Kimi Raikkonen is leaving Lotus because they have failed to pay him (Andrew Ferraro/Lotus F1)
Kimi Raikkonen is leaving Lotus to race for Ferrari from the beginning of 2014. And he’s finally revealed why: “They haven’t got my salary.”
Raikkonen was speaking during the Thursday driver press conference ahead of this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix. He responded to a question about the rumours that Lotus owed him money. His answer was:
“I like to race and then obviously that’s the only reason why I’m here; it doesn’t matter which team it is and obviously the reasons why they ask from the team but the reasons why I left from the team is purely on the money side, that they haven’t got my salary so it’s an unfortunate thing.”
But Raikkonen was also quick to emphasise that he is committed to delivering results with Lotus for the rest of the 2013 season. He said:
“I want to try and help the team as much as I can and I like to race.”
Raikkonen had a difficult Italian Grand Prix two weeks ago, where he finished 11th after early contact forced him to make an extra pit stop. He also failed to score points in Belgium where he retired with brake failure. But he is expecting a return to form in Singapore. In the Lotus team’s race preview, Raikkonen said, “After these two weekends with zero points it’s nice to get back to a circuit we expect to be more suited to our car… I have some unfinished business after my three Grands Prix [in Singapore] so far, as I enjoy the circuit but have not yet had a podium.”
