When Kimi Raikkonen joined Lotus F1 in 2012 to make his comeback to Formula 1 after two years away, he was joining a team looking for a leader.
As Lotus Renault GP, the team had lost the services of Robert Kubica prior to the 2011 F1 season when the Pole suffered a crash while rallying that nearly cost him a hand.
Kubica had dragged the team to consistently high points finishes in 2010 (when the team was still Renault) and even scored three podiums with the unfancied squad as Russian Vitaly Petrov helped the F1 squad pay the bills in the second race seat.
Two early podiums in 2011 gave way to mediocre (often less) results throughout the season as neither Petrov or Nick Heidfeld/Bruno Senna could be the leader the team needed.
The returning 2007 champion was, however, that leader and along with James Alison's technical know-how, delivered one of the greatest comeback seasons in F1 last year.
Perhaps more than that, with one famous radio communication in Abu Dhabi, Raikkonen gave the team an identity. One moulded around his own no-nonsense, work hard-party harder attitude.
Both Raikkonen and the team looked set for even bigger things as they won this year's season opening Australian Grand Prix with ease.
However, a problem that was reported in 2012 snowballed into '13. Issues with paying the Finn his massive performance-related bonuses tied in with Lotus F1's decreasing competitiveness as the season wore on and a change in Pirelli's tyre compounds following Silverstone's 'tyre-gate' changed the complexion of the season.
To get right down the point however, much like Raikkonen did at today's pre-race press conference at the Marina Bay street circuit in Singapore; the Finn will leave Lotus F1 for Ferrari in 2014 due to reasons that were "purely on the money side".
Lotus F1 had believed to have run into trouble in securing its financial future and the lure of staying at a team that beats better funded outfits regularly was no longer big enough for Raikkonen.
His much publicized move to Ferrari as teammate to Fernando Alonso may irk those who had grown accustomed to Raikkonen's presence at one of the most media friendly teams on the grid (aside from one of the most competitive).
F1 is hardly the place for sentimentality though. And one will be hard pressed to argue why Raikkonen shouldn't try to add a big financial pay day to a shot at glory with the most successful F1 team of all time.
However, it's worth wondering if Raikkonen's presence at Lotus would have aided Lotus F1's quest to become financially set.
The Finn's presence at the team would certainly be a draw for sponsors who Kimi would, no doubt, be shielded from at the team that was pretty much his family for the last two years.
Ultimately, however, it may be a something of a pipe dream to expect a non-heavyweight F1 team like Lotus to become financially secure in the sport's current financial landscape. Just look at Williams F1 and their struggles.
As harsh as it may seem, Raikkonen - given his on-track performance - probably does deserve someone to 'show him the money'.
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