Lotus' Grosjean set the fourth fastest time on the opening day of the German GP

Romain Grosjean set the fourth fastest time on the opening day of the German Grand Prix weekend, with Kimi Räikkönen a mere five thousandths of a second behind in fifth after a productive day of running at the Nürburgring.

The team completed further Device evaluation with Romain in the morning, whilst Kimi tried the latest slimline bodywork which both cars ran with in the afternoon. The latest incarnation of Pirelli’s tyres were used in medium and soft specification today.

Romain Grosjean (Free Practice 1: P9, 33.260, 27 laps / Free Practice 2: P4, 1:30.843, 32 laps): “We had a pretty good day today. We ran the Device in the morning to gather some data then went back to our previous package for the afternoon, where we played with the setup a little but spent most of the time analysing the new tyres. We made a step forward with the upgrades that were brought to Silverstone, and we’re seeing the benefit here as well. Getting temperature into the tyres can be a bit tricky for us in colder conditions, but today it wasn’t an issue which is a good sign. It’s only free practice, but the car feels ok so let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”

Kimi Räikkönen (Free Practice 1: P5, 1:32.956, 22 laps / Free Practice 2: P5, 1:30.848, 27 laps): “We tried quite a few things today; some were good and some were not, so we have a good idea of what to do tomorrow. Our long run pace wasn’t as good as it could have been as we were running with a different setup which would have taken too long to change back during the session, but we now know which setup works better so it’s not a worry. The rear tyres weren’t much different, but we already knew that from when we tried them in Canada.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: “It was a fairly routine day for us. Romain ran the Device in the morning in order to gather more data, which we did, but there is no plan to run it for the rest of the weekend as any potential benefit is only marginal at this track. Kimi concentrated on setup work in the morning using the new slimline aero package.

In the afternoon, both cars went with the slimline package. With Kimi’s car we tried a different aero setup at the rear, which didn’t deliver quite the results we wanted. Neither driver was 100% happy with their car today, but we look to be in reasonable shape on the soft tyre and on long runs too. We’ve certainly got some more pace to come from the car, so we’re hoping for a productive day tomorrow.”

Lotus F1 Team