Sunday: Team Lotus and Kovalainen shine in the race
A tenth place time and regularly battling with the cars ahead of him at the beginning of the season, Heikki Kovalainen delivered another solid race and finished in a commendable fourteenth place. Unlucky, Jarno Trulli saw his race ruined from the first lap, a victim of a collision with an HRT.
Heikki Kovalainen – 14th:
« I had a good start again, maybe not as good as in the last two races, but I avoided trouble in turns 1 and 3, and from there, I had a solid race. At one point, I was tenth, and the car behaved very well all afternoon. I was still in the mix after the first stops, and as the fuel level dropped, I was able to keep pace with Senna who was ahead and keep my distance from the cars behind. But when I put on the hard tires, it was more difficult to maintain the pace. I was also hindered by the HRTs when they were shown the blue flag. I think they also held up Lewis, and it definitely cost me a lot of time. I probably wouldn’t have finished higher without that, but when you push as hard as we did and fight with the midfield cars, it feels good, for me and for the whole team! »
Jarno Trulli – 19th:
Bad luck struck again. I got a pretty good start, but then one of the HRTs hit me from behind as we were coming into the third corner, and that was more or less the end of my race. I had a puncture and had to do nearly a full lap to get back to the pits, so from there, there was nothing I could do.
I think the car suffered some damage to the underfloor when I was hit, because the balance was completely gone for the rest of the race and I couldn’t do a single decent lap.
Despite that, it was still a good weekend for the team. Our reliability was solid, Heikki’s race pace was good, so I just hope I’ll have a bit more luck in the last two races to ensure we finish in 10th place.
Thierry Salvi, engine manager:
« For us, it’s another solid performance from the whole team on a track that really puts a strain on the engines. Obviously, it’s a shame that Jarno’s race was compromised so early, but with Heikki, who was able to run in tenth position halfway through the race, it’s very encouraging.
It seems that we have found the balance we were looking for, with good top speed in the first half of the lap and by maximizing the maneuverability and responsiveness of the engines in the second half, so we leave India rather satisfied with the work we have accomplished on this new circuit.
