2013 Belgian Grand Prix team preview: Lotus look to continue their good run

Lotus E21

Lotus have had a great season so far. They have been showing lots of improvements and have managed to surprise everyone with the performances from both their drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean.

Lotus have been impressive in almost all the departments. First of all, the Lotus E21 is, no doubt, one of the fastest and the most efficient cars of 2013. The car has managed to outperform biggies like the Ferrari F138 and the Mercedes W04 on several occasions. It is not far behind the dominant Red Bull RB9 as well.

Apart from having a good race pace and high reliability, the E21 stands out as the most tyre-friendly car on the track. It is so efficient in preserving tyres that Kimi Raikkonen has been able to finish races with lesser pit stops than the others in multiple races this year, hence providing that crucial extra seconds’ advantage.

Moreover, the new Pirelli tyres are apparently longer lasting and that will benefit Lotus even more. The team management came up with an excellent pit stop strategy in Hungaroring and once again Raikkonen finished the race with a pit stop lesser than his close rivals. The team management are expected to come up with another good strategy this Sunday.

However, more than the machine, it’s the men behind the machines who have been the most impressive of all. Kimi Raikkonen, the team’s top driver has been on a good run, so much so that it is hard to believe he even left the sport for a while. With a win and five second place finishes already to his name, he is second in the drivers’ standings, 38 points behind Sebastian Vettel.

The Finn has a good record in the Belgian Grand Prix and the Spa-Francorchamps track is one of his favourites. With four wins at the Spa, he has the highest number of wins in Belgium among current drivers. Given his past record and his excellent form, he will be one of the favourite to win this Sunday.

Romain Grosjean, on the other hand, has shown huge improvements in his driving. He has out-qualified Raikkonen twice so far and has two podium finished to his name. Despite luck not favouring him in few of the races, he has managed to do well and drive home some valuable points.

The only problem with the Frenchman’s driving seems to be his over-aggression, which has on multiple occasions led to accidents and invited penalties. Even so, he seems to have a better control over his aggression, compared to his accident prone driving last season, which many claimed was dangerous and stupid.

Nevertheless, he has shown great promise and he may continue to surprise us in the upcoming races including the one this weekend.

Tactically, Lotus seem to be at the right place to continue from where they left off and they might get the win they feel is long overdue.

Lotus have their share of problems, but thankfully, those do not concern their championship campaign, at least not at the moment. One big problem they are facing is the issue of Kimi Raikkonen’s expiring contract.

It is very clear that Lotus would like the former world champion to stay, but the recent string of rumours linking the Finn to other bigger teams is a big concern. Adding to their woes is the reports that the Enstone-based team is going through a financial crisis. Although the team management has denied it, the fact that they are sitting on a debt worth 120 million Euros will cause a problems in the near future unless they come up with a solution very soon.