Lotus team boss Eric Boullier says the outfit is keeping its feet on the ground following Kimi Räikkönen’s emphatic victory in Australia, explaining that the result does not guarantee a title bid for the duration of the 2013 season.
Although Boullier has admitted that Lotus is in the ‘perfect position’ heading to the second Grand Prix of the season in Malaysia, he refused to go any further than describing his team as a front-running force, matching its pre-season ambitions.
"No," said Boullier, when asked if Räikkönen’s victory ensures a title bid. "The only thing I’m focusing on is that we have clearly stated we want to be a top team.
"Starting like this means we will fight with everything we have for the championship, but it is too early to say anything other than Lotus is a top team. If we put ourselves in a situation where we can compete for wins every year, then you can build up from the momentum to maybe become champions again."
Räikkönen shared Boullier’s views after the race, explaining that the team must retain its work ethic throughout the campaign and not be destracted by its early success.
"You can’t start the season much better than winning the first race and of course we hope we can be fighting at the front of the championship, but there’s a long way to go still and we need to keep pushing hard all the way," Räikkönen said of the situation.
Although Räikkönen travels to Sepang at the top of the Drivers’ standings for the first time since returning to F1, Lotus sits second to Ferrari in the Constructors’ battle.
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| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  K. Raikkonen | Lotus | 1:30:03.225 |
| 2. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | +12.451 |
| 3. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | +22.346 |
| 4. | F. Massa | Ferrari | +33.577 |
| 5. | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | +45.561 |
| 6. | M. Webber | Red Bull | +46.800 |
| 7. | A. Sutil | Force India | +1:05.068 |
| 8. | P. di Resta | Force India | +1:08.449 |
| 9. | J. Button | McLaren | +1:21.630 |
| 10. | R. Grosjean | Lotus | +1:22.759 |
| Full results | |||
| Kimi Räikkönen | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| More Kimi Räikkönen photos | |||
| Eric Boullier | |||
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| More Eric Boullier photos | |||
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