Sunday: Everything was decided at the start for Grosjean and Räikkonen at Lotus
Although finishing the race in 5th and 6th places, the Lotus drivers could have hoped for better. Kimi Räikkönen, however, couldn't make the most of all the opportunities that came his way at the start, while Romain Grosjean broke his front wing in a collision with Paul di Resta and spent the Grand Prix trying to catch up on lost ground.
Kimi Räikkönen – 5th:
« The first corners were pretty good, but I had to avoid cars in front of me and climb a curb. That made me lose a position and go wide. If I had stayed ahead of Mark [Webber] at the start, it would have been very good, especially when you see where he finished. But then, Lewis [Hamilton] also passed me. I got back into the fight and the car was very good, especially with the hard tires. With a better start, I could have achieved a much better result. But that’s racing, and sometimes you pay a high price for the first lap. »
Romain Grosjean – 6th:
I’m happy with my race. Unfortunately, I had a collision at the first corner. I was on the outside of Lewis [Hamilton] and a Force India touched me and broke my front wing. I thought my race was seriously compromised, which would have been the case if the rain had started to fall. The team did a fantastic job. They adopted a great strategy, and we had confidence in being able to do such long stints with both sets of hard tires. I fought hard with the drivers around me while preserving my tires. Towards the end, it became more challenging, but I held on well to my sixth place. Kimi was too far ahead to catch before the end of the race. We both bring back big points for the team, so it’s a good day.
[From the official statement released by Lotus F1 Team]
