Grosjean: A beautiful day despite a mechanical issue
Even though he missed a significant part of the first free practice session, Romain Grosjean is resolutely satisfied with the performance of his Lotus E23 on the Albert Park urban circuit in Melbourne.
Ninth fastest with a time of 1:30.295 during the second free practice session, the French driver carried out tire evaluation work and also tested new aerodynamic appendices in preparation for Sunday’s race.
« It was good to get back on track and do some laps at Albert Park, especially on such a beautiful day, » explained Grosjean. « The weather wasn’t the only source of joy since the car is performing really well and the team is confident about our potential. »
« Missing a large part of the first session was not in our plans, but we know the problem and we think it will be resolved tomorrow. This is what we can expect at the start of the season. The big plus is that the car behaves well and I think we will do well this weekend ».
On his side, Pastor Maldonado had a much calmer day. Ninth in the morning and then eighth in the afternoon, the Venezuelan is satisfied with the first steps of the Lotus E23 during a Grand Prix weekend.
“The Lotus E23 seems really good,” states Maldonado. “We could have done better in the second session, but the problem was easy to diagnose. The team will therefore look for a solution. As always during a first day of running here, the track improves all the time. We were able to do some good stints to gather valuable information. Our debriefings are promising, so it’s a good start to the season.”
