Saturday: General Satisfaction at Team Lotus
The two Team Lotus drivers are pleased with their performance at the end of the qualifying session for the Italian Grand Prix. Jarno Trulli had the new power steering system, which first appeared on his car in Hungary, and qualified ahead of his teammate for his home race.
Jarno Trulli – 19th and 19th:
I’m very happy with the work the team accomplished today and I did the best I could, especially in the second stint. There’s only one line here in Monza, it’s not a particularly technical track but you have to be very precise and with the new power steering on the car I’m able to feel comfortable throughout the lap, which allowed me to complete a lap like I did. The car has clearly improved since yesterday, we found the right balance and I think it puts us in a good position for tomorrow’s race.
Heikki Kovalainen – 20th and 20th:
« The car was good today but I struggled a bit on my last lap this afternoon. I don’t really know why so I’ll have to look at the data with the engineers and see where we can improve but the positive is that we clearly improved since yesterday which shows we’re keeping a good direction all the time. »
« I think we are not too badly qualified and we are in a good position for tomorrow. Jarno is strong here and it will be a good fight with him tomorrow. The important thing is to maintain the gap with the guys behind us and look forward.
Thierry Salvi – Renault F1 Operations Manager:
« It has been a good day for us. We significantly changed the car settings since yesterday, which gave us more work in FP3, but it seems to have paid off given that the feedback from both drivers was more positive. Jarno was particularly strong in qualifying for his home race, and I think he and Heikki will be in a good position tomorrow. »
