Friday: The Lotus E20 improvable, especially on Hard tires
Both newcomers to the Indian circuit, Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean are generally satisfied with their day, even though the Finn believes they are more or less close to the optimal potential of the E20 at Buddh. The team will, however, take advantage of the night to further improve the car, especially on Hard tires.
Kimi Räikkönen – 10th and 5th:
The circuit is nice. For me, it was easier to learn than the South Korean circuit; it’s not as technical, but it’s good. It’s always great to come to a new place like this: I’ve been competing for years, and we always end up in the same places, so it’s nice when we can discover a new place and a new circuit.
Of course, we can still improve over a lap, but I think we are not too far from our maximum. Obviously, I hope we are faster than McLaren. Our car worked well, especially with the Soft tires, but with the Hard tires it was more difficult to find grip.
Romain Grosjean – 15th and 9th:
« It was very hard to set up the car as the track evolved a lot during the day, from zero grip in the morning to slightly better in the afternoon. However, we made good progress today, and we are working to improve things even further by tomorrow.
There are some blind turns and fast sections where you don’t want to make a mistake. Let’s hope we find the car we want for qualifying and get what we want tomorrow.
