Lotus 'expected better' in Brazil
Lotus' Pastor Maldonado finished twelfth whilst Romain Grosjean was classified seventeenth in the Brazilian Grand Prix. Both drivers struggled from start to finish, culminated by a power unit issue on Romain Grosjean's car that forced him to stop 8 laps from the chequered flag.
Romain Grosjean, P17, E22-03: “The start of the race was good and we were able to run high up in the field quite quickly. We had to switch from a two-stop to a three-stop strategy half way through the race however and that came with some challenges. A lot of work was done to improve the car’s performance this weekend so it’s hard not to be able to finish. We’ll be looking into what happened and make sure we’re ready to make the most of the double points on offer for the next race.”
Pastor Maldonado, P12, E22-02: “It was a tough race. We had to switch from a two-stop to a three-stop strategy due to high tyre wear which meant our race was compromised. My start wasn’t great but we managed to be a lot more competitive towards the end of the race and were aiming for points. I tried my best and was hoping to overtake Valtteri Bottas but it wasn’t possible in the end. We’ll be pushing hard in Abu Dhabi, that’s for sure.”
Federico Gastaldi, Deputy Team Principal: "Today we expected a better result on track, especially after some of the evidence to suggest we could have a reasonably decent race. Neither driver experienced a perfect day. Pastor struggled at the start, but then fought back to make up a lot of places. Romain was able to run high up the order early-on but we had to change strategy which penalised him, but not as much as his engine failure. Now our focus is Abu Dhabi and the double points available there.”
Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: "Today’s race didn’t go the way we wanted it. Pastor didn’t get a good start off the line and Romain’s car was unable to make it to the chequered flag. We were hoping to capitalise on better tyre life than our rivals, and although we were able stretch more durable performance from the medium compound than some, it was insufficient to secure fewer pit stops for us which meant no advantage. We have one race remaining in 2014 where we will push to gain some final points from this season, then our focus is 100% on 2015.”
Simon Rebreyend, Renault Sport F1 track support leader: “Everything went well on Pastor’s side of the garage today and it was good to see him work his way up to twelfth after a difficult qualifying session. The hotter temperatures and high altitude make Interlagos one of the tougher venues for the new Power Units, but we managed to deal with those circumstances pretty well in the end. Romain’s strategy meant he should have been a factor over the final stint, but unfortunately he had a Power Unit issue that lead to his ICE losing a cylinder. Hopefully he can bounce back in Abu Dhabi and close out the season with a strong result.”
