Saturday: Contrasting Qualifying for Lotus with Grosjean and Räikkönen
If overall the Lotus team is satisfied with its qualifications in Abu Dhabi, only Kimi Räikkönen was truly able to showcase the potential of the Lotus E20 by qualifying in fifth position. Set to mimic his teammate, Romain Grosjean suffered a poor third sector on his fastest lap and will have to settle for tenth place.
Kimi Räikkönen – 5th and 5th:
« It was a good qualifying. The car wasn’t fantastic this weekend, but we decided not to change the setup since the last race. It was the right choice because, in the end, the track worked in our favor and the car reached its best level. I will do my best tomorrow. Let’s see if I can get a good start and find myself just behind the Red Bulls, then we’ll see. »
Romain Grosjean – 6th and 10th:
« My qualifying lap wasn’t great today. Tenth place wasn’t what I was aiming for. In Q3, on my last attempt, I had no grip and couldn’t perform better. The car behaved well before that, and I was good during the first two phases. This means I’m going to have a lot of work to do in the race, but I think the car and I can do better.
[From the Lotus F1 Team press release]
