Friday: An intriguing new package on Räikkönen’s Lotus
Without warning, Lotus has brought along a system, tested exclusively on Kimi Räikkönen's car, that seems to be related to the DRS, similar to Mercedes' Double-DRS. Romain Grosjean, on the other hand, drove with a more conventional car and thinks he can manage to do well despite his penalty if tomorrow is wet and the race is dry.
Kimi Räikkönen – 15th and 10th:
« We didn’t learn much today with weather like this; it was like Silverstone where we also didn’t have good conditions. We tried different things which I think were noticed. It would have been nice to have more running on a dry track but there’s nothing you can do about it. The track seems quite slippery when it’s wet; it is undoubtedly not very grippy in these conditions. Overall, it was a rather normal Friday where you try different things and run as much as the weather allows you. »
Romain Grosjean – 10th and 5th:
« It was a tough session with the rain coming down. It seems we will have more time on a wet track tomorrow, so it’s good to get a feel for the Wet and Intermediate tires. We had some elements we wanted to test in dry conditions but unfortunately, it wasn’t possible. If we get to Sunday without a single additional lap in the dry, no one will have a very good idea of tire degradation and the difference between tire types, which could help me as I’ll be starting a bit further back on the grid with my penalty. Anyway, we now have good baseline settings, hopefully, this will help us bring home a decent result at the end of the weekend. »
