CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR – LOTUS IN THE 2012 CHINESE GRAND PRIX
Lotus Formula One driver Romain Grosjean benefitted from an aggressive tyre strategy whilst team mate Kimi Räikkönen ultimately lost out in a fast-paced and exciting Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit at the weekend (15 April 2012).
Romain went from tenth on the grid to finish in sixth, whilst Kimi ran strongly in second place until his tyres could no longer deliver sufficient performance, finally finishing in 14th.
- Both cars started on the yellow-marked soft Pirelli P-Zero and used a further two sets of mediums.
- Romain pitted on laps 11 and 32.
- Kimi pitted on laps 10 and 28.
- Kimi ran in P2 for laps 41-47. Romain ran in P2 for laps 29-31.
Kimi Räikkönen, P14, E20-03
“We tried to run two stops as it looked to be the fastest strategy and up until the last ten laps it was looking good, but we ran out of tyre performance at the end. I was stuck behind Felipe (Massa) for quite a while and couldn’t get past as I wasn’t fast enough in the right parts of the track to make a move. Even if I’d got past I don’t think it would have made the greatest amount of difference to the final result. We had good pace in the race, we tried a different strategy and it didn’t pay off today; it’s as simple as that.”
Romain Grosjean, P6, E20-04
“It was a very good race, I really enjoyed it. Unfortunately I made a little mistake fighting with Mark (Webber) but overall it was a good performance. The car felt great and the team did an amazing job to give us such a big improvement from Friday, so I’m especially happy for the guys to be able to finish the race and get some good points on the board. 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. There’s always room to improve and hopefully from here we can aim for the top five and eventually podiums. We’ll take things step by step but I’m feeling confident for the rest of the season ahead.”
Eric Boullier, Team Principal
"It is getting more frustrating for us as we are clearly very close to achieving a very good result. Twelve laps before the end of today’s race we had one car in P2 and one car in P5 with no more pit stops to go. Unfortunately, we were a little bit too aggressive with our strategy. As soon as we understood some cars were doing three stops it was clear there was potential for us to finish on the podium, but we were not expecting the tyre wear to be as high as it was. For Romain the strategy worked; for Kimi it did not. The positives from this weekend are that we continue to show good qualifying and race pace with the E20, and we were capable of fighting for a podium finish with Kimi. Also, it was a very good first full race for Romain. One slow stop and one mistake when fighting with Mark (Webber) for position meaning he ran on the marbles cost him two positions. He recovered very well from this and his pace was very consistent."
Alan Permane, Director of Trackside Operations
“Ten laps before the end of the race, Kimi’s tyres were nearing the end of their life and unfortunately he got on the marbles when Sebastian (Vettel) passed. That was the end of his race effectively as he lost ten places over the course of a lap. We’ll dissect the data and see if a three stop would have been better for us, but everything before the race suggested a two-stop was the way to go, and this approach benefitted Romain. Without the gamble we took with Kimi we wouldn’t have been running in second position so that was the risk we took. I’m happy for Romain to finish his first race of the season. To go from tenth to sixth - racing with the cars of the calibre he was - showed a measured performance so it looks good for the future. We’ve learn a lot this weekend and hopefully we head to Bahrain with an improved car and better understanding of this year’s tyres.”
Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 Team Support Leader
“Congratulations to Romain on his first points of the season. It was a shame that Kimi could not get a double points finish, but the speed of the package is fundamentally there. Engine-wise we’ve had a trouble free weekend, which is always positive at this type of track where the unit gets a workout over the entire rev range. Driveability through the slow corners was good and the top speed was reasonable, which allowed Romain to defend his position in the closing laps from the Williams and get some decent points for the team today.”
2012Chinese Grand Prix – Results
1. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes 56 laps 1hr 36m 26.929s
2. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes +00m 20.6s
3. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes +00m 26.0s
4. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault +00m 27.9s
5. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault +00m 30.4s
6. Romain Grosjean France Lotus-Renault +00m 31.4s
7. Bruno Senna Brazil Williams-Renault +00m 34.5s
8. Pastor Maldonado Venezuela Williams-Renault +00m 35.6s
9. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari +00m 37.2s
10. Kamui Kobayashi Japan Sauber-Ferrari +00m 38.7s
11. Sergio Perez Mexico Sauber-Ferrari +00m 41.0s
12. Paul di Resta Britain Force India-Mercedes +00m 42.2s
13. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari +00m 42.7s
14. Kimi Raikkonen Finland Lotus-Renault +00m 50.5s
15. Nico Hulkenberg Germany Force India-Mercedes +00m 51.2s
16. Jean-Eric Vergne France Toro Rosso-Ferrari +00m 51.7s
17. Daniel Ricciardo Australia Toro Rosso-Ferrari +01m 03.1s
18. Vitaly Petrov Russia Caterham-Renault +1 lap
19. Timo Glock Germany Marussia-Cosworth +1 lap
20. Charles Pic France Marussia-Cosworth +1 lap
21. Pedro de la Rosa Spain HRT-Cosworth +1 lap
22. Narain Karthikeyan India HRT-Cosworth +2 laps
23. Heikki Kovalainen Finland Caterham-Renault +3 laps
Rtd. Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes-Mercedes 12 laps completed
Fastest lap:
Kamui Kobayashi Japan Sauber-Ferrari 1m 39.960s lap 40
F1 Drivers' Championship 2012 (after round 3 of 20)
POSITION / DRIVER / TEAM / POINTS1 / Lewis Hamilton / McLaren-Mercedes / 45
2 / Jenson Button / McLaren-Mercedes / 43
3 / Fernando Alonso / Ferrari-Ferrari / 37
4 / Mark Webber / Red Bull-Renault / 36
5 / Sebastian Vettel / Red Bull-Renault / 28
6 / Nico Rosberg / Mercedes-Mercedes / 25
7 / Sergio Perez / Sauber-Ferrari / 22
8 / Kimi Räikkönen / Lotus-Renault / 16
9 / Bruno Senna / Williams-Renault / 14
10 / Kamui Kobayashi / Sauber-Ferrari / 9
11 / Romain Grosjean / Lotus-Renault / 8
12 / Paul di Resta / Force India-Mercedes / 7
13 / Jean-Eric Vergne / Toro Rosso-Ferrari / 4
= / Pastor Maldonado / Williams-Renault / 4
15 / Daniel Ricciardo / Toro Rosso-Ferrari / 2
= / Nico Hulkenberg / Force India-Mercedes / 2
17 / Michael Schumacher / Mercedes-Mercedes / 1
18 / Pedro de la Rosa / HRT-Cosworth / 0
= / Narain Karthikeyan / HRT-Cosworth / 0
= / Timo Glock / Marussia-Cosworth / 0
= / Charles Pic / Marussia-Cosworth / 0
= / Felipe Massa / Ferrari-Ferrari / 0
= / Heikki Kovalainen / Caterham-Renault / 0
= / Vitaly Petrov / Caterham-Renault / 0
F1 Constructors' Championship 2012 (after round 3 of 20)
POSITION / TEAM / POINTS1 / Vodafone McLaren Mercedes / 88
2 / Red Bull Racing / 64
3 / Scuderia Ferrari / 37
4 / Sauber F1 Team / 31
5 / Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team / 26
6 / Lotus F1 Team / 24
7 / Williams F1 Team / 18
8 / Sahara Force India F1 Team / 9
9 / Scuderia Toro Rosso / 6
10 / Marussia F1 Team / 0
= / Caterham F1 Team / 0
= / HRT F1 Team / 0
(ends)
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