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Raikkonen non-committal over Lotus future

Kimi Raikkonen: "You can do well in one year, but we've seen even in the biggest teams that they can have a hard time the next year" © Sutton Images

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• Drivers:
• Kimi Räikkönen

• Teams:
• Lotus F1

Kimi Raikkonen is refusing to commit himself to driving for Lotus in 2013 before the end of the current season.

Having made his comeback at the start of this year, Raikkonen is currently in with an outside chance of the championship as he sits in fifth place - 48 points behind leader Fernando Alonso. Despite the impressive campaign so far, Raikkonen told Autosport that he isn't prepared to make a decision on his future yet, instead preferring to focus on the remainder of this season.

"We have to look at this year first, and I want to do as well as we can at every race," Raikkonen said. "You can do well in one year, but we've seen even in the biggest teams that they can have a hard time the next year. You'd think we should only get better and better but you never know. It's not easy to make a fast car and sometimes the small details can either go your way or go against you.

"Usually the big teams, if they are not starting well [they can recover] - we've seen Ferrari this year, they have improved and they are the best team right now. We always wish to continue next year but it's way too early to say what will happen. We're putting our efforts into this year and try to improve in the second half."

Raikkonen also said that he had not doubted Lotus' ability to be competitive this season following a disappointing 2011.

"There have been years when I've been in top teams and we've had a pretty bad year, and then the next year has been completely different. It's still one of the biggest teams; they're based in the same place, they have more or less all the tools to make the fastest car and the best car. It's not maybe on the level of McLaren or Ferrari or Mercedes as for how many people we have, but they have the knowledge and they have the will to make a good car and push hard."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.