Not the race we wanted - Gascoyne
Team Lotus' technical director Mike Gascoyne analysed correctly that this was not a great race for Team Lotus. While the weekend progressed well, both drivers had to cope with problems through the race and only Jarno Trulli eventually made it to the end.
Jarno Trulli, Car 21 - Chassis T128-01:
“That was a very eventful race. It started well but I struggled all afternoon with the brakes and even though I was able to get them up to temperature I think they glazed after the first safety car and I couldn’t recover them. After the race restarted I had the same issue with the brakes but as the track dried they started coming back and I was able to start pulling away from our direct competitors. Unfortunately after the stop to dry tyres I had something moving around in the cockpit so I came back in again for the team to investigate it. They couldn’t fix it so I went back out and did as well as I could to bring the car home to the end.”
Heikki Kovalainen, Car 20 - Chassis T128-04:
“Unfortunately my race came to an end with a driveshaft failure. When we restarted I lost drive pretty much immediately and had to retire which is obviously a disappointing end to the weekend. It’s just one of those things, nothing I could do about it so hopefully we’ll have better luck in Valencia and keep pushing on.”
Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1 Support Leader:
“It was a pretty difficult day out there. We were maybe not as lucky as we could have been with the strategy and you always need a little luck in these conditions. >From our perspective a wet race like this makes it very tricky to get the most out of the engine mapping. The conditions mean we need very good driveability, especially out of the corners because the driver needs a very smooth engine response and I think we have some work to do in that area.”
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer:
“After a very strong weekend that was not the sort of race we wanted to have. We lost a number of places after a problem in the first stops and then unfortunately Heikki had a driveshaft failure after the race restarted. Jarno has been strong all weekend and put in a fine drive this afternoon. He was able to pick up all the places he lost after the first pitstop and would have had a strong finish, but when he came in for the second time the front inerter failed and dropped down around his feet in the cockpit . We considered retiring the car but Jarno did an awesome job to not only bring the car to the end but also to catch the cars in front of him. He nearly passed them in the last couple of laps, despite the very large handicap he had, so sincere thanks to him for keeping his foot down in what was a very difficult situation. Despite all that, we did have a strong weekend in terms of the car’s performance so while that was not the best race we will ever have, I think we can see it as another stepping stone in the development of the team.”
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal:
“Honestly, that was a bit of a disappointing day for us. We had a mix up at the first pit stops and we struggled to improve from there in a race that could have provided some exciting opportunities for us. It is important that we see this as another part of our development and learn from the experience this weekend. However, there are a number of positives to take away from here – our performance in qualifying was excellent and Jarno put in an excellent drive this afternoon, and all weekend, so now we move on to Valencia where I am sure we will put this race behind us and keep moving forward.”
