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In the first Austrian
Grand Prix since 2003, both Lotus F1 Team cars saw the chequered flag
with Pastor Maldonado finishing just shy of the points in twelfth
position and Romain Grosjean in fourteenth. Hot conditions and the
undulating nature of the Spielberg circuit meant a number of cars
experienced issues, with both E22s suffering from braking concerns.
Pastor had a relatively positive weekend in Austria and remains
optimistic about the weekend and subsequent forthcoming race, "For me in
the car it was actually quite a good weekend. We finished the race which
is positive and we made the most of the package we had today. We are
losing a lot of time in the slow speed corners and we need to keep
improving in this area to be more like our good high speed corner
performance. Unfortunately we had some brake issues from very early on
in the race so I wasn’t able to fight others around me, even though it
was nice to be running in the top ten during the course of the race.
After that, it was a case of saving fuel and brakes to get to the
chequered flag. I think Silverstone will suit us much better.”
Despite starting from the pitlane due to a gearbox change, Romain did
well to rise up through the field at the unforgiving circuit. He spoke
frankly of today's race in Austria and explained the main challenges
faced out there; “Today hasn’t been easy. We had various issues during
the race to add to our struggle for overall performance so it was quite
a challenge! We stopped very early for soft tyres but unfortunately we
soon experienced graining from these which made it difficult for the
rest of the race. Looking at the past, the team has always managed to
make a great comeback. It might be a bit of a big build-up this time,
but I know that we will work hard and do all we can to fight back to
where we want to be.”
Deputy Team Principal Federico summarised the day; "There are positives
from today. Both cars made the chequered flag in what’s been a difficult
race for many teams. Pastor and Romain really got their heads down and
made the most of the cars under them and should be applauded for today’s
drives. It is obvious where we are lacking against our rivals so our
focus going forwards is clear.”
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