Formula One - German Grand Prix
Kimi Raikkonen was classed third at
Hockenheim having started back in tenth place.
He crossed the line in fourth, but with the
stewards penalizing Sebastian Vettel 20 seconds
for passing Jenson Button off the track, Kimi
inherits the podium position even though he
missed out on the rostrum bubbly.
The Finn qualified a disappointing tenth in the
rain affected session but made an aggressive
start to Sunday’s race, making up two places on
the first lap and then pulling off a thrilling
manoeuvre on Force India’s Paul di Resta around
Turns 7 and 8. Having started on the soft
compound tyre, he went for the same again on Lap
11 but his middle stint was a little
underwhelming. He held out until Lap 38 to
switch to mediums, before passing Michael
Schumacher and finishing behind the McLaren of
Jenson Button.
Romain Grosjean had a less rewarding race,
making contact with Bruno Senna and coming off
at the hairpin on Lap 1 with a broken front wing.
He dropped to the back as he pitted for a
replacement, and two more times for fresh tyres,
opting for a soft-medium-medium-medium strategy.
He finished in 18th.
Romain drops to eighth in the drivers’
championship with 61 points, while Kimi rises to
fourth with 98. Lotus drops to fourth, just one
point behind McLaren in the constructors’
championship.
Kimi Raikkonen: “We did the best we could given
where we started, but the chance of victory was
lost on Saturday, and not for the first time. We
didn’t have much grip in the wet unfortunately.
Therefore we can be quite happy with where we
ended up today. My start was okay, but I had to
slow down to avoid hitting Lewis [Hamilton],
which let Paul [di Resta] past, and then I went
after him. The car worked well today, and if we
had started higher I think we could have done a
bit better, but there are positives to take to
the next race.”
Romain Grosjean: “We were on the back foot this
weekend having been given a five-place grid
penalty for changing the gearbox. Nothing went
right today. It’s a shame because I had a good
start and made up some places through Turn 1.
Then on the straight there was contact, and that
was the race ruined. I’m not sure exactly what
happened, I need to watch the on-board. My car
was badly damaged with a broken wing and a
puncture. I’m hoping for a much better weekend
in Hungary.”
GP2 - Hockemheim
Lotus’ James Calado won the GP2 sprint race
in Germany, having earned the reverse grid pole
the day before. Calado and team-mate Esteban
Gutierrez both had ten-place grid penalties from
Silverstone, which was always going to make the
Hockenheim weekend a challenge. Calado responded
by setting the second fastest time in qualifying,
which meant he started Race 1 from P11.
Gutierrez was caught out by a yellow flag during
the wet session which meant he set only the
ninth fastest time. He started Saturday’s race
in P18.
With the track damp at the start, most teams
including Lotus GP elected to start on wet tyres,
with Johnny Cecotto gambling on slicks. His call
paid off, as the sun dried the circuit quickly
and the field filed into the pits after a few
laps to change to dry rubber. With both Lotus’
pitting at the same time, Gutierrez had to wait
while Calado’s tyres were changed which dropped
him back to 19th. The Mexican then managed those
slicks well, so that he was able to attack hard
in the final third of the 39 lap race, passing
Tom Dillmann for P10 and chasing down Marcus
Ericsson. On the last lap he made a move on
Ericsson at the hairpin but the pair went wide,
allowing Dillmann back through. Esteban managed
to retain tenth place, earning himself a point.
Calado, meanwhile, fought over eighth place with
Davide Valsecchi, which is vital for a good
starting position for Race 2. Valsecchi went
wide on Lap 31, which allowed the Englishman
through.
Starting from pole, Calado made a great Race 2
start and despite early pressure from Guido van
der Garde was able to pull away from the
Dutchman in the second half of the race. It was
the rookie’s second sprint win of the season.
Gutierrez finished fifth after a long fight with
Fabio Leimer who, despite a last lap attempt, he
was unable to pass.
Esteban maintains third place in the drivers’
championship with 129 points. Calado is fifth in
the standings with 116 but has closed the gap.
Lotus GP lead DAMS with 245 points to 227.
James Calado: “A fantastic weekend for me and
Lotus GP. I had a ten-place penalty but I came
here focused on qualifying well, which I did. I
was very close to pole position. I had contact
with another driver during Race 1, which broke
part of my front wing and the loss of down force
really ruined my tyres. P8 was the target and we
got there, so that was good. The start of Race 2
was perfect; in fact I’d say it was the most
perfect race I’ve ever driven. I set my fastest
lap of the race just a few laps from the end,
which goes to show how well the car was set up.
Despite pressure from Van der Garde I knew I had
plenty left. My confidence is now boosted. We
had no problems at all and a good load of points
to take to Hungary.”
Esteban Gutierrez: “In Race 1 I lost critical
time to James on the pitstop, and after that I
had a lot of work to do. It was a long stint, so
I had to take care of the tyres at the beginning.
Towards the end we were able to gain a lot of
positions, so this tactic worked. Tenth is not
so bad, it could have been worse. Race 2 was
more fun, I had some good fights and it was very
challenging as I had very little tyres left at
the end. I tried to overtake Leimer but felt the
tyres going away. The day was very positive as I
managed to score six points and my team-mate won
the race, so it’s terrific for Lotus GP.”
GP3 - Hockenheim
Lotus GP took three podiums from Germany’s
two races, with Daniel Abt scoring pole position
for Race 1.
Abt was one of five drivers to start the race on
slick tyres, which proved the wrong call as the
heavens opened on the formation lap. This
promoted Lotus team-mate Conor Daly, who started
P3, to the lead before the conditions were so
bad the race director signalled the red flag and
the race was suspended. After a 15 minute wait
on the grid the cars restarted under the safety
car and, on Lap 8, racing was finally underway
again. Daly was passed by Patric Niederhauser
and finished P2, while Abt finished seventh
earning the reverse grid P2 for Race 2 and Aaro
Vainio, in the third Lotus, finished fifth
tucked up behind Matias Laine’s MW Arden, whom
he was unable to pass.
Race 2 saw very little racing, just three laps
that weren’t under the safety car. Abt made the
perfect start to take the lead from Mitch Evans
and blast into the distance, but his advantage
was cancelled out by a Lap 1 incident at the
hairpin involving Vicky Piria, which led to
eight laps behind the safety car. Daly,
meanwhile, leapt from seventh place to third. At
the restart Evans was able to get a tow and pass
Abt. Fabiano Machado’s off on Lap 11 brought out
another safety car, under which the race was
finished. Abt finished second, Daly third, and
Vainio sixth.
Evans now leads the championship with 121 points,
with Vainio second on 103, Abt promoted to third
on 76 just ahead of Niederhauser and Daly on 75.
Lotus GP extends its lead the teams’
championship with 254 points to MW Arden’s 216.
Daniel Abt: “After the bad luck yesterday, I
made a pretty good start to pass Mitch and take
the lead. I think I could have kept P1 after the
first safety car phase but Mitch got a good
slipstream and was able to pass me at the
hairpin. With the second safety car I didn’t get
a chance to try and reclaim my lead so it was a
very bad day for me. Second place is not what I
wanted in this race. My expectations were higher
having earned pole for Race 1 and started on the
front row for Race 2. I still got good points
but it was the win that I wanted in front of my
home fans.”
Conor Daly: “This was a great weekend, I had no
penalties and a good qualifying, and I go away
with two podiums. That’s great for the
championship and continues the strong momentum
from Silverstone. It was frustrating to spend so
many laps under the safety car today because the
car was strong in the dry, but in the end that’s
motorsports and at least I made a mega start
which put us up there.”
Claudio Berro, Director of Lotus Racing: “Some
good results this weekend, with a win in GP2 and
podiums in both Formula One and GP3. Once again
the Lotus F1 Team showed strong pace in the
race, but as Kimi says qualifying is important
too and Saturday ultimately kept the team off
the top spot again in Hockenheim. We all know
the team, the drivers and the E20 car has the
ability to win and we must wait patiently for
everything to come together. Winning is
something we’re looking forward to and it’s only
a couple of days until Lotus arrives in Hungary
to try just that.”
Indycar - Edmonton Indy
Sunday’s sunny Edmonton Indy was America’s
first premier open-wheel race to run ‘caution
free’ since Portland 2007. Lotus HVM Racing’s
Simona de Silvestro drove a consistent race and
showed good speed through the corners, pulling a
nice move on Ed Carpenter Racing’s No.20 car on
Lap 17. Unfortunately the car’s lack of pace on
the straights made it difficult to gain more
positions, and she finished 23rd.
Simona de Silvestro: “It was kind of a weird day.
No yellows, so we couldn’t really get off
strategy. We had to make one more stop than
everybody else because our fuel consumption is
comparatively poor. We had a strong race car
today, but we’re still not fast enough.”
Vincent Pereme, Lotus’s motorsport engine
manager: “We had a new spec of engine for
Edmonton with an additional performance upgrade.
We are very pleased with the fact that we were
able to finish the race with no engine related
issue. This is very important information for us
as it validates this new specification of engine
as the base on which we will be able to do
further work. We understand that it is
frustrating for Simona, as it is for the HVM and
for all of us at Lotus, to not be able to
compete yet with the frontrunners.
But we are showing clear signs of improvement at
each race and that will continue through the
season.”
American Le Mans Series - Grand Prix of
Mosport
Lotus Alex Job Racing completed a full
weekend without any major hiccups in Ontario to
finish ninth, and gaining valuable data in the
process in order to develop the car. The
Canadian Tyre Motorsport Park gave the team of
Townsend Bell and Bill Sweedler their first
chance to put the Evora GT through its paces
around properly high-speed turns.
Bill Sweedler: “Once again we did maximum laps
and took another step in the development of this
very promising car. As we go to every track that
is new to this car we are coming up with more
items to improve handling and overall
performance. This week it was aero balance. The
guys are doing a great job.”
Townsend Bell: “We are getting faster. It is a
lot of work for a ninth-place finish. We ran as
high as sixth and were able to be respectable,
while running what is essentially a test program
on TV. We know what our goals are for the season,
and we are right on pace with the development of
the car.”
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