UK.
There is no Rexona brand in UK. All the products that are Rexona in the most countries are sold as Sure in the UK and Ireland. On other markets there was Rexona men, so by promoting Sure men Unilever is pushing on British market.
Zitat Lotus not convinced tyre advantage over F1 rivals will continue By Edd Straw Tuesday, March 19th 2013, 09:43 GMT
Lotus is not convinced that it will continue to have a decisive tyre advantage over its rivals in every grand prix this year.
The E21's tyre management was key to Kimi Raikkonen's Australian Grand Prix victory as it allowed him to make only two pit-stops compared to the three of his main rivals.
While Lotus is confident that the car is one of the best in terms of tyre degradation, technical director James Allison doesn't count on being able to do this everywhere.
"It's fairly finely-balanced and we can't assume that we will be able to pull off the trick of running one fewer stop than everyone else at a competitive pace everywhere we go," Allison told AUTOSPORT.
"The car is good, the drivers have both said that from the outset and they have a good feeling about it, but it's not a given at all.
"It doesn't take much to shove the tyres from being able to do the two-stopper that Kimi managed to the three-stopper that Romain [Grosjean] ran."
Allison admitted that the car's qualifying performance was roughly representative of its position in the competitive order, but that the tyre characteristics this year means that starting position is not as important as it was at the end of 2012.
Raikkonen and team-mate Grosjean locked out the fourth row behind the Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes cars.
Lotus has downplayed expectations of a title bid, but Allison is confident that the car can continue to be in the mix as long as the tyres remain key to race form.
"On one-lap running, we are the third or fourth quickest team and that means we are going to be somewhere from fifth to eighth [in qualifying]," said Allison.
"The indications from the car are that it is capable over a wide range of tracks of running competitive in the races.
"The tyres are less of a story than everyone was anticipating but they are more highly-strung than last year.
"Qualifying pace is therefore slightly less important than it was at the tail-end of last season because it doesn't take many laps at 0.2-0.3 seconds a lap degradation before the qualifying pace is meaningless."
" title="ty" /> YiNing! I actually looked about 12 hours ago (last evening at work) and they hadn't posted the new gear!
Edit: After taking a closer look at their gear and shipping policy: it appears nothing will be shipping until May. This leads me to believe that the gear hasn't even arrived yet.. " title="" />
Zitat von SonnyYiNing! I actually looked about 12 hours ago (last evening at work) and they hadn't posted the new gear!
Edit: After taking a closer look at their gear and shipping policy: it appears nothing will be shipping until May. This leads me to believe that the gear hasn't even arrived yet..
I just got the email update from them (as I'm their loyal customer probably got like 30+ diecast models from them) Ya, I think they just taking pre-order now, but I think they'll probably still faster than Lotus
Kimi's cap looks so plain, there is no Angry Bird or even Iceman logos on the side, I guess it may change later when it's released.
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Mon Mar 18, 2013 12:43 pm
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" title="ty" /> Betulla. That was a great interview with David Valsecchi. 
" title="ha" /> Is this parting "in" at the moment? 
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