12 June 2011

Team Lotus: Canadian Formula One Grand Prix 2011

Friday, 10 June 2011

Jarno Trulli, Car 21 - Chassis T128-01: "That was a good Friday for us. We ran well all day with no problems, got through the tyre evaluation programme and put good mileage on both the compounds. The grip level this morning was as dusty as we expected it to be and then it improved throughout the day, but with wet weather coming I think it will be harder work for everyone over the rest of the weekend."

Heikki Kovalainen, Car 20 - Chassis T128-04: "Overall I'm pretty satisified but it was a bit of a strange day. In the early runs this morning it felt like one of the hardest Fridays I've had this year in terms of the balance and overall performance of the car, but as we kept putting more laps in we made some good improvements with the brakes and the setup and I think we pretty much got what we wanted out of it by the end of P2."

Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1 Support Leader: "Another good Friday for us. We generated a lot of data from the mileage we ran, particularly on maximising performance on the very long straight here, and both drivers have given us good feedback about the maps we worked on so we have definitely achieved what we set out to today."

Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: "A very useful day for the team and good preparation for the weekend ahead. Both drivers completed their full programmes and we ran all day with no mechanical issues on either car. This morning we ran on the development tyres and both the primes and the options in the afternoon and were pleased with how well all the compounds behaved. We have definitely made some progress on the setup, particularly on Heikki's car, so that goes down as a good day."

Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: "Today's performance in both sessions is a good way to mark my first visit to Canada. We have obviously made good strides on the reliability of the cars and that sets us up well for the whole weekend which is key to our development on track, so I am very pleased with how today has gone. Off track we have also had a very good lead up to the Canadian race by completing a number of very exciting deals for both Team Lotus and AirAsia. We will unveil everything we have been working on in due course and when we do I am confident that it will serve as proof positive of how successfully we are growing both the F1 team and the airline."

Saturday, 11 June 2011

Jarno Trulli, Car 21 - Chassis T128-01: "I'm pleased with the performance today. It was very windy out there, and a lot cooler than yesterday which maybe affected our ability to get the most out of the tyres, but I think I got as much out of the car as I could on the final lap in qualifying. The gap to the guys ahead keeps coming down and I think with the rain tomorrow it's going to be an eventful race, and hopefully we'll be in a position to take advantage of whatever happens."

Heikki Kovalainen, Car 20 - Chassis T128-04: "A pretty good session for me today. The car felt fine and the strategy worked out as we wanted it to so I think we did what we set out to. Little by little we keep on improving and I'm looking forward to the race tomorrow - it's going to be eventful and I think what we've shown all season is that we can fight with the guys ahead, so let's see what happens."

Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1 Support Leader: "We can be pleased with the performance today but it was more difficult than yesterday to extract the maximum pace from the car. I think we have some more work to do to get the most out of it but as there is only a small gap to the teams ahead and we have had good speed in the races all season I think that is encouraging for tomorrow."

Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: "That was a good qualifying session for us and overall it has been a very solid weekend so far for the whole team. Both drivers drove well in qualifying - Jarno struggled a bit with the brakes and Heikki couldn't improve on his second set of tyres as he reported that they had lower grip levels than the first, but we finished the session with a small gap to the cars ahead and I think we will have a good race tomorrow."

Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: "I am very happy with today. From my perspective that was the best qualifying of my short career in Formula 1 because we showed that we did not have to rely on other teams making mistakes or using different tyre strategies to finish the session with a very small gap to making it into Q2 on merit. That is a clear sign that the hard work being put in across the team is paying dividends as we are genuinely edging ever closer to the midfield."

Saturday, 12 june 2011

Jarno Trulli, Car 21 - Chassis T128-01: "That was a very eventful race. It started well but I struggled all afternoon with the brakes and even though I was able to get them up to temperature I think they glazed after the first safety car and I couldn't recover them. After the race restarted I had the same issue with the brakes but as the track dried they started coming back and I was able to start pulling away from our direct competitors. Unfortunately after the stop to dry tyres I had something moving around in the cockpit so I came back in again for the team to investigate it. They couldn't fix it so I went back out and did as well as I could to bring the car home to the end."

Heikki Kovalainen, Car 20 - Chassis T128-04: "Unfortunately my race came to an end with a driveshaft failure. When we restarted I lost drive pretty much immediately and had to retire which is obviously a disappointing end to the weekend. It's just one of those things, nothing I could do about it so hopefully we'll have better luck in Valencia and keep pushing on."

Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1 Support Leader: "It was a pretty difficult day out there. We were maybe not as lucky as we could have been with the strategy and you always need a little luck in these conditions. From our perspective a wet race like this makes it very tricky to get the most out of the engine mapping. The conditions mean we need very good driveability, especially out of the corners because the driver needs a very smooth engine response and I think we have some work to do in that area."

Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: "After a very strong weekend that was not the sort of race we wanted to have. We lost a number of places after a problem in the first stops and then unfortunately Heikki had a driveshaft failure after the race restarted. Jarno has been strong all weekend and put in a fine drive this afternoon. He was able to pick up all the places he lost after the first pitstop and would have had a strong finish, but when he came in for the second time the front inerter failed and dropped down around his feet in the cockpit . We considered retiring the car but Jarno did an awesome job to not only bring the car to the end but also to catch the cars in front of him. He nearly passed them in the last couple of laps, despite the very large handicap he had, so sincere thanks to him for keeping his foot down in what was a very difficult situation.

Despite all that, we did have a strong weekend in terms of the car's performance so while that was not the best race we will ever have, I think we can see it as another stepping stone in the development of the team."

Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: "Honestly, that was a bit of a disappointing day for us. We had a mix up at the first pit stops and we struggled to improve from there in a race that could have provided some exciting opportunities for us. It is important that we see this as another part of our development and learn from the experience this weekend. However, there are a number of positives to take away from here - our performance in qualifying was excellent and Jarno put in an excellent drive this afternoon, and all weekend, so now we move on to Valencia where I am sure we will put this race behind us and keep moving forward."

To check out the classification, click here