Friday: The Lotus is not yet on the scene
The Lotus drivers are not yet completely satisfied with their car, particularly because it does not allow the tires to heat up sufficiently. However, Romain Grosjean hopes that this issue will be resolved with higher temperatures on Sunday for the race.
Kimi Räikkönen – 5th and 11th:
« We improved the car throughout the day and by the end of the session, it was okay; not ideal but not a disaster either. It wasn’t easy to get the tires up to temperature today, but it was quite cold on the track so it’s not too surprising. If we can make the tires work better, it will clearly be an improvement, but it’s not going to change the world. We’ll study how to heat them up a bit more for qualifying tomorrow and then we’ll see what the weather brings. After that, we’ll do our best. »
Romain Grosjean – 3rd and 3rd:
« It was more or less a normal Friday for us. This morning was obviously a wet session, so we worked on the settings for these conditions. Then, in the afternoon, we tested the prototype tire and completed some long runs. It was quite challenging to get the tires to work well in these conditions because the asphalt is rather smooth here, so with low temperatures, it’s even harder to get energy into the rubber; even more so with the mediums but even with the super-softs. It should be warmer on Sunday, which is always a good thing for us, so we will try to get the most out of the car during qualifying tomorrow and go from there. »
