Sunday: Grosjean OUT and Räikkönen IN at Lotus

Kimi Räikkönen – 7th:

It’s as if I never stopped F1. Yesterday, we made mistakes that cost us dearly, so the race could have been better. I had a good start, but there was an accident in front of me at the first corner and I lost a few places. I almost had to stop and go into the grass to avoid it. This made my race even more difficult. We were fast but caught in heavy traffic. Considering all these setbacks, we could have finished higher in the standings. The safety car outing also penalized us a bit. Overall, the weekend wasn’t ideal, but the car is performing well and coming back to 7th place allows us to leave with points.

Romain Grosjean – retirement:

« We could have achieved a great result today. I feel frustrated because I really wanted to finish the race and even be on the podium. But the positive point is that the car is performing well. I was keeping up with those in front of me and everything was going well. My start wasn’t great, we’ll need to understand that with the data. Then, of course, there was this collision with Pastor (Maldonado). For me, he braked way too late and hit my front right wheel, which broke my steering and ended the race for me. The team deserved much better for all their hard work, but tomorrow morning, it will be just a memory. We’re heading to Malaysia, which is one of my favorite circuits, and we’ll give it everything to achieve a good result. »

Eric Boullier, Team Principal:

« We should have left Australia with mixed feelings, but we still have a small smile on our faces. We had high expectations for Romain after his third place in qualifying. So seeing him taken out of the race by another car was very disappointing. But on the other hand, the performance shown by the E20 this weekend makes us optimistic for the rest of the season. The team produced a very solid car, responsive to setup changes and fast. Winter was tough and I would like to congratulate everyone at Enstone for the enormous efforts put in which seem to be paying off. I am proud to be part of a team capable of bouncing back in such a way after the difficulties faced in 2011. Kimi was able, along the way, to demonstrate that the E20 was not only competitive on a lap. Climbing eleven places in his first race after two years of absence is undoubtedly very satisfying. Now we turn our attention to Sepang. A completely different circuit where we hope to show to our advantage. I definitely believe that we can do even more and better. »

James Allison, Technical Director:

« Even if the race may seem disappointing in some aspects, the overall weekend can leave us with a sense of pride regarding the performance of the car, the team, and the drivers. With a third place on the grid, we hoped for better than a 7th place finish. Concerning Kimi, the fact that he was able to turn his poor starting position into a handful of points at the finish brings us some consolation. But the most important thing is that the E20 appears fast, and we are optimistic before Malaysia where we think we can achieve a good result with both cars. »

Ricardo Penteado, Chief Engine Specialist Renault Sport F1 Team

« For the engines, Australia is a difficult circuit because they need to be responsive at the exit of slow and medium corners and provide good acceleration on the straights. Furthermore, this results in high fuel consumption, so it is necessary to manage this carefully. Our collaboration was excellent throughout the weekend, evidenced by Romain’s superb starting position and Kimi’s magnificent comeback in the race, which brought us good points. We must now build on this foundation in Malaysia, a track that presents different challenges for the RS27. »

[From the official press release published by Lotus]