Something From the Weekend... FORMULA ONE – CHINESE GRAND PRIX
Company press release.
The Lotus F1 Team embarked on an aggressive strategy in Shanghai that saw both drivers pit twice. The gamble worked for Romain Grosjean, who improved on his tenth place grid slot to come home sixth, while Kimi Raikkonen fell back. The Finn started an excellent fourth place and ran as high as second during laps 41 to 47. Having pitted for the second set of medium tyres four laps before Romain, he suffered huge degradation and was swamped by his rivals during the final laps. Grosjean's sixth place yields eight points – the first of his F1 career.
Kimi Raikkonen: 'Up until the last ten laps it was looking quite good, but we ran out of tyre performance at the end. We had good pace in the race, we tried a different strategy and it didn't pay off. It's as simple as that.'
Romain Grosjean: 'It was a very good race, I really enjoyed it. To be up there fighting with McLaren and Red Bull is a great feeling and I'm happy to have got my season started properly. We've had high hopes since P3 on the grid in Melbourne, and now after a few setbacks it's time to aim higher.'
The Lotus F1 Team embarked on an aggressive strategy in Shanghai that saw both drivers pit twice. The gamble worked for Romain Grosjean, who improved on his tenth place grid slot to come home sixth, while Kimi Raikkonen fell back. The Finn started an excellent fourth place and ran as high as second during laps 41 to 47. Having pitted for the second set of medium tyres four laps before Romain, he suffered huge degradation and was swamped by his rivals during the final laps. Grosjean's sixth place yields eight points – the first of his F1 career.
Kimi Raikkonen: 'Up until the last ten laps it was looking quite good, but we ran out of tyre performance at the end. We had good pace in the race, we tried a different strategy and it didn't pay off. It's as simple as that.'
Romain Grosjean: 'It was a very good race, I really enjoyed it. To be up there fighting with McLaren and Red Bull is a great feeling and I'm happy to have got my season started properly. We've had high hopes since P3 on the grid in Melbourne, and now after a few setbacks it's time to aim higher.'