Saturday: Team Lotus group effort
Team Lotus places its two cars one behind the other. Jarno Trulli finishes once again behind his teammate but is much closer. The Italian is satisfied with the new power steering of his T128 and hopes to have a good race tomorrow.
Heikki Kovalainen – 19th:
« After a difficult weekend, I am very happy with the way the qualifications ended. I couldn’t find a balance that suited me, and we made changes for the qualifications that put us in the right direction. »
« In my first stint I couldn’t get a clear lap, but I was optimistic that we could have a good second stint, which we did. I had to work hard to get there and it’s very satisfying to see things come together in the last minutes of Q1. The improvements we’ve made are working well and it seems we’ve closed the gap to the guys in front, and with Jarno clearly being more competitive here, the atmosphere is good throughout the team.
Jarno Trulli – 20th:
« It was a very good day, even if I couldn’t extract the maximum from the car in qualifying. During my first attempt, we put the soft tires on the car and it was oversteering a bit. In the second run, we put the super softs on, and there, we had more understeer than during practice, so I couldn’t find the rhythm I had yesterday and this morning. »
« Despite everything, I am happy with how the weekend went. The new power steering has transformed the car for me, so I am much happier now. It’s really night and day, and I can’t wait for tomorrow to see what we can do in the race. The difference between the two types of tires means strategy will be important, so let’s see what we can do. »