Kimi Räikkönen seeking first victory with Lotus

Kimi Raikkonen

Kimi Räikkönen has shown no signs of rustiness on his return to Formula One this season, and the Finn is looking for a first victory, and another world title.

The 32-year-old left Ferrari back in 2009 after his time ended a year early, and he took up rallying for a couple of seasons.

Choosing to come back to Formula One, Lotus snapped the Iceman up, and that decision is certainly paying off for both driver and team.

Räikkönen is fifth in the drivers’ standings and has clinched five finishes inside the top three. However, he is yet to deliver a win for Lotus, who have been very quick all season, and he feels now is the time for the winning combination to come.

“I am now fifth in the championship and obviously aiming at getting more points than the guys in front of me,” said Räikkönen, who is 48 points behind leader Fernando Alonso.

“The smaller the gap to the leaders is the better for me and for the team. Every race from here on is very important. The whole team is pushing 100 per cent and we need to beat our rivals and take more points than they do every time” he added.

Räikkönen won the world championship back in 2007 in dramatic circumstances, when he was 17 points behind with two grands prix to go and ended up winning both of them, and relying on Lewis Hamilton in his debut season to fall apart.

In 2012, Räikkönen is out to double his tally of world titles, but first he wants to win, and as Formula One returns from its summer break and heads to Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgian Grand Prix this weekend, it is one where Räikkönen wants to be on the top step of the podium.

“We always try to win; some days you get close to it and it's a bit disappointing that we haven't quite made that final step,” said Räikkönen, four-times a winner at Spa, a record only bettered by the late Ayrton Senna (five) and Michael Schumacher (six).

“We know the reason though; we've not been so strong in qualifying as we have in the race which makes life harder for ourselves on Sundays.

"Of course we would rather win than come second or third but it's a long season and I think we're improving all the time. If it comes then great, if not we'll keep trying.

"I've been in the business long enough that I don't really worry about things too much.

"We've been improving our position in the championships - both for myself and for the team - so as long as we keep doing that hopefully the win will come,” he added.

İsmail Vedat

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