Saturday: Grosjean outpaces Räikkönen at Lotus
After missing almost the entirety of Free Practice 3, Romain Grosjean delivered a solid qualifying session by securing the 4th fastest time. The Frenchman thus outpaced his teammate, who made a few minor errors that penalized him in Q3.
Romain Grosjean – 24th and 3rd [after Lewis Hamilton’s demotion]:
It’s a good performance from the team, especially considering I didn’t run in Free Practice 3 due to a fuel pressure problem. On the setup side, we stuck with what we found yesterday, and it worked very well. Everyone did a great job getting the car ready for qualifying after this morning’s issues. We can be happy with what we achieved: of course, you always want more, but that’s the result today. I think I could have been a bit faster, but not by much.
Tomorrow will be long: our race pace doesn’t seem too bad, but of course, we will need to pay attention to tire degradation.
Kimi Räikkönen – 9th and 4th [after Lewis Hamilton’s disqualification]:
« I think we had a chance to finish in the top 3, but our setups weren’t perfect today. We modified the car for qualifying, and it turned out to be the right decision. Just a few tiny mistakes cost me time in Q3. We’ll see how it goes in the race. Generally, the car has been better on Sunday than on Saturday, so if that’s the case tomorrow, we’ll be delighted. A combination of small details will decide the race, and tires will be an important factor, of course. Our long runs were promising yesterday, so we’re not too badly positioned. I hope to get a good start and find myself at the front to attack. I think our car is very good, and that’s the main thing. »
[From the official Lotus F1 Team press release]
