Abu Dhabi: Lotus drivers optimistic despite positions outside the top 10
None of the three Lotus drivers who took to the track today managed to make it into the top 10, but that doesn't prevent Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado from being confident for Saturday's qualifying and Sunday's race.

Even though he never ranked in the top 10 today – 15th in FP1 and 12th in FP2 – Pastor Maldonado appeared rather optimistic about his busy day. He is confident in the behavior of his Lotus and hopes to take advantage of it tomorrow for the qualifiers.
« It has been a good day with a lot of work done. I am happy with the way my car is behaving and there is good potential in the car for tomorrow and for the race as well. We can still make improvements, but clearly I am looking forward to making progress in FP3 to be able to attack fully in qualifying, » explains the Venezuelan.
Romain Grosjean only drove during FP2, but it wasn’t very brilliant, as the Frenchman had to settle for the 17th position on the timesheet. However, he remains optimistic about his ability to do better tomorrow Saturday, even though he will have a lot to contend with his penalty: « We still have work to do to bring the E22 to where we want it to be. I lacked track time during FP2, and it shows a little, even though the temperatures were different from what we will see when it matters this weekend. There is pace to be extracted from the car, and I am confident that we will be faster in qualifying tomorrow. »
At Lotus, one Frenchman makes way for another; indeed, Romain Grosjean gave up his seat to Esteban Ocon for the first session of the day. Ocon was pleased with his day, finishing 16th on the timing sheet, but believes he can do even better as he didn’t push the limits of the E22: « It was nice to be on track today. I didn’t push too hard too soon, but everything felt good. Clearly, the car is different from the previous generation F1 cars I’ve driven before; it’s much more complicated in terms of setup, and the driving style required is a change as well. I’m happy with the pace shown, but I was driving with a margin, so there is more speed to come during next week’s test. »