Energy store issue ruined chance to get into Q3 - Maldonado
Lotus' Romain Grosjean qualified in fifteenth whilst Pastor Maldonado retired from qualifying at the Hungarorging for the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix. Romain pushed through to the second wave of qualifying at the 4.4km circuit whilst Pastor’s charge evaporated before a lap was completed.
Romain Grosjean, E22-03, 14th: “We had a good third free practice session this morning and thought that we could reach Q3 this afternoon, but it wasn’t to be. The car didn’t feel as good in qualifying as it had done earlier in the day which we have to understand. If we can get the car feeling as it did in the morning, there will be more potential from tomorrow’s race. We have learnt a lot this weekend even if we haven’t been able to translate that into a good qualifying position. For tomorrow we’ll do the best we can, especially as there could be rain which might assist us to get into the points.”
Pastor Maldonado, E22-01, DNQ: “Everything on the car was working well until the second from last corner. Obviously it’s very disappointing, especially as we thought that we could reach Q3 today. We were in a good position to attack and be in the top ten today so it’s frustrating. Tomorrow will be a tough challenge, but as always we will work hard to solve today’s issue and look to maximize the potential in the race. We have plenty of new tyres at our disposal and anything can happen here at the Hungaroring, we will keep pushing.”
Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: “Pastor’s car stopped running at the start of Q1 due to a problem with the power unit's energy store which made qualifying impossible for him and the reasons for this are under investigation. Romain pushed hard into Q2 and ended up fifteenth on the grid. Not a great day for us.
“The allocation here certainly has one tyre which works well and one which is going to be less favoured, so minimising time on the medium compound is what all teams will be seeking to do, such is the performance differential. We have free choice of which compound to start with so we’ll explore every strategy opportunity overnight.”
