Saturday: Lotus GP slightly behind

Vitaly Petrov – 7th and 7th

« I am not completely satisfied with my position today because we were capable of doing better than 7th on the grid. That said, both getting into the top 10 seems like a positive aspect and it is also reassuring not to have experienced any mechanical issues. We can continue to push to get closer to the top of the grid tomorrow.

Nick Heidfeld – 14th and 9th

« It’s not so bad after all, this 9th place. I encountered some difficulties at the start of the day and eventually found the balance and grip with the tires I was looking for in Q2. It could have been even better since I had a bit of understeer due to the front tires, but it’s not a big deal. I feel more confident for tomorrow. We know we can overtake thanks to the DRS, as we’ve seen in previous races, and we can finish higher than our grid positions. Usually, the car is better in race pace, and we know we can have an excellent start and quickly gain places. »

James Allison, Technical Director

« I am happy. It’s a starting point that should allow us to have a good race tomorrow. […] Yesterday, the challenge was to focus our race preparation on a single session, following the rain in the first practice. Today, the difficulty was to make our way through an increasingly contested Q3 and climb as high as possible on the grid, while preserving our tires for the race. I think the drivers did a good job achieving that today. […] Tomorrow, the race promises to be very intense. We’ve seen races with two stops, others are more borderline between two and three. I think tomorrow it will be more tense. Just look at how the teams tried as much as possible to preserve their tires in qualifying. Both our drivers will start from the clean side of the track, and with a good start, we hope to overtake some of our competitors ahead of us. […] »

[From a Lotus Renault Grand Prix press release]