Saturday: Lotus hoped for much better during the qualifying sessions
The Lotus team did not have an easy qualifying session in Montreal, with Romain Grosjean stopping in Q1, and with his penalty, he will start last. While Kimi Räikkönen managed to get through to Q3, he could only do the 9th best time. Both men are waiting for the race to climb back up the ranks, especially if it takes place in dry conditions, unlike in Monaco two weeks ago, where moving up the ranks is very difficult.
Kimi Räikkönen – 10th and 9th [10th after his penalty]:
« We had no grip in these conditions so we did what we could, but if there’s no grip, you can’t go very fast. With this weather, it’s difficult because sometimes the rain gets heavier, sometimes the track dries so you need to be on track when the circuit is at its best level of grip. 9th on the grid is not what we wanted so we’ll see what we can do in the race tomorrow. »
Romain Grosjean – 11th and 19th [22nd after his penalty]:
« Clearly not the best day, and obviously with the penalty, I’m supposed to start from the 29th position for the race, which is very far back! After switching to new intermediates mid-session, I had one lap to set a time when the track was at its driest, but there were yellow flags after a driver’s incident, so I had to slow down and respect the flags. Then the track was too wet to go faster. We were a bit surprised by the weather but it’s nobody’s fault; just more bad luck. In these conditions, it’s impossible to predict when the rain will be heaviest and we didn’t see anything on the radar that suggested it would be worse. It’s going to be a long race from the back of the pack, but we know the car is fast so our weekend is far from over. »
