(Glenn Dunbar for the Lotus F1 Team)
The Lotus F1 Team endured another difficult race weekend at the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka on Sunday. After qualifying for the race in 16th place Romain Grosjean went on to finish in 15th place just ahead of his team mate Pastor Maldonado who received a five place grid penalty for using a sixth power unit. The Venezuelan will receive another five place grid penalty in Russia next weekend as that will make up his ten place penalty. Speaking following the race, Grosjean stated:
'Firstly, my thoughts are with Jules and I hope he is not seriously hurt. It was a difficult race out there. The start under the safety car was in very wet conditions when the spray made it difficult to see and the amount of water on track meant we were aquaplaning a lot, so it was sensible to red flag the race.
After the restart, conditions were much better, but then the rain returned and it was difficult to be on the right tyres and find the grip we wanted. The car seemed quite good at times but we also used up our tyres quite quickly, so it was a big challenge today.'
Pastor Maldonado went into this weekend's race in search of his first points finish as a Lotus F1 Team driver and leaves Suzuka in search of his first point. Speaking following the race, Naldonado commented:
'It was a tricky race from the very beginning. I think we were doing quite well, trying to anticipate what others would do strategy-wise, and we recovered some places. There was a big battle at the back, quite tricky because the visibility was not so good. We were able to make some good moves, but equally you had to be very careful about where to push. Most importantly, my thoughts and prayers are with Jules tonight, I hope he is okay.'
The Lotus F1 Team remain in eighth place in the Constructors championship on eight points and have once again lost ground to Toro Rosso as Jean Eric Vergne finished the race in 9th place. Speaking about today's race, Lotus F1 deputy team principal Frederico Gastaldi commented saying:
'Obviously everyone in the team is concerned about Jules Bianchi and our thoughts are with him, his team and his family. We know the medical personnel will do everything he needs. The race took place under difficult weather conditions so it was a challenge for everyone. In terms of our performance, both drivers drove very well under very trying circumstances to bring both cars home after numerous visits to the pits.'
The Lotus F1 Team's Track side Operations Director, Alan Permane stated:
'It was a very, very difficult race for everyone between safety cars, a lot of incidents and a couple of serious accidents. The most important thing right now is Jules Bianchi’s condition and we all hope he is okay. Our performance was quite affected by the weather conditions and we were losing grip from the intermediate tyres quite rapidly which is something we have to analyse in case of another wet race.'
© Ben Johnston 2014
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