Friday: Grosjean and Maldonado rack up laps for Lotus
On the Lotus side, Friday allowed the team to do a lot of laps for the first time since the start of the season to gather data and test new parts, despite an alert for Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado's encounter with a curb.
Pastor Maldonado (no. 13) – 17th and 16th
For the Venezuelan, who hasn’t had much luck since the beginning of the season in terms of driving, a day without major issues is welcome: « It was good to have a reliable car and we accomplished a lot of work today. We had many parts to test and we conducted a lot of different evaluations. »
His day was mainly marked, during Free Practice 2, by going too wide on a curb and a little jump that necessitated a visit to the pits: « I made a small mistake during FP2 and we got a bit of air after jumping on a curb. Fortunately, not too much damage to report and we were able to continue the session. »
Romain Grosjean (No. 8) – 19th and 18th
“We learned a lot about the car, which could help us make progress,” said the Frenchman, who experienced an engine scare during FP2. “I had a small problem that required investigation during the second session, so it was frustrating to miss out on some running time because I’m sure we could have made further improvements.”
« It was interesting to drive a session in the heat and under the sun, then the next one in the twilight. We have a lot of work tomorrow, » he concluded.
