DAMS were left feeling disappointed after qualifying at Barcelona, after strong pace in practice failed to translate into good qualifying results.
Romain Grosjean began the weekend on a high by topping the free practice session for the team, going over half a second quicker than his nearest rivals. Rookie teammate Pal Varhaug backed up the team's strong start by going eighth quickest.
However, in the qualifying session points leader Grosjean could only manage fifth place, with Varhaug down in 20th place. A penalty for Jules Bianchi means that Grosjean will start from P4 on the grid.
“We felt very confident after the first session, but the track got a lot hotter before qualifying and that probably had an influence on our result,” said the team's general manager Loic David. “We just lacked that little extra.”
Grosjean said: “Today’s qualifying was a bit more difficult than the last one, but I think we know where we had problems. However, I’m feeling confident for the race tomorrow and I know it’ll be long and full of upsets. It’s up to us to learn from our small mistakes and continue our encouraging start to the season. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s battle.”
Varhaug added: “I was very happy after the free session but the car wasn’t handling in the same way in qualifying. So I’m not very happy with my position. I’ll do my utmost to fight my way back up through the field during tomorrow’s race.”
