At the Spanish Grand Prix this afternoon, the Lotus F1 Team managed with their driver Romain Grosjean driving a measured race to finish in eighth place (his third consecutive point finish in a row), thereby picking up four much needed points for himself and the team, despite a mid-race loss of fourth gear for the Frenchman after starting from eleventh place on the grid.
Grosjean has stated after the race that it was a tough race for him especially after throwing up his front jack-man on his second pit stop after not stopping in time; but is glad to have scored points for the third consecutive race in a row.
“It was a tough and eventful race. Firstly, I’m glad to say that no-one was seriously injured in the pit stop, “ said Grosjean. “The rear tyres were experiencing a lot of degradation and I just couldn’t stop in time. It was a really scary moment for me, but probably more scary for the crew. I checked everyone was okay and I certainly owe them some beers!
“In the race, I lost fourth gear during the race which made things a bit of a challenge. It was a tough race but it’s good to be in the points for the third race in a row and we can be proud for what we’ve achieved today.”
Meanwhile, his team mate Pastor Maldonado, who started the race in twelfth place and then sustained damage to his rear wing in the early stages of the race, was compromised by an additional pit stop to modify the damage to his car; after which he subsequently retired on Lap 45. Maldonado believes that he was having a great race at the start, the strategy was working as planned but the damage he sustained to his car hindered his performance and is now looking forward to Monaco in a few weeks time.
“We were having a pretty great race at the start and our strategy was working well but then the damage to my car meant that I had to make an extra stop and my race was completely compromised,” said Maldonado.
“For sure, we have the pace in the car and in every race we have shown the potential to be in the points so it’s only a matter of time before we get a good result; I’m looking forward to Monaco.”
