Sunday: Another weekend to forget for Lotus Renault GP
The Lotus Renault GP drivers once again experienced a disappointing weekend on a circuit that did not best suit the intrinsic qualities of the R31. Burdened by technical problems, and despite new engines, Vitaly Petrov and Bruno Senna could not hope for better than 13th and 16th places at the finish.
Vitaly Petrov – 13th:
« It was a rather frustrating afternoon because my DRS wasn’t working. We thought we could fight with the cars in front, but we were rather defenseless, so we decided to change strategy. When I stopped the first time, we put on new medium tires but, unfortunately, they didn’t last long enough, so we went back to the pits on lap 38 to put on the soft tires. Unfortunately, our pace wasn’t good enough to score points, that’s the reality. »
Bruno Senna – 16th:
« Let’s be honest, there isn’t a crumb of comfort to be taken from this performance. We suffered from a KERS failure, a drive-through penalty, and the car wasn’t at its best on this particular track. All that put together, you better understand why I finished so far back. Strategically, we took a gamble that didn’t pay off.
I am certain that, over the course of the weekend, my pace was as good as possible. Maybe for Brazil, we will have a better foundation and can hope to have a better weekend there.
Ricardo Penteado, engine manager:
We introduced a new engine on both cars this weekend, which is positive at this point in the season. Even though Abu Dhabi is not relatively demanding for the engine, with a fairly low full-throttle time, we hoped it would give us an advantage in the midst of a very competitive field. We missed the Top 10 in qualifying and on this circuit, where overtaking can be difficult, it was then hard to gain positions. We hope that the low mileage of our two units will help us in Brazil, where a few extra horsepower can make the difference with the drop in engine performance due to the altitude.
