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A fantastic Singapore Grand Prix ended in
spectacular style for Lotus Racing’s Heikki
Kovalainen after he pulled over on the start /
finish straight and put out a fire in his car by
himself that brought to an end a battling drive
under the Singapore lights. Jarno Trulli had
suffered a hydraulics failure on lap 26, which
ended his race after both he and Heikki had made
very good starts and had been fighting in the
midfield in 15th and 16th in the early laps. A
double pitstop under the first safety car period
on lap three gave them both strong track
positions which they both held until Jarno’s
retirement, and Heikki’s eventual race-ending
fire.
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: “The race
tonight marks a major step forward for us. On
the pitwall we were talking about beating
Michael and Buemi in a straight fight on track,
and we told Heikki to take the fight to them -
not to take the conservative approach. If we’d
taken the safer option maybe Heikki wouldn’t
have hit Buemi, but we’re here to race, and
that’s what I mean about a big step forward.
This is all part of our learning curve, but
coming here and racing the Toro Rossos and
Mercedes at the end of a pretty hardcore race is
a sign of how far we’ve come. We’ll take all
these lessons into next year, and it can only
help us be an even more potent force in 2011.”
Heikki Kovalainen (Chassis T127-01) 16th,
fastest lap 1.53.051 - lap 53, 2 stops – laps 3,
34: “That was not quite how I thought my race
would end! Until the fire, I was having a really
strong run and the car had felt good throughout.
We were looking good for 15th, but then I had a
coming together with Buemi towards the end of
the race. I spun the car to get back onto the
track which I think cracked the fuel tank
pressure release valve and it looks like that
caused an airbox fire. I didn’t want to come
into the pits as it definitely wasn’t safe
enough to do so, and pulled over on the main
straight. A couple of guys from Williams gave me
an extinguisher, so I put the fire out on my own
– I told Tony and Mike that they maybe need to
pay me more as I’m now a fireman as well…”
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-04) DNF, fastest lap
1.56.386 - lap 20, 3 stops – laps 3, 6, 25: “I
had a very good start and was running well with
Heikki but then the problems started. I had a
puncture just after the first safety car which
brought me back in early, and then the hydraulic
problems that have affected me quite a few times
this season struck again. It’s been a difficult
weekend to be honest, but now we go to Suzuka
which is a track I really look forward to, so
hopefully I’ll have some better luck there.”
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: “It was
a very eventful race and a real shame at the end
to see Heikki’s race brought to an end with the
fire. Both cars made a great start and got
themselves in front of the Virgins which is
obviously what we wanted to do. We stopped them
both during the first safety car lap, which
seemed to be the right call, and the pitcrew did
a great job to get them both turned around as
quickly as they did. Unfortunately Jarno then
picked up a puncture from some debris on track
and then a hydraulics problem brought his race
to an end. We tried to get him back out, but
after having done so the problems started again
straight away so he had to come back in.
“Heikki clearly had a pretty dramatic race. When
the fire started he made the decision not to
come into the pitlane for safety reasons, and
did very well to put the fire out himself. Until
that point he was having a fantastic race and we
were looking forward to fighting with Michael
and Buemi right to the end, but unfortunately
the fire put paid to that. The main thing really
is to say thanks to him for being brave enough
to put it out, and be thankful that he’s fine
after what was a pretty spectacular end to his
race. After such a good race performance from
him and the whole team, we will take some real
positives from this weekend, and look forward to
the last four races.” |
