Team Lotus boosted by P13 and P14 at Monaco
Team Lotus has accomplished a great result at the Monaco Grand Prix as Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen finished the prestigious race in 13th and 14th place. The good outcome of this afternoon's race gives the team a boost for the Canadian Grand Prix in two weeks time.
Jarno Trulli, Car 21 - Chassis T128-03: “That was a great result for the team, the best of the season so we’re all pleased with that. I had another great start – I wish I had made starts like that in previous seasons as I think I would have won several races with starts like that. After that I was holding position and keeping up with the cars ahead but the safety car hit our race strategy hard. The gap we had was wasted behind slower cars and even though I passed D’Ambrosio the second safety car pretty much defined the rest of the race.”
Heikki Kovalainen, Car 20 - Chassis T128-04: “Finishing 13th and 14th is a very good team result, but that was a bit of an average race for me. I lost a position at the start and that was pretty much the end of my race. The first stint was pretty difficult and on the second stint I couldn’t really find a rhythm as I kept having to let cars past. After the second stop I was able to start pushing but by then I couldn’t really do much. Having said that, it’s been a good weekend overall and we’ll keep fighting in two weeks time in Montreal.”
Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1 Support Leader: “I think that is a very good result for us, the best finish of the year for both cars. The car setup and strategy was good for both drivers and we are very satisfied with what we have achieved this weekend.”
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: “A strong result for the team and it was good to get both cars over the finish line. Both drivers drove very strong races and we gave them a chance to fight with a two stop strategy, starting both cars on options. We switched Heikki to the prime for the last two stints because he had higher degradation but kept Jarno on the options until the second pitstop and even thought they were held up by slower cars we are very pleased with 13th and 14th.”
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: “I watched the race from Bali and that capped off an incredible week for us. This time last year neither car finished the race but today both cars crossed the line in 13th and 14th places. Our pace was good but most importantly both cars finished the race, we brought the Team Lotus brand home and we won the first of the GP2 races in Monaco. That constitutes a very good weeks work at the office. Now we go to Montreal and as we keep moving forwards to the rest of our history, our heritage and our destiny with Caterham. Thank you all for one hell of a ride.”
