F1-experts about Kimi's season: the biggest problem is money

Iltalehti made a quick gallup on Barcelona paddock about what Kimi's chances will be next season.

Jonathan Noble, Autosport (UK)

- The Lotus-car appears to be good but it's helplessly behind Red Bull and McLaren. I don't dare to bet that Kimi will win this season but of course that is possible under lucky stars. It will be interesting to see how he reacts if Lotus isn't in the top 6 in qualification.

Alberto Antonini, Autosprint (Italy)

- Kimi is extremely hungry after two years in rally and he seems to enjoy being in Lotus-team very much. In a way he has the ideal settings for the upcoming season but he has also a lot of difficulties. I believe that Kimi will win some day but not necessarily in 2012.

Patrick Camus, Auto Hebdo (France)

- The biggest problem is money. Can Lotus develop their machinery in the same pace with the top teams? A couple of years ago the first races in spring gave an opportunity to surprise but today all cars are really reliable so that chance has also narrowed down.

Heikki Kulta, Turun Sanomat

- A GP-victory doesn't seem to be realistically possible but if a chance for that opens up then Kimi's hands won't shake, that's for sure, instead he will take advantage of the situation. I believe that he will climb on the podium two or three times and be within the top 6 when the season ends. The beginning of the season is really important ; if it takes off really well then his motivation will rise even more.

KARI MELART

Courtesy: Nicole

Hamilton keeps focus despite fuel problem

Lewis Hamilton looked for positives after a refuelling problem wrecked his chance of fighting for pole position at the Singapore Grand Prix on Saturday

McLaren's 2008 world champion, winner on the floodlit street circuit in 2009, was only able to get one early run in during the third spell of qualifying as the team were unable to get sufficient fuel in his car before time ran out.

That saw him drop from provisional second on the grid to fourth while Red Bull's Mark Webber and his own team mate Jenson Button leap-frogged ahead.

Hamilton, though, was philosophical about the incident at the Marina Bay street circuit.

"They were trying to fill the car up but there was no fuel going in, so the time was running out and we just couldn't get going," he told reporters before heading into his team's motorhome.

"Well... this is racing and there's been lots of mistakes from me, we're a team and this kind of thing happens.

"But I feel positive, because on my lap I was pretty good... I think if I went back out I would have been a bit quicker so that's a positive for tomorrow."

"We're not in a bad position. I think we probably could have been on the front row, we had more time in the bag.

"The pace is good, I feel good for tomorrow -- from fourth, we can only go forwards."

Red Bull's runaway championship leader Sebastian Vettel is on pole position. With 284 points already in the bank he can win the championship on Sunday with five races remaining.

The following four drivers -- Fernando Alonso (172), Button (167), Webber (167) and Hamilton (158) -- are all closely grouped, however, with just 14 points separating second placed Alonso and Hamilton in fifth.

Source: Reuters Sports