Saturday: Grosjean makes it to Q3, Räikkönen falls short in Q2

Romain Grosjean – 9th and 7th:

« It’s a good result for the team. I’ve reached Q3 in every race since the start of the season and that’s always satisfying. Without a small mistake in my flying lap in Q3, I could have been even higher on the grid. The weather conditions here offer a stark contrast to those in China, and I think we can be proud of how we’ve adapted, because getting the right setup is really challenging. Today, we might have been a bit too far from the leaders, but our race pace seems excellent and, with such small gaps, the race should be very exciting. »

Kimi Räikkönen – 7th and 11th:

« The performance was there today and I could have easily made it to Q3 with a second attempt. But we decided that taking the risk of doing only one fast lap was worth it. This way, we would save a set of tires for the race. Tomorrow, the priority will be to preserve the rubber. So, if our gamble didn’t pay off in Q2, I hope the strategy will work for the race. We knew it would be tight and obviously, we always want to position ourselves as high as possible on the grid. But we had two options and we chose the one that, hopefully, will bring us the best result on Sunday. In any case, no points are awarded on Saturday, so let’s wait for tomorrow. »

[From the official Lotus F1 Team press release]