2014: Potential drivers for Lotus

Who will partner Romain Grosjean at Lotus F1 in 2014?

It seems very likely that Lotus will continue with Romain Grosjean for another season and the French driver will be important for the team in the future, if Renault is going to make a stronger partnership with Lotus for the next season. It would surely please Renault if there was a French driver in the team, and keeping Grosjean would also keep the French oil company Total with the team.

Lotus’ third driver, Italian GP2 champion Davide Valsecchi is still a question mark and could be another possible choice for the second Lotus drive. The minus side is that there isn’t much testing possibilities available these days, and Valsecchi has basically spent a year without racing, which means it can be difficult to get into the car. On the other hand, the rule changes for 2014 mean that there will be something new to learn for all the drivers on the grid.

In general Steve Robertson has played fair play with Räikkönen’s new Ferrari deal. When Räikkönen was out from the talks with Red Bull (and when Red Bull basically made their decision to promote Ricciardo for the available seat), Robertson admitted honestly that Red Bull is not an option anymore. Finnish F1 commentator and journalist Oskari Saari also revealed on Finnish TV that in order to get in talks with Kimi, Luca di Montezemolo had to apologize personally to the Finn for what happened back in 2009. Fair play, and now Ferrari is going to have the strongest line up on the Formula 1 grid with two world champions who have been rivals for years.

We are living in interesting times now in Formula 1 as the driver market will still continue crazy, even though Räikkönen’s Ferrari move was finally confirmed. It’s possible we need to wait for some driver decisions for months, and it will be very difficult for teams to make their decisions as there are plenty of drivers available, not to forget that there are also some drivers from GP2 and Formula Renault 3.5 who are looking forward to get a possible seat from F1. Also, Ferrari’s new line up will certainly be one of the most interesting things to look forward in the 2014 season.

How will Räikkönen and Alonso get along in a same team?Both are professional racing drivers and the challenge will be huge for both of them. It’s quite a new situation for both, but if something is sure, Räikkönen and Alonso will get the best out of each other, because both are probably the best racing drivers to exist today.

by: Sini Salminen