Sunday: Satisfaction for Team Lotus which is ahead of the Saubers

Heikki Kovalainen – 14th:

After the fantastic performance last week in Japan, finishing 14th today, ahead of both Saubers and within reach of Senna in the last lap, is another step forward for us. It’s undoubtedly our most solid race of the year and it’s a great feeling for the team and for me to see us fighting with a large group of cars from the very first lap.

I once again made an incredible start, overtaking a bunch of cars at the first corner as if they were in reverse. From there, I had a good first stint on super-soft tires, making sure to conserve them enough to stay a few extra laps on track, which helped us. We then switched to soft tires, and my pace was just fantastic, enough to keep up with the times of the cars ahead of me, down to the tenth of a second.

It was exactly the same with the second set of soft tires: the degradation was manageable, and I was really able to push on each lap. We knew there would be cars ahead struggling to make it to the end, and if I had half a lap more, I certainly would have overtaken Senna. As it stands, we finished ahead of Sauber with our pace and strategy, and it’s a great feeling.

We were solid all weekend and it’s great for the whole team to finish the season with a car that gives us the chance to really show what we’re capable of. Honestly, I’d love to go back right away and do it over and over again. Now, I’m looking forward to being in India!

Jarno Trulli – 17th:

« It was really a solid race for us, definitely the best of the season and I want to congratulate the whole team for the work they have done here and at the factory to give Heikki and me a car that allows us to compete.

My start wasn’t great, I lost a few places at the first corner but quickly regained them with my first set of tires and, when we switched to soft tires, my lap times were very good. Heikki and I kept pace with the rest of the pack and we easily pulled away from the cars behind us, but then I had a traffic issue in the pit lane during my second stop and lost some time there.

As soon as the blue flags started waving at the end of the race, I had to slow my pace, and if I hadn’t had these issues, I’m sure I could have finished with Heikki ahead of Kamui and Sergio.

Despite everything, it’s a good weekend and we have three races left to capitalize on our performance today and finish the season as well as possible.

Thierry Salvi, Engine Manager:

« We can all be pleased with where we finished today. From an engine perspective, we definitely extracted as much performance as possible from the car, and seeing our two cars stay on pace with those ahead shows that we have made progress in all areas.

The drivers gave it their all today, and it’s great to be able to help them get the maximum possible performance out of the car, especially on a circuit like this one that requires significant top speed and good traction: we weren’t losing time to our closest rivals in both high- and low-speed sectors, so I think we can leave here very happy with our performance.