Saturday: Lotus has lost none of its splendor, on the contrary
So feared, the changes made to the tires ended up being insignificant for Lotus, which, with the 4th and 5th places of Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean respectively during the German Grand Prix qualifications, lost none of its splendor. The Finn even believes he could have aimed for better, while Grosjean is thrilled to be back at the front.

Kimi Räikkönen – 6th and 4th:
My car ran well today, but I had a bit of trouble getting my tires up to temperature in Q3 with the new tires. This caused me to lose a bit of time in the first sector, probably because I encountered traffic and couldn’t push as much as I wanted. Obviously, this didn’t help me and I probably should have been 3rd today. But 4th is already a good position for the race.
Romain Grosjean – 8th and 5th:
Fifth is a pretty good result, but to be honest, I’m a bit disappointed with my best lap, I lost several tenths in the first sector. We had difficulties getting the front tires up to temperature this morning, but the car was really good during qualifying and I improved with each lap. The team put in a strong performance with Kimi’s 4th place as well, we are happy to be back at the front, after a few unintended visits to the lower floors recently.
From the official statement published by Lotus F1 Team