Lotus sure there is still more pace in the car
At Team Lotus the engineers have worked hard overnight to try to optimise engine maps to improve driveability and reduce fuel consumption. While that has paid off, there is still more in the car as both drivers could not extract the maximum in qualifying.
Heikki Kovalainen, Car 20 - Chassis T128-04:
"I’m pretty pleased with that. I got held up on my second run but still managed to get within a second of the car ahead and I think I got close to getting the most out of the car I could. We definitely improved in FP3 and the wear rates weren’t too bad so I think we’re in good shape for tomorrow. It’s a long race, and one where the safety car will probably play a role in how it all ends up, so the aim for Sunday is clear – make sure we get both cars home to the end and put ourselves in a position to take advantage of what happens ahead."
Jarno Trulli, Car 21 - Chassis T128-01:
"Honestly I’ve struggled with the car all day and even though I managed to get much closer to Heikki in qualifying I’m still not all that happy with where we are. The guys in the garage have been working really hard all weekend to fix one or two problems we’ve had, and I want to thank them for getting the car to the point where I could get that quick laptime out of it, but now it’s about getting to the end of the race tomorrow in one piece."
Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1 Support Leader:
"We worked very hard last night on improving the driveability of the engines and the braking stability and give ourselves the right choice of engine maps for qualifying. The results prove we made the right choices and as this track has such specific demands on the engine, in terms of traction and maximising fuel economy, I think we have put ourselves in the right place to be able to push tomorrow. This is one of the hardest tracks on fuel economy in particular, so even though we are already good in that area, we have a specific map for the race tomorrow that I think will give the drivers a chance to push when they need to, and help to make sure they can both finish the race."
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer:
"A reasonable effort from us in qualifying today. Jarno was not happy with his car in either session today so we need to look at why that has changed since yesterday. With Heikki his first qualifying lap was good but on his second run he was compromised by the cars ahead when he would have definitely gone quicker, so it is encouraging to know there is still more outright pace in the car than we extracted today. The aim is the same as it always is for us on Sundays – have a strong performance, bring both cars home and do the best we can to push the cars in front."
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal:
"I am encouraged to see that the upgrade we have brought here has pulled us a little closer to the cars ahead but qualifying tonight was possibly not our smartest day in the office – we sent Heikki out just behind Liuzzi which definitely compromised his quickest lap, but on the positive side the changes we made overnight helped us to retrieve the couple of seconds we seemed to have lost yesterday. We know that we can mix it with a couple of the established teams on race pace so we need to make sure we have a good start, use whatever chances we can to overtake, something that is particularly difficult here, and get both cars home across the line."
