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Lotus Racing secured its primary goal of
tenth place in the 2010 FIA Formula One™ World
Championship when Heikki Kovalainen finished the
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 17th place. Jarno
Trulli’s race came to an unfortunate end on lap
51 and finished in the garage after his car
suffered a rear wing failure with just three
laps left.
Heikki Kovalainen (Chassis T127-03) 17th,
fastest lap 1.45.378: “What a fantastic end to
our season. The race itself was just great,
right from when the lights went out. I got the
best start of the season, made up places
immediately and from that point on I just got my
head down and got on with it. Everything went
perfectly according to plan. The tyres weren’t
really degarding and as the car got lighter and
the fuel burnt away I was able to keep putting
in what felt like qualifying laps throughout the
whole race. I was able to pull away a gap to the
cars behind me and we managed the traffic really
well all race. After I came out of the pits I
had to let a few cars past which cost me several
seconds, but that wasn’t a problem as I could
keep pulling away from my direct rivals. This is
the perfect way to end our first season, and
gives us a huge boost for next year. We finished
on a high, achieved all our goals and we have a
very exciting future ahead of us. Thank you to
the whole team for a fantastic season – I can’t
wait for next year.”
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-02) DNF, fastest lap
1.45.979: “First of all congratulations to the
whole team. Everyone has done an amazing job
this year and while it’s been long and tough,
for a brand new team it’s been special. My race
was one of the ones I’ll want to forget. I had a
problem with the front wing to begin with, and
then a rear wing failure finished the race so
I’m pretty glad it’s over! This year I’ve had
all sorts of bad luck but I’m very confident
about next year as the package that’s been put
together is very good and it gives everyone in
the team a chance to take the next step forward.”
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: “Job
done. When we started out on this project the
first target was to be best of the new teams.
When you think how late our entry was confirmed
that was always going to be a good challenge,
but we have done it. We gave Tony, Din and Nasa
tenth place and that makes me very proud of the
whole team. On a personal level I’d like to
thank my partner Silvi. We did this together and
I could not have done it without her or the
whole team. However, this is just the beginning.
Next year what is important is the steps we take
forward, but for tonight we will enjoy the
achievement. We have earned it.”
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: “I am completely
relieved, completely ecstatic, completely happy
and completely vindicated in making the decision
to go into F1. What we have achieved today is
what dreams are made of. To complete 19 races
after having just five months to build a car and
finish in tenth in style is something that is
truly magical. It shows you that even in the
modern age where money and power counts for so
much, there is a chance for ambition and dreams
to shine. 2010 is a year that we can be proud
of. We brought Lotus back into F1 after many
had talked about it, but we did it. I can
confidently say that everyone associated with
the Lotus history can be very proud of what we
have done this year. This is the first chapter
of a long career ahead and we will create our
own future, destiny and history from here. I am
thankful to all the incredibly special staff we
have in Hingham, Malaysia and here in Abu Dhabi
for what they have done this year and my abiding
memory of 2010 comes from one of our engineers,
who told me he had achieved higher grid
positions with other teams, but never with a
team that feels as special as this. To all the
Lotus fans thank you so much for your support –
we could not have done it without you. I am
thrilled that Lotus Racing has opened up F1 to
everyone out there, and we cannot wait to see
you next year.” |
