Really sad the first DNF of Kimi for a long time but it was clear that it will sometimes happen " title="sad" /> He´s only 5 points behind Hamilton in the classement. I think he can be third again like last year. For winning the championship he should have won more often until yet.
ZitatHuman After All - 2013 Belgian Grand Prix, Sunday
Lotus F1 Team endured a difficult Belgian Grand Prix, with brake failure leading to the retirement of Kimi Räikkönen whilst Romain Grosjean employed a one-stop strategy to finish eighth. Kimi’s DNF was the first of his Lotus F1 Team career and his first retirement in 39 races. It was his first non-points finish in 28 races and only his second non-points finish since driving for the team.
Kimi now drops to fourth in the Drivers’ Championship on 134 points, having been overtaken by second-placed Fernando Alonso [151] and third-placed Lewis Hamilton [139]. The team remains in fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship on 187 points from Ferrari’s 218.
• Kimi started from P8 with a scrubbed set of medium tyres, changing to scrubbed medium compound tyres on lap 14. He retired on lap 25. • Romain started from P7 on a scrubbed set of medium tyres, changing to a new set of hard compound tyres on lap 22.
Kimi Räikkönen, DNF, E21-03 “I had a brake failure so there was really no point in trying to continue. We both got good starts off the line but there wasn’t enough space into the first corner where I went over the kerb and lost some time, but after that I was pushing as hard as I could. There were some brake issues at the beginning of the race but we were managing them and it was going okay until we had to retire. We’ve finished a lot of races and had some good reliability; one day your luck has to run out and today was that day.”
Romain Grosjean, P8, E21-02 “We had a difficult first lap where we lost a few positions and then dropped back a couple more places in the incident with Sergio [Perez]. We decided on a one stop strategy today and with the new tyres I felt that the grip was much higher than before but I knew that it would be difficult to get the time back. We tried something different and you never know; had it rained in the middle of the race we could have been well-placed to take advantage. It is good to finish the race without any mistakes, even if eighth place isn’t what we were hoping for this weekend; it’s also a shame that Kimi didn’t finish the race, but we go to Monza hopeful of better things.”
Eric Boullier, Team Principal "It was a disappointing weekend, with qualifying not as good as we had expected and then a difficult first lap in the race. Kimi suffered from a brake failure which, of course, is a concern. We already believe we know why it happened and we will investigate this in detail to prevent the situation arising again. Romain finished eighth which clearly isn’t the sort of position we hope for at the end of a race weekend. Today we lost some pace and part of that might be due to the low temperatures. We must now look ahead, learn from this weekend and make sure that next year we can deliver on a medium downforce track.”
Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director “It was a difficult race for us. We didn’t have the pace in qualifying yesterday and didn’t seem to have the pace today. We had a difficult first lap where we lost a few places and found ourselves sat behind slower cars. After that it was difficult to make up any ground. Unfortunately Kimi retired from the race with a front brake failure which we are now investigating. Romain was on a one stop strategy which was the right thing to do today. We look forward to starting again in Monza where we will bring new developments to the car can hopefully have a better weekend.”
Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 Team Support Leader “Spa is traditionally very hard on engines, with long sections at full throttle, changes of altitude and compressions putting the engines under pressure. The RS27 has performed well all weekend and we were hopeful of a better result. The starting positions put us down in the pack and despite Romain’s efforts we could not make up any places. It’s a shame for Kimi but at least we come away with some points this weekend, which is important for the championship.”
ZitatBelgian GP: Visor tear-off led to Kimi Raikkonen's Lotus retiring" title="annoyed" /> By Jonathan Noble Sunday, August 25th 2013, 16:13 GMT
Lotus suspects that a blocked brake cooling duct caused by a loose visor tear-off led to Kimi Raikkonen's retirement from the Belgian Grand Prix.
Raikkonen suffered from an overheating left front brake duct shortly after the start of the race at Spa-Francorchamps.
AUTOSPORT has learned that at the first pitstop, the team discovered the visor tear-off lodged in the cooling channels of the brake duct.
Although Lotus was able to remove it, the brake disc was already too hot and could not be cooled enough. Eventually it failed completely.
Investigations by the team after the race discovered no other explanation for the brake issues, which led it to believe that the visor strip was the cause.
Team principal Eric Boullier said there was no design problem with the brake cooling on the Lotus, even though it had been operating in a high temperature window.
"We know that we have two options on cooling here: one was nearly too cool, one was on the top of the range," Boullier told AUTOSPORT.
"If the failure had happened on both discs then you would think that the cooling was wrong, but it was only on one disc."
report from austrian tv about silly season http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54VuzlR5RTA can't translate now but maybe some parts are understandable. Kimi doesn't say anything new.
Zitat von WHATEVERI'm really frustrated, not only because the DNF at SPA, but specially because of the Championship. I know winning with Lotus was a long shot but how sweet it could have been. Specially for me, that haven't seen Kimi win a Championship yet. I missed half of his career. I actually have seen him win only 3 times, so that means I missed the other 17! And since I can't turn back time, I would have loved to see him win this year.
So now the other 3 contenders take serious advantage and with Lotus' financial problems, I really don't see it happening any more. Maybe when Olga and Spinster come back, they can cheer us all up with their impressivly possitive attitude
" title="there" />
there was a bitter moment there...hid a few tears behind the shades..but it is what it is.. quali was so strange... Spinne thought he would not make it to q3 " title="cheeky" /> i was sure he would be P6, or 8...then Kimi was good even at the wet parts of the circuit. then proper rain started at q3 and f**k!!!!! during the race Kimi was ok, but you could see after the second half something was wrong, and then the retirement. for me it was over...but on the other hand, it was the first one after he returned to f1, thats not so bad is it? its bad for the team i think, because it comes at the most crucial moment. i know there are no more chances for the wdc but i'm more interested for the future. Kimi seems to be in great form, drives beautifully and all he needs is a team with great resources to produce a great car. was very sad, but then, today is another day! " title="ii" />
Zitat von OlgaPS: it was more sad for Andrea and Annika who drove all way from Germany to see the first retirement " title="sad" /> " title="there" />
" title="hug" /> " title="kiss" /> But Annika (she is 16 years old, the kid from friends) was absolut over the moon. She see her first race. She see F1 live. She see Kimi live... So it was okay for me. I was sad for Kimi but happy for her. We stand for hours opposite off the boxes and look, how they pack everything together. We walk over the half track (my muscles ache a bit today " title="red" /> ). But the best was: I meet Olga and Spinne arts" title="hearts" /> " title="we" /> " title="grouphug" />
Zitat von OlgaPS: it was more sad for Andrea and Annika who drove all way from Germany to see the first retirement
" title="hug" /> But Annika (she is 16 years old, the kid from friends) was absolut over the moon. She see her first race. She see F1 live. She see Kimi live... So it was okay for me. I was sad for Kimi but happy for her. We stand for hours opposite off the boxes and look, how they pack everything together. We walk over the half track (my muscles ache a bit today ). But the best was: I meet Olga and Spinne arts" title="hearts" /> " title="grouphug" />
That's good to hear " title="hug" /> Glad that Annika enjoyed her first GP, I bet she wave her Finnish flag for Kimi " title="suomi" /> t" title="hat" />
d" title="nod" /> We wave the flag during the drivers parade. We stand next to the track (2 m away).... but in this stupid cars... I dont think, he see it " title="" />
Spinne said, we should go to Pouhon. We see good, had a screen near but a lot of stupid Ferrari fans arround. They boohed against Seb during the podium ceremonie, so I boohed against Alonso. Annika was " title="blink" /> when she hear me..... Got some very bad looks..... I can live with this h" title="hih" />
Kimi always look out for Finnish flags/banners (during rally days we noticed he sometimes read the text on the banners), I'm sure he saw it and appreciated it. " title="five" />
Yeah I heard the booing... they said it was because of the protesters but I think a lot of them actually was booing at Seb and use that as excuse. Can't imagine what will happen if Seb won in Monza h" title="hih" />
Hi Guys, just came home from work, a terrible lot of work " title="annoyed" /> but after this fantastic weekend with my family and olga in spa i can take everything " title="greetings" /> arts" title="hearts" /> " title="ha" />
Was very happy to saw andrea back arts" title="hearts" /> arts" title="hearts" />
And will never forget this weekend, all the rest i will let to olga to tell she is " title="lala" /> " title="lala" /> " title="lala" /> all the time " title="ha" /> " title="ha" /> " title="ha" /> " title="ha" />
Anyway i was wrong about q2 and was terrible sad afterwards but i didnt believe in a title with lotus at all TBH....
Didnt take so much pics abt race and so on because i go there for years...
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Sun Aug 25, 2013 5:40 pm
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" title="ty" /> for the videos Miezi
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" title="red" /> ). 
arts" title="hearts" /> 
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t" title="hat" />
d" title="nod" /> We wave the flag during the drivers parade. We stand next to the track (2 m away).... but in this stupid cars... I dont think, he see it 
" title="blink" /> when she hear me..... Got some very bad looks..... I can live with this 
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