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Originally Posted by Henry Schmidt
Has the condition of his back changed in some way or is Kimi just done with Lotus?
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Could be either, only Kimi knows. The fact that he is having surgery means he has a significant problem of some sort. Having had an uncle that suffered through a series of operations to his back for his entire life, about the very last thing I'd want to have surgery on is my back. Last resort only kind of thing...
I once woke up with a back pain so significant that I couldn't stand, sit, walk... or anything else, really. Came out of the blue, no prior history of injury or pain... no idea what it was. Got it fixed by a bonecracker but never forgot it.
It's possible he's decided that resolving the the pain he has is more important to him than racing the last two races. Maybe he feels that his recovery time will be long enough that, if he waited until the end of the season to have the surgery, he wouldn't be back at 100% for the beginning of next season. It wouldn't surprise me if he considers next year's possibilities to be more important than whatever he might achieve in these last two races. Ben Spies essentially went through the same thing this year in MotoGP. He had a surgery late last year and wasn't 100% when the season started this year and it basically screwed his entire 2013 season.
You have to be really fit to drive one of these cars. It's possible his back has kept him from performing as well as he knows he can these last few races. His results haven't been as good as usual. That the reason why?
JR