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Lotus gives Raikkonen 10/10

Eric Boullier: "He's done a terrific job right from the beginning of the season" © Getty Images

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Lotus team principal Eric Boullier has given Kimi Raikkonen a score of ten out of ten for his performances in the first half of the season.

Raikkonen heads into the summer break second in the drivers' championship, with one win to his name and a gap of 38 points to championship leader Sebastian Vettel. He has scored points at every round this season, with his worst result coming at Monaco where he had a collision with Sergio Perez and then overtook several cars to claim one point for tenth.

"I would have to give Kimi ten out of ten," Boullier said. "He's done a terrific job right from the beginning of the season and his remarkable run of twenty-seven consecutive points finishes speaks for itself. No matter what happens he's always there, as we saw in the final few laps at Monaco. He is playing a big part in pushing the team forwards, and of course having such a popular character in the seat has its advantages too."

Team-mate Romain Grosjean by contrast has had a patchy season and is currently 85 points off Raikkonen in the drivers' standings. However, Boullier stands by his driver and thinks he has the potential to be a future world champion.

"For Romain it was a more difficult start to the year coming off the back of a tough season in 2012, and it maybe took him a little while to settle down and start performing to the best of his ability. With that in mind, it gives me great pleasure to see him learn from those experiences and to really start delivering the kind of results we've always known he is capable of.

"In Germany and Hungary he really put together the complete package over two consecutive weekends, and this should now be his baseline. He knows that if he wants to be winning races and fighting for championships then he must deliver this kind of quality drive at every Grand Prix. If he can keep up this level, Romain can be a future contender for titles, I'm sure of it."

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