Lotus managing Raikkonen's obligations

**DexteR** · 16-05-2012, 02:02 AM

Lotus team principal Eric Boullier believes that Kimi Raikkonen is enjoying a successful return to Formula One because of the environment created by the team.

14535 - Lotus managing Raikkonen's obligations

When Raikkonen announced his intention to return to the sport, some observers questioned whether he would be committed and motivated enough to be competitive. After five races those doubts have been emphatically answered, with back-to-back podiums leaving him fourth in the championship - just 12 points off the lead.

Boullier told the official Formula One website that the team has worked to minimise all of Raikkonen's media and PR commitments in order to allow him to focus solely on racing and not be forced in to activities he doesn't like.

"I think he is fitting in quite well," Boullier said. "We at Enstone - and I say Enstone on purpose - have racing spirit. I would say we cannot be compared with any other team, although I am aware that every team has its own culture and personality. We try to keep politics outside and try to give our drivers what they need.

"We know that Kimi doesn't like PR, doesn't like media. So why should we bother him with it? Sure we need a balance between his demands and the requests from our sponsors. But he knows that we care very much about his schedule and try to minimise his obligations. That's it. He is a racer so he races for winning and hardly cares about the rest!"

Boullier added that Raikkonen is still open to some PR work because both he and the team recognise what a large fanbase he has.

"Kimi is like a wild animal and you have to let him run the way he wants to go. We don't have to tell him what he has to do because he is a professional and we want him to deliver on track first. That is his purpose. After that there are some obligations. Unfortunately for him his personality makes him very attractive to the fans, so he is famous. He and we have to come to terms with the fact that he has many fans, so to a certain degree he is playing the game. We restrict his obligations to the minimum and I see that he is fine with it."