Saturday: Team Lotus has more to give!
Heikki Kovalainen embarrassed and Jarno Trulli uncomfortable, that's the assessment Team Lotus draws from these qualifying sessions, during which Tony Fernandes' team doesn't seem to have expressed its full potential. The drivers hope for a lively race to perform well tomorrow.
Heikki Kovalainen – 19th and 19th
« I am very happy. I was held up during my second stint, but I always managed to stay within the same second as the car in front of me, and I think I am close to getting the most out of the car. We improved during free practice 3 and the tire wear wasn’t bad, so I think we are in a good position for tomorrow. It’s a long race and one where the safety car will likely have an impact, so the goal for tomorrow is clear: ensure both cars reach the finish line and position ourselves to take advantage of any opportunity ».
Jarno Trulli – 22nd and 20th
Honestly, I struggled with the car all day and even though I managed to get closer to Heikki in qualifying, I am still not happy with our position. The guys worked very hard all weekend to fix one or two issues we had, and I want to thank them for enabling the car to do a quick lap, but now it’s about finishing the race in one piece tomorrow.
Mike Gascoyne, technical director
A decent performance from us in qualifying today. Jarno wasn’t happy with the car during each session today, so we need to look at why there was a change since yesterday. For Heikki, his first qualifying lap was good, but on his second lap, he was held up by the cars in front of him although he was faster. It’s encouraging to know that there’s still more to extract from the car. The goal is the same as usual for us: to deliver a good performance, bring both cars home, and do the best we can to have the cars at the front.
