Lotus' fastest times don’t look great on Friday practice for the Austrian GP

Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado completed 131 laps of the Austrian Grand Prix circuit in Spielberg today, concentrating on set-up and tyre evaluations ahead of tomorrow’s qualifying session. The strong haul of laps has given the team a feast of data to dissect to find improvements for the rest of the weekend.

Romain Grosjean (FP1: P16, 1:13.168, 28 laps / FP2: P19, 1:12.262, 46 laps): “It was good to discover the circuit at the wheel of the E22 for the first time today. We have done a lot of work, completed 74 laps however it is fair to say that we have also struggled in the sessions. I wasn’t happy with the handling and the set-up of the car but we will work hard to rectify the different areas that need working on. It was good to learn that the longer run pace was stronger, we just need to unlock that pace for qualifying tomorrow.”

Pastor Maldonado (FP1: P17, 1:13.642, 27 laps / FP2: P15, 1.11.765, 30 laps): “We have worked methodically today and as the track improved we found a bit more pace as the day went on. Unfortunately we have encountered a power unit related issue this afternoon that didn’t allow us to entirely complete our programme the way we had planned. We must now investigate and solve any issues encountered today; analyse all the data in order to be ready for Saturday. I remain optimistic as we must push as hard as we can for qualifying tomorrow.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: “Certainly our fastest times don’t look great at the end of today as we struggled to get good one lap pace from both cars. Finding grip was a particular issue for both Pastor and Romain so we need to get to the bottom of that. Pastor experienced a power unit related issue in the afternoon and Romain didn’t get a clear run on fresh tyres so there’s scope for improvement in these areas. On heavier fuel and longer runs we look much more competitive, however, with Romain showing good pace in these conditions. Certainly, there’s more to learn on our return to Spielberg and we hope for a better performance tomorrow.”

Lotus F1 Team