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Kimi Raikkonen has set his sights on fighting for a podium finish in this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix.
The 2007 world champion rallied back from a difficult qualifying session to score points on his return to the sport in Australia last weekend.
That performance has given him confidence that the Lotus E20 is capable of fighting at the front in Sepang - where he scored his maiden win for McLaren nine years ago.
"The car feels very good," said Raikkonen. "In the race I was stuck in traffic a lot so it didn't show so much, and who knows what might have happened if we had a better grid slot.
"There is a lot of speed in the car. As long as qualifying goes well we could be fighting for podiums.
"There's much more to come. We're learning about the car all the time and the last race didn't really give us a chance to use its full potential. Hopefully Malaysia will be a bit more straightforward."
Raikkonen sees no reason why Lotus shouldn't be on the pace this weekend, citing the fact that the car has gone well at every track it has run on already this year.
"We'll be trying to improve our performance in Malaysia," he added. "We don't know how the car will behave there but it's been good everywhere so hopefully it'll be the same there.
"You still need a good car [at Sepang] and that looks to be what we have. Hopefully we'll have a smoother weekend than we did in Australia with no mistakes."
Team-mate Romain Grosjean, who starred in qualifying last weekend by taking third on the grid, said that he expects the team to be able to hit the ground running in Malaysia because it doesn't have any major work to get through.
"The car was working very well in Australia," said the Frenchman. "There are always small improvements you can make but there's nothing major I could point to right now. The car is performing very well."
It would be so awesome if Lotus can mix it with Red Bull and McLaren a bit.
I'm really looking forward to seeing what Lotus can do in Sepang. Look at how things played out. Kimi Raikkonen's qualifying went tits-up, and he spent all the race climbing back up to a well-earned seventh place. Romain Grosjean qualified an impressive 3rd, the Lotus only being outperformed by the McLarens. As we saw, he ended up loosing a wheel in combat, so I feel there's much more to come from these guys.
When you take into account the misfortunes of both Lotus and Mercedes, then Ferrari must be thanking their lucky stars that Alonso managed to bag 5th, because that may not have happened had things played out differently.
I'm really looking forward to seeing what Lotus can do in Sepang. Look at how things played out. Kimi Raikkonen's qualifying went tits-up, and he spent all the race climbing back up to a well-earned seventh place. Romain Grosjean qualified an impressive 3rd, the Lotus only being outperformed by the McLarens. As we saw, he ended up loosing a wheel in combat, so I feel there's much more to come from these guys.
When you take into account the misfortunes of both Lotus and Mercedes, then Ferrari must be thanking their lucky stars that Alonso managed to bag 5th, because that may not have happened had things played out differently.
It was a typical Melbourne race, a race of attrition. Sepang normally gives a great indicator on relative strengths of cars, and I remember one year when Ferrari had issues from the start, they really struggled in Sepang and came in just in the Top 10 (can't recall the year). I think Sepang might be the worst race of the season for Ferrari, as they are coming with a half baked car to a track with one of the longest distance in the calendar. Won't be surprised if they qualify out of the top 10 again, even with no mistakes.
I don't think Lotus has a chance for a podium though, though Mercedes might. Something tells me Rosberg will bag a 3rd place here.
I think lotus do have a chance for a podium though. Last year, heidfeld put the car up there and petrov was in 5th until he hit that jump and broke his steering column, so if last year is any indication then I think they have a strong chance. The first two turns could easily lead to another collision like grosjean had in melbourne, so it'll be that much more intense!! I can't wait!I'm really looking forward to seeing what Lotus can do in Sepang. Look at how things played out. Kimi Raikkonen's qualifying went tits-up, and he spent all the race climbing back up to a well-earned seventh place. Romain Grosjean qualified an impressive 3rd, the Lotus only being outperformed by the McLarens. As we saw, he ended up loosing a wheel in combat, so I feel there's much more to come from these guys.
When you take into account the misfortunes of both Lotus and Mercedes, then Ferrari must be thanking their lucky stars that Alonso managed to bag 5th, because that may not have happened had things played out differently.
It was a typical Melbourne race, a race of attrition. Sepang normally gives a great indicator on relative strengths of cars, and I remember one year when Ferrari had issues from the start, they really struggled in Sepang and came in just in the Top 10 (can't recall the year). I think Sepang might be the worst race of the season for Ferrari, as they are coming with a half baked car to a track with one of the longest distance in the calendar. Won't be surprised if they qualify out of the top 10 again, even with no mistakes.
I don't think Lotus has a chance for a podium though, though Mercedes might. Something tells me Rosberg will bag a 3rd place here.
I have a bad feeling rosberg will have to conserve fuel or something like that will come up
so its good to see him back and surely more to come
Le coeur a ses raisons que la raison ne connaît point. 
Did anyone notice that Kimi also set the fastest lap in the race! That's the typical speed-demon that is Kimi.
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