My Boy Kimi
Before we say anything, let me just say that I'm the owner of a Lotus Formula 1 baseball cap. I bought it for an unconscionable amount of money at the Canadian Grand Prix last year. I also bought a Ferrari hat. Because, after spending all that money and schlepping to Montreal (not really that great a hardship -- Montreal is lovely), I wasn't gonna come back to the States empty handed.
So I'm a Lotus fan. Here's the famous Jim Clark in a Lotus 49 ...
I wish they still looked like that, but what can you do? Modern Formula 1 is all about tyres and aerodynamics.
You're spelling tires with a Y now?
Yes.
All of which brings me to the sad announcement that my favorite driver, Kimi Raikkonen, will be departing Lotus two races before the end of the season in order to have back surgery. The good news is that next year he joins Ferrari and we certainly want him in tip-top shape for that.
The subtext to this is that Lotus has been in the financial weeds this whole season, with Raikkonen going long periods of time without getting paid (and he makes about 30-large, so that's a drag) and finally, before a recent race, telling them he wasn't going to race til they paid him. Everybody ran around like chickens without heads, eventually sorting things out enough so that he didn't receive any money but was confident enough that he would that he was willing to race. So he did.
But, reports suggest, he still hasn't actually been paid. And other reports suggest the back surgery could have waited two weeks. Which is when the season ends.
Me? I can't wait for this season to be over.
Here's a picture of Kimi in happier days, in a McLaren. Kimi's a Finn. Which is tantamount to being a Viking, give or take a thousand years. So I always loved how those weird winglets on the side of the intake scoop made him look, if not actually like a Viking, at least Vikingesque ...
Quick additional note for those of you who are really involved: If you look at the suspension mechanism on the Lotus, on the left side of the photo back near the engine, you can see a big spring. They don't have those on F1 cars anymore. They're about as tightly suspended as a skate board.
Must be hard on the back.
I'll bet it is.
So I'm a Lotus fan. Here's the famous Jim Clark in a Lotus 49 ...
You're spelling tires with a Y now?
Yes.
All of which brings me to the sad announcement that my favorite driver, Kimi Raikkonen, will be departing Lotus two races before the end of the season in order to have back surgery. The good news is that next year he joins Ferrari and we certainly want him in tip-top shape for that.
The subtext to this is that Lotus has been in the financial weeds this whole season, with Raikkonen going long periods of time without getting paid (and he makes about 30-large, so that's a drag) and finally, before a recent race, telling them he wasn't going to race til they paid him. Everybody ran around like chickens without heads, eventually sorting things out enough so that he didn't receive any money but was confident enough that he would that he was willing to race. So he did.
But, reports suggest, he still hasn't actually been paid. And other reports suggest the back surgery could have waited two weeks. Which is when the season ends.
Me? I can't wait for this season to be over.
Here's a picture of Kimi in happier days, in a McLaren. Kimi's a Finn. Which is tantamount to being a Viking, give or take a thousand years. So I always loved how those weird winglets on the side of the intake scoop made him look, if not actually like a Viking, at least Vikingesque ...
Quick additional note for those of you who are really involved: If you look at the suspension mechanism on the Lotus, on the left side of the photo back near the engine, you can see a big spring. They don't have those on F1 cars anymore. They're about as tightly suspended as a skate board.
Must be hard on the back.
I'll bet it is.
posted by Geoffrey at 7:30 AM
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