Saturday: the Texan thaw benefits Team Lotus
With higher temperatures than this morning, the Lotus team managed to stand out in Austin. Romain Grosjean achieved the 4th fastest qualifying time and Kimi Räikkönen the 5th, but the Finn will start 4th as his French teammate received a penalty for a gearbox change, so Grosjean will start 9th tomorrow.
Romain Grosjean – 17th and 4th [9th on the grid]:
« I will start 9th, but that’s racing. The guys did an incredible job changing the gearbox between free practice 3 and qualifying – which was really tight – but we’re still in the top 10 with the penalty, so it’s a good result. Apart from this gearbox issue, everything went well today. We understood a complicated and evolving track and found good settings. I’m happy to be where I am, and at least I’ll be on the right side of the track for the start tomorrow. »
Kimi Räikkönen – 13th and 5th [4th on the grid]:
« I expected to experience a slightly more complicated qualifying session today, but the car was at its best level since the beginning of the weekend, so in the end, it was a good moment. The settings are not yet as I would like them, but it’s much closer. The warmer conditions allowed the car to perform better, and it certainly made a difference. Starting from the dirty side of the track may not be the best thing; we will have to hope that the circuit will rubber in a bit for tomorrow’s race. »
