Friday: Grosjean still struggling with his Lotus
Lotus had trouble finding the right settings, particularly Romain Grosjean who expressed his dissatisfaction to his engineer several times. Both drivers finally gave their opinion on this new Sochi track.
Pastor Maldonado (no.13) – 16th and 17th
The Venezuelan driver, quite curiously, seemed very happy with the behavior of his car this Friday: « To be honest, we didn’t expect to be so well prepared but we really did a very good job here in Sochi. The car performed very well and the track conditions kept improving. »
As he mentioned, the new Russian circuit is an intelligent mix of medium-speed corners and crucial straights: « Sochi is quite different from other circuits. Many of the corners are quite similar, as you take them in third or fourth gear, so it’s a rather fast circuit where you need enough downforce; but at the same time, you have two important straights where you need power and a bit less aerodynamic load to achieve a good top speed. It’s very interesting and very fun. »
Romain Grosjean (No. 8) – 18th and 16th
We repeatedly heard Romain Grosjean complaining on the radio about his unruly car. The French driver does not hide having had difficulty finding the right settings: « It was quite difficult today. We really had to keep looking for the right settings as the track evolved, which constantly gives you a lot of work to do behind the wheel. »
For number 8, the Sochi track is reminiscent of those in Abu Dhabi or Valencia, but it can’t really be considered an urban track for that matter: « It’s pleasant to drive on this circuit and its layout gives a lot to think about. (…) The layout is really good and resembles more a real circuit rather than urban tracks, which wasn’t obvious at first glance. However, it has certain elements reminiscent of Abu Dhabi or Valencia. »
