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Lotus F1 Team’s hopes for the British Grand Prix evaporated
before the completion of the first lap after an incident
instigated retirement for both Romain Grosjean and Pastor
Maldonado. Contact between Daniel Riccardo’s Red Bull and
Romain’s E23 led to contact with and damage to Pastor’s car;
Romain retired almost immediately whereas Pastor was able to
complete more of his lap before being told to park and retire.
Romain started from P12 on the grid on fresh medium compound
tyres.
Pastor started from P14 on the grid on new medium compound tyres.
Romain Grosjean, DNF, E23-04
“That was a very short race for the team and I feel for everyone
here at Silverstone and at Enstone. Daniel must have thought his
brakes and tyres would be able to slow him better than they did
and the result was the end of both my and Pastor’s race. No-one
likes to end a Grand Prix like that as so much effort goes into
making and preparing the cars. I know we have many fans who want
to see us race so I feel for them too. Budapest is next, and
we’ve gone well there in the past. I’m pumped-up to fight for
every single point available.”
Pastor Maldonado, DNF, E23-03
“At first I thought I had a puncture and would be able to return
to the pits and re-join the race but unfortunately the damage to
the car was more serious than that and I had to retire. There is
nothing you can do in situations like these as it’s all part of
racing. Now my focus is on the next race where we’ll be trying
our very best as always."
Maldonado on the grid
Federico Gastaldi, Deputy Team Principal
"Motorsport is sometimes a cruel sport and we saw that today.
There was nothing either of our drivers could have done to avoid
the first lap incident and that was our race over. It’s been a
frustrating home weekend for us. We weren’t able to show the
pace we have in the car, we’ve suffered from a few niggles, then
it was a very early bath for both our guys. Our focus is now
very much on Budapest and doing everything we can to ensure we
perform at the best of our ability there.”
Nick Chester, Technical Director
"Both Romain and Pastor were the victims of over-exuberance at
the start of the race meaning that both returned to the garage
for a very short debrief after only a lap on track. It’s now a
rapid return to Enstone to put everything we can into preparing
the cars for Hungary and our next opportunity for a points haul."
Image: Copyright Lotus F1 Team |
