Barcelona

The second meeting of the GP3 Series, which was held this weekend on Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya left a bitter taste for Lotus ART...

Valtteri Bottas:

"The free tests went really well. During qualifying, the tyres were not really competitive except for one lap and during my best lap I inadvertently pressed the engine kill switch. I lost fourth tenths of a second; otherwise I could have been on the second line (row) of the starting grid. Barcelona would have been totally different... Lotus ART has given me an excellent car and I had the best lap time in the race in the first leg, but overtaking is very difficult on this circuit even if you are faster than the cars in front of you. On Sunday, the driver in front of me on the starting grid stalled and I had to react in a fraction of a second to avoid catastrophe. We are leaving Barcelona with one point and that was clearly not our ambition. But I am not worried because the potential is there, the team is working well and we simply need to succeed at putting everything in place so that this potential translates into fighting for the championship."

Pedro Nunes:

"We got off to a good start with the 5th best time in the second free test session, but in qualifying we had a hard time getting the right balance between tyres and setup. Unfortunately the result in qualifying compromised the rest of the weekend because starting in 16th I knew that the first race would not enable me to aim for a good result. It is frustrating because if I had gained just two tenths of a second I could have started in the top 8. I stalled in the start of the second race because the lights took forever and I almost burned out my clutch before stalling. Then I tried to move up as many places as possible but my comeback didn't end well because I bumped Trummer and this collision earned me a 10 place penalty on the starting grid for the next race. I know that the car and I are much better than that and I hope we will prove it in Valencia."

James Calado:

"I got to grips with the car and the track quite easily thanks to the good work of the team. I got into 2nd by the first turn of the first race and even though I was under pressure from the boys behind me I saved my tyres and I caught up with the leaders in the end. The podium was a great result for the team and for me. Unfortunately, I stalled at the start of the second race. The red lights were on a bit too long and the clutch overheated. It is ironic that I did a jump start while stalling! I had a drive through penalty and that was a sad conclusion of a difficult second race. Having said that, all in all the weekend was positive and we did take a step forward as a team which gives me confidence for the next races."

Frederic Vasseur:

"Lotus ART secured its first podium of the season and this is the positive side of this weekend which otherwise does not reflect our performance level. James was very competitive and Valtteri was short of success in qualifying, which compromised both races for him. The team is working well and I think that with a bit more application and concentration on everyone's part we should be able to solidify our potential in the upcoming races."