Monaco: The Monaco Grand Prix should be less about tire degradation and more about pole position, as Formula One returns for its showcase race on a street circuit that is notoriously difficult to overtake on. That will be good news for Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, but less so for Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen.
Vettel, the three-time defending Formula One champion tops the championship standings by four points from Raikkonen, who closed the gap by finishing second at the Spanish GP with Vettel placing fourth. That was Raikkonen's third consecutive second place as the Finn bids for his second F1 title.
However, he has one major problem: qualifying speed. He has been on the front row only once - in Bahrain last month - compared to Vettel's two poles. That could work against him in Monaco.
"It's such a narrow, twisty track; you have to be extra sharp and focused. ... Overtaking is almost impossible," Raikkonen said. "We'll have to see how the tires perform and if there are any good strategies to be made, but the most important thing is to qualify well."...
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05:05 PM, May 22, 2013
London: Pirelli's decision to change the Formula One tyres after just six races penalises those who have done a better job than others in getting the existing ones to work, Lotus principal Eric Boullier said on Thursday. "Just imagine for a moment that because a football team can't run as fast as its opponent, the dimensions of the pitch are changed at half time," the Frenchman said on the team...
09:46 AM, May 17, 2013
London: The first European race of the Formula One season provided a boost for Ferrari and Fernando Alonso, with Lotus and Kimi Raikkonen also smiling, but left plenty of other former champions feeling the pain. While Red Bull retained their lead in both championships, they struggled with similar tyre problems to others in Barcelona on Sunday with triple champion Sebastian Vettel finishing off the podium with his lead over Raikkonen...
10:22 PM, May 13, 2013
Barcelona: Fernando Alonso won the Spanish Grand Prix by nearly 10 seconds in a dominant performance in front of his jubilant home fans on Sunday to close the gap on championship leader Sebastian Vettel and get right back in the Formula One title race. Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen finished second for the third straight race, with Alonso's Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa in third spot as most drivers chose a four-stop...
07:20 PM, May 12, 2013
Barcelona: Kimi Raikkonen is confident he can put questions about his future to one side and fight for the Formula One title this season. Four races into the season, the 2007 champion is second overall and only 10 points behind three-time defending champion Sebastian Vettel heading into this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix. Rather than play down his chances of a second F1 title, the 33-year-old Finn says "it would be...
10:53 PM, May 09, 2013
London: Highly-rated technical director James Allison is leaving Lotus and will be replaced by Nick Chester, the Formula One team said on Wednesday. The announcement before the first race of the European season in Spain this weekend will be seen as a blow for Finnish Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 world champion who is second in the standings to Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel. Allison has been with British-based Lotus,...
06:41 PM, May 08, 2013
London: Paul Di Resta has urged his Force India team to go the extra mile to help him secure his first Formula One podium after another near-miss in Bahrain on Sunday. The Briton equalled his career best with fourth place at Sakhir, leading the race for three laps and tantalisingly close to a top three finish before being caught by Lotus's Romain Grosjean in the closing laps. "We've got to...
01:19 AM, Apr 23, 2013
Sakhir: Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen drove the fastest time in the second practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix, followed by the Red Bulls of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel on Friday. Raikkonen, who won the season-opening Australian GP and lay second behind Vettel in the drivers' championship, was 0.03 seconds faster than Webber and 0.12 quicker than Vettel. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso was fourth while his teammate Felipe Massa, who topped...
06:56 PM, Apr 19, 2013
London: Formula One drivers have a duty to obey team orders, Lotus principal Eric Boullier said on Friday as the after-shocks of Sebastian Vettel's controversial Malaysian Grand Prix win rumbled on. World champion Vettel triumphed for Red Bull in Sepang after ignoring instructions to stay in second place behind Australian team-mate Mark Webber. "Team orders are part of the sport," Boullier declared in a preview of next week's Chinese Grand...
10:26 PM, Apr 05, 2013
Raikkonen's teammate Romain Grosjean was eleventh fastest after the rain scuppered his Q2 lap on new tyres; forcing him to abort his final attempt. ...
05:55 PM, Mar 23, 2013
Three-time defending champion Sebastian Vettel edged Lewis Hamilton's time by 0.133 seconds. ...
12:06 PM, Mar 23, 2013
The Lotus driver sent a clear message that his victory at the Australian GP was no fluke, as he edged triple world champion Vettel by .019 seconds. ...
01:39 PM, Mar 22, 2013
Webber, who finished a disappointing sixth at the season-opening Australian GP last week, outpaced Melbourne-winner Raikkonen by .068 seconds. ...
09:37 AM, Mar 22, 2013
Alonso sounded upbeat about Ferrari's Formula One title chances despite being outpaced by Raikkonen's Lotus in a thrilling Australian season-opener. ...
08:20 PM, Mar 17, 2013
Although blown away by Lotus' Raikkonen, Hamilton saw enough in the Mercedes F1 W04 car to feel confident of challenging the front-runners. ...
06:41 PM, Mar 17, 2013
Webber lined up second behind pole-sitting team-mate Sebastian Vettel but finished sixth after a horror start in his 12th bid to win his home Grand Prix. ...
06:16 PM, Mar 17, 2013
The Lotus drover Grosjean was ahead of Ferrari pair Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa. ...
10:06 AM, Mar 16, 2013
Raikkonen, third in the championship last year, and his French team mate Romain Grosjean grabbed the fourth and fifth best times behind Red Bull's sheet-topping Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. ...
05:16 PM, Mar 15, 2013
The team had to pull out of that 2012 test and return to the factory after Grosjean had done seven laps. ...
09:33 AM, Feb 12, 2013
"Third place is at least an achievement we would like to have next year," Boullier said during the launch of the new E21 car. ...
01:23 PM, Jan 30, 2013
