Kimi Raikkonen believes there is more to come from Lotus after securing a first victory in Abu Dhabi.
Returning to Formula One this season, many wondered how long it would take Raikkonen to win his first race. Some even wonder if he could still win.
The Finn, though, silenced his critics last Sunday when he clinched the Abu Dhabi victory ahead of Championship rivals Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel.
"We didn't give up. We had a period where new developments for the car weren't working exactly as wanted straight away and when you have to test new parts during practice sessions it's very difficult to make progress, but we kept pushing," said Raikkonen.
"We continued with the exhaust developments we made during practice in Korea and India and the pace was promising all weekend in Abu Dhabi.
"I was never out of the top ten all weekend and with that in mind I think we had a good idea that we could be competitive if we could just get qualifying right, which has been the big issue all season long. This time though, we got it right."
The victory came just days after Lotus announced that Raikkonen would remain with the team for next season.
"It's a pretty good way to show that everyone's made the right choice. We've shown all season how good we can be, and in Abu Dhabi we showed we can win. There is more to come. I promise."
There will also be more abrupt radio messages to come from the 2007 World Champion, who was heard telling his team in the heat of the moment "just leave me alone, I know what I am doing."
Asked about those comments, he said: "Apparently there were a few of our radio messages broadcast on TV and I think in those moments you could hear how much I just wanted to keep my head down, do my job and win the race. All I needed to know was the gap to the guy behind me.
"I think you can probably find other messages from me in the car if you search YouTube; even from my short time in NASCAR."
