Sunday: At Lotus, Grosjean resists Räikkönen and finishes the Grand Prix
Satisfaction in the Lotus camp as the E22 saw the checkered flag at the Malaysian Grand Prix thanks to Romain Grosjean. The Frenchman, who delivered a strong battle against Kimi Räikkönen at the end of the race, could even have hoped for more. For Pastor Maldonado, a turbo problem quickly ended his race.
Romain Grosjean (#8) – 11th
After a disastrous start to the season in private tests or in Australia, seeing the checkered flag was a relief for the entire Lotus team: « The 11th place is a good thing for the guys from Enstone and here, and it’s good for me too. Finishing the race was our first objective and then, we wanted to see where we stand with our car. It’s not perfect yet, but it’s good to be where we are at this stage. »
Despite this satisfaction, he believes that points were attainable, especially as he seemed to be catching up quickly to Daniil Kvyat, the 10th of the day: « I experienced a significant loss of aerodynamic downforce 8 laps before the end, particularly at the rear, which made things difficult, especially when I had to defend. Without this problem, I’m sure I could have finished higher. »
The race nevertheless allowed the Franco-Swiss to stand out during a battle with his former teammate, Kimi Räikkönen: « It’s good to be back and close to the points, so it’s positive for all of us. It was a nice fight at the end. I remembered our past battles to ensure Kimi wouldn’t get through! »
Pastor Maldonado (no.13) – Retirement (turbo air intake)
On the Venezuelan’s side, the race ended quickly. An indirect victim of the puncture on Jules Bianchi’s Marussia, which clipped him in the first lap, he later had to retire due to an issue related to the hybrid power unit: « After the start, we lost a lot of power, so we will have to investigate later to see what the problem is and analyze the data. This issue forced me to retire to protect the engine. »
However, he remains optimistic about a much better weekend than in Australia and highlights the progress on the Lotus E22: « Despite that, this weekend was clearly a step forward. Since Saturday, we have been able to run much more with the car, and Romain was able to finish the race. Today, obviously, it wasn’t as good for me, but we are not the only ones with problems so early in the season. Everything is related to all the complex packages of the car, but we have a lot to learn from this weekend, and we will make progress for the next one. »
