Friday, 22 November 2013
Heikki Kovalainen ended a wet first day of
practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix with the
fourth fastest time at Interlagos. Romain
Grosjean was tenth fastest on a day which
started wet and became wetter with rainfall over
the Brazilian track in São Paulo.
Technical programme notes
Pirelli’s Intermediate (green) and Wet (blue)
tyres were used in the morning and afternoon
sessions.
The morning session was damp, the afternoon was
considerably wetter with ongoing rain and
increased standing water.
What we learned today:
Wet set-up was validated through a significant
number of laps in anticipation of similar
conditions for qualifying tomorrow.
Heikki Kovalainen, E21-05
Free practice 1: P9, 1:26.133, 31 laps
Free practice 2: P4, 1:28.129, 13 laps
Heikki: “Obviously, it was challenging
conditions but it was good for me to get the
experience in the wet weather. There were no big
surprises and the car was behaving quite well.
It was a little bit trickier than driving in the
dry, but we expected this. That said, I think
the team have made good progress in this area as
it wasn’t too difficult to drive. There are
still a couple of areas where we can improve on,
and whether we have valid information for
tomorrow’s weather we don’t know yet.”
Romain Grosjean, E21-04
Free practice 1: P13, 1:26.570, 28 laps
Free practice 2: P10, 1:28.891, 12 laps
Romain: “It wasn’t perfect weather and we still
have some progress to make on the wet set-up for
conditions like we had today. In the morning it
was a struggle for grip with too much understeer,
but we made progress in this area for the
afternoon and have a few ideas about how we can
improve further for tomorrow. It’s certainly a
challenge with the spray and standing water, but
despite this it’s still awesome to be driving
around Interlagos.”
Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director:
“We’ve gained strong data using both of
Pirelli’s wet tyres. Romain wasn’t happy with
his set-up in the morning, but he was much
happier in the afternoon. Heikki continues to
get comfortable with the car and in the team and
showed great pace in the wet in the afternoon
with the fourth quickest time. We’re happy with
today’s work.”
Saturday, 23 November 2013
Romain Grosjean ended the day sixth with
Heikki Kovalainen eleventh during a rain
affected qualifying session for tomorrow’s
Brazilian Grand Prix. The classically
unpredictable São Paulo weather saw conditions
range from drying, to light showers, then heavy
downpours; making for a challenging but
entertaining afternoon at the Interlagos
circuit.
An absence of rain at the start of Q1 left a
drying track as the drivers emerged for their
opening runs on intermediate tyres; both making
an early jump to take advantage of the
conditions before the forecasted showers began.
Romain’s time in that single stint was good
enough to see him through in eighth place,
whilst Heikki opted for a second run to
eventually progress in fifth.
With the rain intensity starting to increase, Q2
once again saw both drivers head out for early
stints on the intermediate rubber; pitting for
fresh sets of the same compound with minutes to
spare after initial banker runs. A fantastic lap
from Romain saw the Frenchman progress in top
spot, whilst Heikki narrowly missed the cut for
the top ten shootout in eleventh.
Torrential downpours in the build-up to Q3 saw
the session delayed by fourty minutes due to
excessive levels of standing water on the track.
Once underway, the sole remaining E21 set off
for an exploratory lap on wets, before pitting
immediately for a switch to intermediates. As
the puddles began to clear so the times started
to tumble; Romain putting in a respectable lap
in the final moments to take sixth on tomorrow’s
grid.
Heikki Kovalainen, E21-05
Q: P11, 1:27.456
FP3: P3, 1:28.595
“It’s disappointing not to make the top ten, but
I just didn’t have enough pace in the second
session; it’s as simple as that. The conditions
weren’t ideal, but it’s the same for everybody
and there was nothing wrong with the car so I
can’t have any complaints. It’s not the ideal
starting position, but the car is performing
well and anything can happen in motor racing –
especially here at Interlagos – so we’ll look at
where we can improve for tomorrow and try to do
a better job in the race.”
Romain Grosjean, E21-04
Q: P6, 1:27.737
FP3: P2, 1:28.195
“That was quite a difficult afternoon. It was
tricky to decide which tyre we should use for
the final qualifying session and we wanted to
try for pole which is why we used the
intermediates, but in the end there was probably
just a little bit too much water which certainly
made things interesting. Ultimately my lap
wasn’t good enough, but the car has been strong
all weekend so we’re confident for the race no
matter what the weather is. Certainly, my Q2 lap
in the wet today was very good and we know we
have a strong baseline setup in the dry, so
let’s see what happens.”
Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director:
How was qualifying?
Honestly? Rather disappointing. The car has been
performing well all weekend in the wet
conditions, so we were hoping for a strong
performance. Heikki was unlucky to narrowly miss
out on going through to the top ten by a very
small margin, and conceded a couple of small
errors on his lap. In the final session we let
Romain down with a poorly timed pit stop after
making the call to put him out on intermediates.
These were the right tyres, but we should have
waited a little before he started his run on
them.
What’s possible in the race?
We still have a good chance for a strong result
tomorrow. Both drivers have been very
comfortable with the car in the wet conditions
today and we know it performs well in the dry.
If it’s dry then everyone will be heading into
the race without any tyre data, which could be
an advantage for us as our tyre management in
the race is generally amongst the best on the
grid.
Sunday, 24 november 2013
A disappointing end to the 2013 Formula 1
season for Lotus F1 Team yielded the Enstone
squad’s first point-less weekend of the year at
the final round in Brazil; Heikki Kovalainen
dropping three positions from his eleventh
placed grid slot whilst team-mate Romain
Grosjean retired with an early engine failure
having started sixth.
In stark contrast to the first two days of track
action at Interlagos, dry conditions remained
for the majority of the race; interrupted only
by light showers during the closing stages. A
tricky start for both drivers saw Romain drop
two positions and Heikki four on the opening
lap; completing the first tour in eighth and
fifteenth respectively.
Three laps later and Romain’s impressive run of
results during the final third of the season
came to a premature end; the Frenchman’s
RS27-2013 engine failing in spectacular fashion
on what would be the final appearance for the V8
configuration power plant. Movement amongst the
midfield throughout a two stop strategy race was
not enough to aid Heikki in recovering from a
slow getaway; the Finn eventually crossing the
line to take fourteenth place.
Kimi Räikkönen’s absence from the last two races
of the season sees him fall to fifth place in
the final Drivers’ Championship standings on 183
points; 6 behind Lewis Hamilton in fourth.
Romain takes seventh position with 132 points;
trailing Nico Rosberg by 39. For the second
consecutive season the team finishes fourth in
the Constructors’ Championship; a total of 315
points the final tally from Ferrari’s 354.
Heikki started from eleventh on the grid with a
fresh set of medium tyres; pitting for the same
compound on lap fifteen and again for new hards
on lap thirty-four.
Romain started from sixth on a fresh set of
medium tyres; retiring on lap four.
Heikki Kovalainen, P14, E21-05
“It has been a great opportunity to drive for
Lotus F1 Team and I’m upset that I was not able
to score any points for them today. I think the
car is great, but I was not able to unlock the
pace and make the most of it. I made some
mistakes – probably through lack of routine –
but I was anticipating it would be easier to
come back and race competitively. My starts both
here and in Austin were really poor, with
procedural issues both times meaning I wasn’t
able to keep pace with everyone off the line.
That was disappointing as it’s such a big part
of the race and it’s very difficult to recover
positions. I’d like to thank everyone at Lotus
F1 Team for all their support during these two
races.”
Romain Grosjean, DNF, E21-04
“At this point in the season I think everyone
needs a holiday, but apparently my engine
decided to go on vacation early! Of course,
that’s not the way we wanted to end the year but
it’s been a fantastic season for the team and I
think we can be really proud of what we’ve
achieved together. We’ve proven this year that
we are a top team, and I’m certainly proud of
all the guys in the garage and back at Enstone.
Today was obviously disappointing for everyone
as they deserved more from this final race after
all their hard work, but now it’s time to get a
little bit of rest and then focus on making sure
we head into 2014 and the new regulations as one
of the top teams once again.”
Eric Boullier, Team Principal
“Clearly this is a disappointing way to end what
has been a strong season for the team in often
difficult circumstances. Our goal at the start
of the year was to improve on last season’s
fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship,
and although we may have just fallen short of
that target, it has certainly not been through a
lack of effort. Fourteen podium finishes and 315
points is a commendable improvement on our 2012
performance, and I am extremely proud of
everyone who has worked so hard to keep us right
at the front of a very competitive pack until
the very last weekend of the season. In Kimi and
Romain we have had one of the strongest line-ups
on the grid, and I would like to congratulate
them both on some fantastic performances
throughout the year. From Kimi’s memorable win
at the opening race to Romain’s recent run of
podium finishes, they have both been superb.
It’s going to be a busy winter preparing for the
challenges of 2014, but for now we wish everyone
a good few days of well-earned rest.”
Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director
“After the season we’ve had with the E21, it’s
hugely frustrating that we were unable to give
what has been a fantastic car the send-off it
deserved. For Romain in particular – who has
barely put a foot wrong over the past couple of
months – we feel particularly aggrieved after
his early retirement. We’ll be looking into what
happened with his engine to see exactly what
caused such a significant failure, as generally
speaking our reliability has been pretty strong
all year. After a poor start it was always going
to be difficult for Heikki to climb back into
the points, but we’re nonetheless disappointed
to come away from this weekend with nothing on
the board. We now look ahead to the challenge of
2014 aiming to maintain the momentum of the past
two seasons.”
Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 Team Support
Leader
“Today was the last race for the V8s and
unfortunately Romain’s gave up before the end.
We saw a massive drop in oil pressure in the
data but we won’t be sure of the exact reason
until we get the car back; it could be cause or
consequence. In any case it caused the engine to
seize and explode in a spectacular way, so we’ll
investigate thoroughly to analyse exactly what
lead to the failure.”
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