Lotus F1’s Technical Director, James Allison, says that Kimi Raikkonen can still be the 2012 champion if things go their way. With a 48 point lead in the championship, Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso is not in an unassailable position and the remaining 225 points to be claimed int he balance of the season, Raikkonen has as good of a chance as anyone else. Allison told Sky Sports F1:
“There are an awful lot of points for coming first and an awful lot of races left. The lead is miniscule compared to the points available.”
Seems logical as the key to the 2012 season will come down to consistency. Allison told Sky that the issue Lotus F1 has faced in the past is going to their new car too soon and that this year, they let the new chassis bake prior to running it.
That may be why the Lotus car of 2012 is as competitive as it is but ultimately the team struggled with qualifying pace in the early part of the season but the Hungarian Grand Prix seemed to have reversed that fortune to some extent.
In the end, consistency will be the key and if Lotus F1 can keep good qualifying pace to give the team a realistic chance of remaining int he top5 finishing sports for the rest of the year and it Alonso or Ferrari stumble with a DNF or get in a points battle with McLaren or Red Bull, Lotus could have a good chance but it will be a very difficult task given the competition.
