02/12/2011
NEWS STORY
Days after his shock signing to Lotus Renault GP, Kimi Raikkonen has visited the British outfit's Enstone HQ.
The popular Finn, arrived at the Oxfordshire factory ahead of the team's Christmas party, to be greeted by team boss Eric Boullier and Chairman Gerard Lopez.
Speaking at the end of the visit, which included a tour of the facility and initial meetings with key members of the team as they prepare for 2012, the Finn said: "It is my first time in Enstone, so it is very nice to see the factory... it feels good. It is a very warm feeling and I'm very relaxed.
"I haven't really read the newspapers about all the excitement but it is quite normal, isn't it?" he continued. "It doesn't put any more pressure on me. I always try to do my best, so I don't put myself under pressure. It will be exciting, yes, but no pressure really and we will see how it goes."
"I think we decided that we had to look forward in terms of performance and the key way to see how good a car is, is to have a good driver," added Lopez. "Kimi has proven in the past that he is among the fastest and in terms of age he's still in his prime. In terms of motivation from what I have seen and spoken to him, he is probably as motivated as ever. And the more people question the better it is because it is going to increase his motivation even more to prove that they are wrong. I'm excited that he is here because I think it's one of the very important steps in getting the team to where we want it to be - which is one of the top teams in Formula One."