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How Lotus went almost bankrupt due to the good performances of Raikkonen
- GPblog.com
After two years of absence Kimi Raikkonen made a comeback in 2012 in Formula 1 with the Lotus team. Although the qualities of the Finn were highly valued, no one took into account that this adventure would lead to great successes, not even the Lotus team management. Something that would eventually cost them dearly.
Finnish motorsport journalist Heikki Kulta tells for the official Formula 1 website the stories about Kimi Raikkonen that have stayed with him the most for the past 20 years. Not only does he try to better understand Raikkonen's peculiar character, but he also talks about achievements that are somewhat underexposed. One of these are the two seasons Raikkonen rode for Lotus.
At the end of 2011 it was announced that Raikkonen would join Lotus after an absence of two years. Something Raikkonen himself also had doubts about. After all, due to the departure of Renault, the team was no longer a factory team. However, Kulta soon saw that it was all right.
"I was really surprised to see how quickly he was able to adapt. In the fourth race of 2012, in Bahrain, he already finished in second place. His victory later that season in Abu Dhabi will always stay with me, especially when I wear the 'Leave Me Alone' hoodie, which I got as a present at Christmas".
How Lotus almost went bankrupt
That year Raikkonen would eventually be third in the world championship with one victory and seven podium finishes. In 2013 Raikkonen also started with a win in Australia, but behind the scenes his performance didn't do the team any good at all.
"He scored 390 points for Lotus in two years. Team boss Gérard Lopez certainly didn't count on that, because the deal he had made with Kimi to pay him a 50,000 euro bonus per point almost led to bankruptcy. Only with that bonus Raikkonen earned 19.5 million euros".
At least, he should have. During the 2013 season Raikkonen got paid nothing at all and therefore he quit before the end of the year. For the next season he would sign a contract with Ferrari, who would just pay out.