Saturday: Grosjean and Räikkönen Disappointed with Lotus
Fourth and eighth on the starting grid tomorrow, the two Lotus drivers are disappointed with their qualifying results after showing the potential of the Lotus E20 during Free Practice. Grosjean and Räikkönen particularly struggled to get the tires up to temperature, but are already looking ahead to the race.
Romain Grosjean – 5th and 5th (4th on the grid):
« We are not as high as we would have liked, but it was very tight today. I did a very good lap in the first part of Q3 but then I couldn’t improve with my second set of tires. It was a shame because our strategy was perfect for the last part of qualifying. Traffic wasn’t too bad but I messed up in the second sector. I think pole position was within reach. Fourth place is not exactly where we wanted to be, but the race will be long. It’s Monaco, it will be difficult, nevertheless, we know that the car is quite good with a lot of fuel and with the tires, so let’s wait to see what we can do and fine-tune the best strategy.
Kimi Räikkönen – 12th and 8th:
« Obviously, we are not very happy after this session. Since the first trials, we have been a little behind where we should have been and we have tried to catch up. The car is fine, the biggest problem today was trying to get the tires to work as it was a bit tricky to get them up to temperature.
I could have been a bit faster on my best lap, but I went a little too far in the Swimming Pool section. It’s a bit disappointing, but you can’t get it right every time.
On a normal circuit, we would be able to gain positions thanks to overtaking, but in Monaco, it’s difficult. That said, anything can happen here, and let’s hope we can achieve something good tomorrow.
