Sunday: Lotus GP bet on consumption
For the seventh time in seven Grand Prix, Lotus Renault places at least one of its cars in the Top 10 of the race. Without Nick Heidfeld's accident with Kamui Kobayashi, the British team could have contended for points with both of its cars.
Vitaly Petrov – 5th
« Today, the conditions became very difficult after a few laps and stopping the race was the right decision. There was absolutely no grip and the car was aquaplaning everywhere. When the race resumed, we tried to make the best of our position. I was fourth because I had decided not to change tires before the red flag. From there, I was in a great position to fight. On one hand, finishing fifth after starting tenth is a good result. But on the other hand, I really think I could have made it to the podium. That said, I’m happy with these new points and I think we’re back after a few difficult races. A big thank you to the whole team for their work this weekend. »
Nick Heidfeld – Retirement
« Naturally, it’s a big disappointment for me not to have finished this race. I was following Kamui [Kobayashi] and something happened. He suddenly slowed down and I hit him from behind. The consequence was my broken front wing went under the car and then my off-track excursion. I was fighting for fifth place and good points, so I’m frustrated not to have made the most of my good qualifying yesterday. Today, we experienced a race full of unexpected events, and I drove the best I could in these circumstances. I’m now looking towards Valencia where I hope to score more points for the team. »
Eric Boullier, Team Principal and Director
« Once again, the team scores points today. Thus, we have placed at least one car in the top 10 at every race since the beginning of the season. We have also understood the origin of quite a few of our recent problems, and the solutions implemented in Montreal were promising because our pace has significantly improved. That said, despite these positive points, we leave Montreal with mixed feelings. First, we could have scored points with both our cars today. Unfortunately, Nick was caught out by Kamui Kobayashi who was unusually slow coming out of turn 2. Until then, his race was perfect. With a bit of luck, Vitaly could have also finished a bit higher as well. »
Alan Permane, Chief Track Engineer
« A very eventful afternoon. The feeling is that we are a bit unlucky to leave with only fifth place. We made the right decision in the first part of the race. The other teams stopped to switch to intermediate tires, but we chose to keep the rain tires because we saw that it was going to keep raining heavily. Unfortunately, Nick got tangled with Kamui [Kobayashi], lost his front wing, and went off track, which eliminated him. But Vitaly drove a solid race, allowing him to finish fifth. Our goal was to have both cars in the points and from that viewpoint, we could have done better. »
Ricardo Penteado, Chief Engine Engineer LRGP, Renault Sport F1
A very eventful race for everyone and almost impossible to summarize in a few words. It’s a good result for Vitaly to secure fifth place and the points that come with it, which will be important for the constructors’ championship, as Mercedes achieved a good result here. We were aggressive with his fuel strategy, relying on the help of rain to sweep away other possibilities. We were very, very close at the end. We had changed Nick’s engine as a precaution last night [note: fuel samples revealed an unusual concentration of lead in the German’s car fuel, potentially causing damage to his engine block]. He seemed fine during the race, and it’s a shame not to have collected the points he deserved. Overall, the cars were competitive throughout the race, and this will give us confidence for the return to Europe and the next race.
[From the Lotus Renault Grand Prix press release]
