To be honest it would be sensational, but what appears to be even more intriguing is that he could well be the first ever driver to win the championship without actually bothering to win a race in the process - which would be classic Iceman. For a non race winner he has quite a lot of podiums with 6, and he has just gotten 3 in a row, If he had taken 3rd at Silverstone he would be looking very dangerous right now. The Lotus appears that It will keep the kind of pace for him to keep chucking podiums in there for the rest of the year and he now must be El Numero Uno at Lotus which is Alonso's ace card in Ferrari. He is ahead of McLaren, his point deficit to both Red-Bulls is in single figures and he has the gap to Alonso down to 33 points. He now also holds the joint highest number of point scoring finishes of the year and has finished every race. (Genuine question: has anyone else finished every race?) I would say he is one of the best drivers of the year, certainly in terms of consistency. What do you think, could he do it?
I think he could, he'd need some luck, but we have some races in hot climates coming soon, the Lotus loves hot weather. If they can get the DDRS working in Monza, then that would give a nice boost too, at a track where Renault engines are typically poor.
I think he could but: - Alonso shares his consistency but have also had flashes of race-winning pace which could give him the edge - he continues to struggle to get out of Q2 for whatever reason - set-up issues have begun to creep in again
Heidfeld finished 18/18 in 2008. I assume other drivers have done so in shorter seasons http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Formula_One_driver_records#Other_driver_records
According to Autosport, Lotus will not run DDRS in Monza. Disappointing, they've hesitated on using it now for the two races it would most effective in.
I think he has every chance, but I cant see him doing it without winning a race. I think like Lewis he went the wrong way on setup for Spa and with a low downforce package I would have expect him to be competitive, it is also likely that he will get support from Grosjean for the remainder of the season unlike the Mclaren drivers and probably the Red Bulls. For me he is probably equal odds with Alonso to win the WDC but I think Vettle is favourite now especially if he gets a result in Monza!
I think 2007 showed that Kimi is capable of continuing to deliver results until the very end of the season. I think the bigger question marks are over the car, can Lotus keep up with development until the very end of the season? I'm not so sure.
I'm hoping that the Lotus issue at Spa was down to the downforce set up and when they get back onto the more tradditional tracks they will again show their natural race pace!
It's traditional in the sense that it's been around for a long time. But the layout is quite unique; the undulation, the long straights and the relatively small amount of braking zones.
LOL - Point taken. I was reffering to the average/typical type layout and down force requirements. Spa is unique in that it is a very fast high speed circuit which requires a trade off more than most cicuits in down force (i.e. S1&S3 pretty much flat out & S2 a combination of 10 or so medium and high speed corners) - hence why there were teams that split setup strategy etc. Monza is pretty much a No Brainer (although Button bucked the trend with a higher down force setting in 2010 and amost won) in relation to making the car as slippery as possible in a straight line - its pure engine and brakes. The remainder of the circuits are a variance in levels of down force in which Lotus seem to have been able to deliver high race pace, with stability in high speed corners, good straight line speed, excellent tyre wear and pretty good traction. In addition they perform much better (than most teams) in high temp situations and with Monza and the fly away races likely top be hot (subject to rain) they could fair better than most teams.
I knew what you meant.. ;-) (honest!) And I agree, if they continue to develop, I can see them being strong(er) for the remainder of the season, however, McLaren seem to have got back on the ball, they've won the last two races and but for LHs puncture at the German GP when well placed (better than Jenson at the time) who's to say they wouldn't have won that too. JB proved with his speed at Spa that their low downforce setup should be competitive at Monza so right now I'm not looking past a McLaren finishing on the top spot there, unless there's a heat wave and the Mercedes runners eat up their tyres! Not sold on RBs performance, if it weren't for the first corner pile up I'd doubt Vettel would have finished much higher than 5th, ever since their forced change of their engine mapping they've not been the same. So, in short, Kimi has a chance, very good one! But I doubt he'll do it without winning a race, I can see the likes of Alonso, Vettel and Hamilton winning again this season!
Correct me if I'm wrong but I think Fernando Alonso scored the most points of anyone in the second half of the 2008 season (if not the most, certainly one of the highest) and that shows the team can continue developing. Yes Kimi for the title is an outside bet, but wouldn't it be great- after all he could so easily have won in 2003 (a year which he only won one race) or 2005.
He needs to win a race, it's been great seeing him being so consistent but for him to win the WDC I think that he is going to need to win at least 2 races plus he needs to sort out his issues in Q3. It's been really frustrating seeing him being quick over Friday +Saturday and not put in that 'special lap' when it matters most It cost him the race win in Hungary and a possible shot at victory at Silverstone
