Lotus F1 Team where unable to match the pace of the top teams at this weekends Italian GP, but a high rate of attrition saw Raikkonen finish 5th ahead of some of his main championship rivals and move up to 3rd in the drivers championship.

Raikkonen had a tough race – the Lotus E20 appearing a little short of straight line speed and struggling to hold off cars attacking with the aid of DRS – but retirements from Button, Vettel and Webber helped move him up the order and battled right up to the end with Massa and Schumacher – with 4th, 5th and 6th covered by just over 1.5s.

Jerome D’Ambrosia, in for the banned Romain Grosjean, suffered from KERS failure early on in the race and was unable to make his way through the field – driving a clean race but only able to bring the car home in 13th.

The strong finishing Ferrari’s saw Lotus drop down to 4th in the constructors championship – 9 points behind their Italian rivals.

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