Saturday: Senna once again outpaces Petrov at Lotus Renault GP
In the Singapore night, the Lotus Renault GP drivers couldn't find the light during qualifying. While Vitaly Petrov failed in Q1 due to a driving error, his teammate didn't do much better by settling for 15th place.
Bruno Senna – 17th and 15th
« Today was a good day for the team but unfortunately it wasn’t enough. We made a step forward with the car this morning but not enough to get into Q3. I gave it my all and made a mistake by hitting a curb which affected my tires for the last seven corners: those curbs are really something to avoid here! I can be 90% satisfied with my lap, as it would have been hard to do better with the car, maybe gain a position or two, but not more. My 15th place is close to where we deserve to be. I’m now looking forward to the race; it’s going to be long and tiring. The worst thing here is the humidity. It’s very very very humid, you’re never comfortable. We’ve made progress in tire conservation and brake wear doesn’t seem to be an issue for us. The race should be interesting ».
Vitaly Petrov – 16th and 18th
It’s always a challenge to drive in Singapore, and we knew that the R31 might not necessarily match the track’s characteristics. We did our best to solve the car’s balance problem during the last free practice session, but we struggled with a lack of traction all weekend. This is something that has a particularly big impact in Singapore, and as qualifying started, we knew it would be a tough battle to qualify in the top 10. I pushed hard but made a mistake on my last lap in Q1 and lost five or six-tenths: it was over.
It will be important to preserve our tires tomorrow, so at least I can choose what to use at the start. The race will be physically very tough with 61 hot and humid laps: it will test the drivers to the limit, but I am ready for it.
James Allison, Technical Director
« Even though we approached Singapore with the momentum of our recent good performances in Monza and Spa, this weekend brings us abruptly back to reality. The teams and drivers worked tirelessly to extract everything they could from the cars, but four seconds per lap, unfortunately, is a chasm that cannot be bridged with springs, bars, and ride heights.
Monaco, Hungary, and now Singapore have clearly demonstrated that we have a problem on typical circuits with low-speed corners.
It’s a difficult track. The practice sessions and qualifying were marked by several off-road excursions ending in the barriers. It will be even tougher during the race when the track will be covered with rubber deposits. Several cars completed long runs in free practice 3, which often indicates concern about brake performance. For our part, we don’t have that concern, so we can hope to gain some ground because of it. But if we’re going to score points, it will be by staying on track and taking advantage of others’ misfortunes.
