Lotus reasonably happy with 8th and 9th
Lotus F1's Romain Grosjean will start from eighth on the grid and Kimi Räikkönen right behind him in ninth after today’s qualifying for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
After a promising Q1 session where the cars finished P3 and P4, Q2 and Q3 proved to be more difficult at the team’s local circuit. Kimi ran with a Device-equipped E21, whilst Romain ran with a new slimline bodywork package.
Kimi Räikkönen, E21-03, 9th: “It was a close qualifying session between both of the team’s cars so I think we both got pretty much all there was from the car today. It’s not ideal as we’d like to be nearer the front of the grid, but it is what it is. We’ll go into the race wanting to get a better result than we did in qualifying. Usually this is what happens for us and and hopefully that is the case again tomorrow.”
Romain Grosjean, E21-02, 8th: “Whilst were very quick on the hard tyres at the beginning of qualifying, we weren’t as competitive on the mediums, I don’t know if it’s the weather or something else, but we weren’t as good on them as in free practice this morning meaning we didn’t have enough to qualify further up the grid. We are working hard and in the right direction, but the tyres are still playing a key part. I’m quite satisfied with my performance today.”
Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: "I’m reasonably happy with both cars making it into the top ten but, of course, we would have liked a bit more from today. Romain didn’t have a perfect last lap and suffered from understeer in Turn 15 whilst there didn’t seem to be much more pace in Kimi’s car.
"They seem to be quite close for us in terms of ultimate lap pace. We had quite a dilemma as to whether we should run Romain on the harder tyres in Q3 as he went very well on them in Q1. Other than that, both compounds are well suited to the demands of Silverstone and there should be a range of strategy permutations available tomorrow.
"Like many of the crew, the E21 certainly prefers warmer temperatures. The cloud cover today can mean a reasonable temperature drop, so we’re certainly hoping for clearer skies and a warmer track tomorrow."
