Salo: “Raikkonen will be the sixth winner of the season”

In a season that has seen five different winners in the first five races, we wonder who the next winner will be: the most popular name is that of the Finnish driver from Lotus and former Ferrari driver, Kimi Raikkonen.

“I think Kimi will be the sixth different winner in six races”, Finnish commentator and also former Ferrari driver Mika Salo told the MTV3 broadcaster. Although the results in 2012 did not reward the Anglo-French car much, for many experts in the paddock the Lotus E20 was the car to beat last weekend in Barcelona. “The big surprise was when Kimi didn't win in Barcelona.", admitted Salo, referring to Pastor Maldonado's victory with Williams ahead of Fernando Alonso, who with the F2012 in trouble with tires finished only seven tenths ahead of the Finn. Raikkonen's teammate, Romain Grosjean, is also confident about Lotus' potential. “It's nice to be a little disappointed with third and fourth place in a GP." the transalpine said on RMC Sport radio. “This shows that as a team we are convinced that we have the potential to win”.

But not everyone sees this alternation of drivers at the top as positive. Sebastian Vettel is heavily ironic about the fact that it was a Williams that won in Spain: “Maybe we'll see an HRT or a Marussia on pole in Monaco”, said the world champion, laughing through gritted teeth. And his teammate Mark Webber insists that the uncertainty over how Pirelli tires will work, which makes F1 a "lottery", may not be a good thing for the sport. “I don't know if the fans are happy to see such different winners”, the Australian told Fox Sports. “It's nice to have different winners, but we also want rivals to fight against”.

Lorena Bianchi