Life after Kimi for Lotus

Following the announcement that Kimi Raikkonen was joining Ferrari, his current team Lotus Tweeted a not so cryptic message.

The text of the message was fairly innocent: ‘So #Kimi is off to #Ferrari for 2014; it hurts a little bit.’

But the accompanying photo of two rabbits enjoying coitus, left little to the imagination.

After bringing Kimi Raikkonen back to Formula One following a two-year exile and desperate to keep hold of him in 2014, its fair to assume that whoever is in control of Lotus’ Twitter page felt shafted by the 2007 Formula One World Champions departure.

Speculation and rumour in the paddock had suggested that Kimi did want to stay at Lotus, but had pushed for certain financial and technical guarantees that would see Lotus continue to improve and remain competitive for next season.

He obviously kept his options open by discussing terms with both Red Bull Racing and Ferrari, but indications were said to be there that if terms could be met, he would stay at Lotus.

That however clearly didn’t happen and Kimi was announced as Felipe Massa’s replacement by Ferrari on Wednesday.

So what of Lotus? Do they feel shafted by his departure?

‘Not at all, Two years ago, when we decided to sign him, quite a few people thought we were crazy. And what happened in the end? a rather more diplomatic Lotus team boss Eric Boullier told the team’s official website.

‘We’ve been working with an amazing racer, who scored points for the team 27 times in a row, won two races, put motivation at a very high level at Enstone, and got on very well with his team-mate.

‘Now, it’s time to think about the future. You know, we remain a medium-sized team and there are some areas in which we’re not in a position to fight against the other top teams just yet.

Discussing the Enstone team in their former guises of Benetton and Renault, Boullier added: ‘We’ve had Schumacher, Alonso, Raikkonen. New champions will join the list here soon I’m sure.’