Romain Grosjean drove a measured and accomplished Spanish Grand
Prix to finish eighth despite a mid-race loss of fourth gear,
whilst a strong run from Pastor Maldonado was compromised by an
additional pit stop to modify damaged bodywork, after which he
subsequently retired.
Romain started from P11 on the grid on fresh medium compound
tyres, changing to new mediums on lap 15 and new hard tyres on
lap 40.Pastor started from P12 on the grid on new medium
compound tyres, changing to new mediums on lap 14 then new hards
on lap 43. He made an additional pit stop for damaged bodywork
to be modified on lap 15 and retired at the end of lap 45.
Romain Grosjean with Lotus F1 E23 makes a pit
stop. Image: Lotus F1 Team
Romain Grosjean, P8, E23-04
“It was a tough and eventful race. Firstly, I’m glad to say that
no-one was seriously injured in the pit stop. 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.”
Pastor Maldonado, DNF, E23-03
“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. 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."
Federico Gastaldi, Deputy Team Principal
"Both our drivers put in really strong performances today, with
Romain finishing in eighth despite a gearbox issue and Pastor
driving relentlessly before we retired him, but the real heroes
today were the pit crew. Our pit box proved slippery causing
Romain to stop long, resulting in three of the crew being
slightly worse for wear, but nevertheless they were back in
action for the subsequent stops. This is another endorsement of
Enstone’s never give up spirit and we know the guys will be
fighting fit for Monaco.”
Nick Chester, Technical Director
"That was an eventful race for us. It was a good result for
Romain with another four points in the bag despite an issue with
the gearbox which he managed well. Pastor was looking quick but
we had to pit him to remove some damaged bodywork. The extra
stop proved too much of a penalty as despite him setting strong
lap times, we weren’t able to work back up the order so we
retired the car to avoid any additional damage."
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