Abu Dhabi: Grosjean will start last, Maldonado 15th for Lotus F1
Despite a 16th time in Q1, Grosjean will start from the pit lane. Maldonado is just ahead of the Caterhams.
Romain Grosjean was the best of the Lotus drivers in qualifying, even though he will have to start from the pits in the race due to a heavy penalty. He missed Q2 by 22 thousandths against Adrian Sutil.
“It won’t be an easy race starting from the back and with a drive-through penalty [for using multiple sixth elements, editor’s note] but we started the same way at the beginning of the year in Melbourne, so there is a kind of cruel symmetry. We will do our best in the race; you never know what can happen. It’s a long Grand Prix and you never know how the season finale will unfold,” he stated on the Lotus F1 website.
Pastor Maldonado is even further behind in the timings, only ahead of the Caterhams. But the Venezuelan was expecting a tough weekend at the wheel of a car that is still very unruly and struggling with tire temperature issues. “It was difficult to bring the front tires to the right temperature, which means they started to lock up easily during braking, which obviously hurt my lap times,” he explains.
Maldonado will start 15th and Grosjean 20th.
