Kimi Räikkönen flashed his sixpack in commercial shooting - no smiling

At the same time as the knowledge of Kimi Räikkönen's and Jenni Dahlman-Räikkönen's separation went on hectic in Finland, Kimi himself was shining in Spain as the main star of a car-commerical.

Kimi shooted Renault Megane's commercial on Friday in Costa Brava. In the shooted footage Kimi poses for the camera-team in a longsleeved dark sweater and jeans on the beach.

To the joy of those who were on the beach, Kimi flashed his sixpack while they were putting the microphone on him. In the actual commercial Räikkönen wears all clothes as fas as I know.

Kimi stayed true to his image, because you didn't really see a smile on the Iceman's face.

Source: Ilta-Sanomat
Courtesy: Nicole

'No King Kimi at Lotus'

Eric Boullier insists Lotus is not Kimi Raikkonen's team despite conceding there are times they have to adjust to the Finn

Last season, Raikkonen emerged as Lotus' leading driver as the Finn bagged the victory in the Abu Dhabi GP as well as third place in the Drivers' Championship.

But despite predictions that the 33-year-old will play a pivotal role in this year's Championship, Boullier insists Lotus is not a one-man team.

"No, because I don't want to have a spoiled character who is probably leading the team in the wrong direction," was his response when asked by the official F1 website whether it was a case of 'King Kimi' at Lotus.

"We are not servicing his moods. We are just making sure that he can be himself. This is a big difference."

The team boss, though, admits there have been times it has been better for the Lotus outfit to adjust to the Finn rather than the other way around.

"On top of being Kimi - the character that we know - he did cleverly build his system. It takes some time until he gets up to speed, but he is delivering because he knows that probably his strongest asset is race craft.

"And little by little over the course of the year he adjusted all the parameters to make himself fast, strong and in a position to deliver - the Kimi we like!

"He might have his moments sometimes, but it is up to us to adjust what we want to achieve to his style rather than the reverse. I probably prefer to switch the team to the style of Kimi."

As for Raikkonen's team-mate, Romain Grosjean, Boullier says one of the goals this season is to "transform Romain's enthusiasm into results. If we succeed that would mean a lot of points at the end of the year.

"You do everything you can. From building his environment, protecting him, supporting him - doing everything we can to make him feel good.

"But in the end it is up to him - only him - to build up and grow.

"We have to be patient, but not for three years, not for ten years - it has to be now. I think he has some of the best speed over one lap, now he has to learn to do the rest. Then I predict that he will be one of the best drivers."

Source: Planet-F1

Räikkönen leaves Jerez on top

Kimi Raikkonen set the pace on the final day at Jerez during which a disintegrating kerb caused a midday stoppage

Friday's running began in a fiery fashion as, after just two laps in the new Ferrari F138, Pedro de la Rosa had to leap from the car after it caught fire.

The marshals were quickly on the scene and put out the flames which were reportedly caused by a gearbox malfunction.

With the track again green, Sebastian Vettel was the first to slide under the 1:19 barrier before Sauber's Esteban Gutierrez topped his time.

Vettel, though, returned to the front shortly after on a soft tyre run and was leading the way with a 1:18.565 when a hole in a kerb brought proceedings to a halt.

The red flags were out for almost a full hour as track worked sought different way to repair the damage to the kerb at Turn 9 before finally bringing out the cement.

With the action back underway the drivers ventured and were soon joined by de la Rosa in his repaired Ferrari.

Force India hopeful Jules Bianchi, who has yet to learn whether or not he'll race for the team this season, was the first to lower the benchmark time as he posted a 1:18.175.

Bianchi's time, though, was edged by Kimi Raikkonen when - with an hour to go - the Lotus driver went 0.027s quicker.

Although not quicker than the week's best of 1:17.879, which was set by Felipe Massa on Thursday, Raikkonen's time proved to the second quickest of the four-day test.

Vettel finished in third place, 0.417s down, while Sauber rookie Gutierrez was fourth ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne who put in a very late charge to move up the order.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton had a much better day in the W04 as he amassed 145 laps with a best time of 1:18.905.

His McLaren replacement Sergio Perez was seventh quickest, finishing ahead of Valtteri Bottas, who was the only driver in an old 2012 car.

Times
01. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1m18.148 82 laps
02. Jules Bianchi Force India 1m18.175 + 0.027 56 laps
03. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1m18.565 + 0.417 96 laps
04. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1m18.669 + 0.521 142 laps
05. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1m18.760 + 0.612 92 laps
06. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m18.905 + 0.757 145 laps
07. Sergio Perez McLaren 1m18.944 + 0.796 97 laps
08. Valtteri Bottas Williams 1m19.851 + 1.703 91 laps
09. Pedro de la Rosa Ferrari 1m20.316 + 2.168 50 laps
10. Charles Pic Caterham 1m21.105 + 2.957 109 laps
11. Luiz Razia Marussia 1m21.226 + 3.078 81 laps
12. Paul di Resta Force India 1m23.435 + 5.287 49 laps

Source: Planet-F1

Massa tops the charts on Day Three

Felipe Massa posted the fastest time of the week at Jerez on Thursday, half a second up on the previous best

As the sun once again shone down on the Spanish circuit on Thursday morning, the third day of the pre-season action got underway.

Massa moved to the top of the timesheets during the morning's session when the Ferrari driver posted a 1:17.879 during a short run on the soft tyres.

The Brazilian, who is hoping to launch a title bid of his own this season, followed that up a little while later with another lap that was only marginally slower on a similar short run.

Nico Rosberg finished second quickest on the day, 0.887s adrift of Massa, demonstrating for the first time what the Mercedes W04 is capable of if the car runs smoothly. Rosberg amassed a very busy 148 laps.

Reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel also hit the 100-lap mark as the Red Bull racer, driving the RB9 for the first time, was third quickest, a further 0.3s down.

Kimi Raikkonen, another driver making his pre-season debut, was fourth quickest in his Lotus E21. However, the Finn covered just 40 laps as a large part of the morning was spent ensuring he is comfortable in his new car.

Jean-Eric Vergne was fifth for Toro Rosso, finishing ahead of Force India's James Rossiter. The Brit test driver had a few issues during his morning stint when he hit one his mechanics as he missed his braking point into the pits.

"I hold my hands up, that was totally my fault," he said. "We were doing some aero runs and everything was cold, the brakes were too cold, the tyres were too cold.

"Thank God Marcus is okay and he's only got a few bruises. I'm sure I'll be buying him many beers and he won't be forgetting it soon!"

Another driver to run into problems was Jenson Button who brought testing to its conclusion five minutes early on Thursday when he broke down out on track.

Esteban Gutierrez made his Sauber debut with the Mexican racer setting the eighth fastest time as he completed 110 laps.

Times
01. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m17.879s 85 laps
02. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m18.766s +0.887 148 laps
03. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1m19.052s +1.173 102 laps
04. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1m19.200s +1.321 40 laps
05. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1m19.247s +1.368 85 laps
06. James Rossiter Force India 1m19.303s +1.424 42 laps
07. Jenson Button McLaren 1m19.603s +1.724 83 laps
08. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1m19.934s +2.055 110 laps
09. Max Chilton Marussia 1m21.269s +3.390 78 laps
10. Valtteri Bottas Williams 1m21.575s +3.696 86 laps
11. Charles Pic Caterham 1m22.352s +4.473 57 laps
12. Paul di Resta Force India 1m23.729s +5.850 7 laps

Source: Planet-F1

KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN AND JENNI DAHLMAN-RÄIKKÖNEN CONFIRM: "SEPARATION IS A SAD FACT"

Formula One driver Kimi Räikkönen and show jumping rider Jenni Dahlman-Räikkönen have decided to separate and live apart after 8 years of marriage, just before the start of a new F1 season.

Sad news of the separation was confirmed first in the world to Seiska by a trustee of Räikkönen’s: "Separation is a sad fact.".

The couple, despite their young age, have been together for over 12 years.



Source: Seiska.fi