Lotus happy with Kovalainen's first day
Heikki Kovalainen enjoyed a warm welcome at Lotus after his first day of running in the Lotus E21. Team mate Romain Grosjean and the team's Technical Director Nick Chestor both praised the Finn for his work.
Nick Chester went on record saying Kovalainen impressed the entire team with the ability to blend into the team quickly.
“We feel he’s done a brilliant job today, particularly with all the procedures and getting used to driving a new car,” said Chester. “We felt it might take a little bit of time but actually straight away in P1 he was already looking after the car very well. He got into P2, fifth quickest, good long runs, I think he’s done a great job today.”
Team mate Romain Grosjean also praised Kovalainen, pointing out that the Finn's driving style or more similar to his than Raikkonen's, something that could help the team move forward. In any case, Kovalainen did run the longer wheelbase version of the E21 whereas Raikkonen ostensibly preferred the short version.
"He's a good driver and it's really nice to see him up to speed so quickly" said the Frenchman. "He knows Formula One, he knows the tyres and it's just the colour of the car that has changed along with a few bits and pieces around. It's good to see him right there and it's a good chance for the team to score points.
"I'm happy with that and it's always good for me to have different team-mates and see how they're driving; what they do better or differently. I also think he has a style which is a little bit closer to mine than Kimi."
The Finn himself was also pleased with the Lotus E21.
“We’ve had no major issues on track today and we just need to keep chipping away to see how good we can get the car for tomorrow and Sunday.", said Kovalainen. “We lost a bit of track time in the morning, but the car balance was reasonably good straight away. I was able to settle in and work immediately on the set-up and tyre work.
“All the procedures and routines are quite similar up and down the pit lane, plus I’m familiar with all the systems from driving with a Renault engine already this year and previously, so it was a pretty straightforward day.”
