Sunday: Grosjean and Räikkönen paid for their poor grid positions
By starting respectively 10th and 11th on the grid, Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean were unable to compete with the front of the pack. While the Finn has to settle for the points of the 7th place, the Frenchman is content with his 6th place even though he could have hoped for better.
Romain Grosjean – 6th:
« I think we can be quite satisfied with the result today. The race was tough, with a start in the wet and finish in the dry, but that’s common here in Malaysia. I spent quite a bit of time stuck behind Felipe [Massa] in the middle of the race, and I’m convinced that if I had been able to pass him earlier, I would have stayed ahead of him afterwards. But at the end of the race, my tires were shot, so I could only let him pass. It’s not the result we were expecting at the start of the weekend, but in the end, we scored more points for the team, and we’ll try to come back stronger in Shanghai. »
Kimi Räikkönen – 7th:
« While the car was very good on Friday, yesterday and today it was more difficult to drive. Since Saturday morning, it hasn’t been behaving as we expected, for a reason I don’t know, especially in the wet where I really struggled to find grip. The race was tough and I lost a part of my front wing at the beginning, which didn’t help me. But at least I score some points, which is better than leaving empty-handed. If we manage to get the car back to its form from Australia, I’m sure we’ll be in front again. »
[From the statement released by Lotus F1 Team]