Sunday: A highly frustrating race for Lotus GP

Vitaly Petrov, 9th

Finish 9th and bring two points to the team is always good given our starting position. But we’re a bit disappointed not to have been able to compete with the best and take more points. The strategy was good, but we need to find where we can improve. We will analyze the data and see what went wrong. And we will make sure to repeat our performances from Australia and Malaysia when we arrive in Turkey.

Nick Heidfeld, 12th

« I’m not happy with my result, even though I started from 16th place. My start wasn’t good, but I was aggressive at the first corner and managed to gain a few positions. After a few laps, I started having problems with the KERS and couldn’t use full power all the time. This made overtaking difficult and defending as well. I believe our pace in the second stint wasn’t bad, but it was still very difficult to attack the cars in front of me. That’s why we brought forward the second tire change, hoping to find a slightly clearer track and pass the drivers ahead of me. Unfortunately, Perez and Sutil stopped at the same time, and I couldn’t show what we were capable of in the last stint. »

Eric Boullier

« With our positions on the grid, repeating our previous results seemed like a delicate task. In the end, the afternoon proved to be rather frustrating for us, and we didn’t really progress in the race as we expected. Part of the explanation lies in the fact that overtaking was not as simple as we thought, even with the help of DRS. Moreover, we need to review our strategy because the timing for pit stops wasn’t easy today, and it’s clear that the right moment needs to be chosen for changing tires. Finally, it’s always good to pick up a few points thanks to Vitaly. We now have three weeks to prepare before Turkey and to reassure ourselves of our ability to fight at the front. »

[According to a statement from Lotus Renault Grand Prix]