Eric Boullier, Team Principal: “We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Maria de Villota earlier today. On behalf of the team here in Japan and back at Enstone, I would like to express our condolences to the friends, family and colleagues of Maria. Our thoughts are with them at this difficult time.”

Kimi Räikkönen set the fourth fastest and Romain Grosjean the fifth fastest time on the first day of practice for the Japanese Grand Prix.

Hot conditions, clear blue skies and off-track excursions from a number of drivers characterised the day, amongst them Kimi; who ended the second session early – stranded in gravel at Turn 7 – following a spin.

Technical programme notes:

• Kimi missed the final 30 minutes of running in FP2 following a spin.
  
• Pirelli’s hard compound [orange] tyre was used in the morning, the hard and medium [white] in the afternoon session.
  

What we learned today:

• The E21 demonstrated strong potential on both tyre compounds.
  

Kimi Räikkönen, E21-05

Free Practice 1: P8, 1:35.364, 17 laps

Free practice 2: P4, 1:34.202, 17 laps

Kimi: “The car felt pretty good today. Of course, there are some areas we can improve but I’m quite happy with the progress we made. I spun in FP2 so we did miss some of the long run laps we would have got this afternoon. I was on a fast run and the wind changed, which can affect the car sometimes. At least we didn’t do any damage so the crew won’t have any extra work. It’s not a big drama as we know the track pretty well. We have a few changes for tomorrow so let’s see what happens.”

Romain Grosjean, E21-04

Free Practice 1: P7, 1:35.179, 15 laps

Free Practice 2: P5, 1:34.411, 30 laps

Romain: “Finding the right balance to get the car working well around here is quite tricky and the tyres are not making that any easier, so we’ve got some work to do overnight to make it a little easier to handle. There’s definitely some more performance to be found, and it’s always better to be near the top of the times even if you’ve not got things quite right, so we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: “We have struggled a bit for consistency today, with both drivers having off-track excursions. Romain in particular experienced brake locking, which is something we can counter with some mapping work. We lost a reasonable amount of long run data collection as a result of Kimi’s spin, meaning Romain’s programme was modified slightly and we might look at doing some race simulation work during tomorrow’s practice. On the softer tyre we look competitive and I think we can expect to qualify well. Our long run pace also looks good so it’s an encouraging start to the weekend.”

Lotus F1 Team scored its third double podium of the season as Kimi Räikkönen took second and Romain Grosjean third in an emphatic team performance at the Korean Grand Prix. Both drivers benefited from strong race pace and drove superbly – including dicing with each other – during a race which saw two safety car periods.

Kimi returns to third place in the Drivers’ Championship on 167 points – displacing Lewis Hamilton – and now lies 28 points behind Fernando Alonso in second. Romain Grosjean remains eighth in the standings on 72 points, 17 away from Felipe Massa in seventh. The team maintains fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship on 239 points from Mercedes’ 283.

• Kimi started from P9 with a scrubbed set of super soft tyres, changing to new mediums on laps 11 and 25.
  
• Romain started from P3 on a scrubbed set of super soft tyres, changing to new mediums on laps 10 and 31.
  

Kimi Räikkönen, P2, E21-05

“Second place is ok and a good result for the team, but we’re here to win and having to fight your way to the front from a bad starting position is not ideal. Qualifying was pretty awful for me, but it’s difficult to say whether a better grid position would have made the difference. Sebastian was faster than us at the end; not massively, but a little bit for sure and his tyres were fresher too so I think it would have been tough to catch him in any case. We were closer to the Red Bull today than we have been in some races, but not close enough. People might say it was good luck with the safety car, but sometimes these things go with you and others they go against you. We made up some places even before that happened, and if we hadn’t had the speed then we wouldn’t have been in a position to take advantage. You could see at the end that we had more than enough pace to keep the others behind, so I think it’s deserved.”

Romain Grosjean, P3, E21-04

“It’s a fantastic result for the team. Of course, one step higher on the podium would have been better for me and two steps better would have been superb, but it didn’t quite work out that way. Our battle with Lewis [Hamilton] was good and our pace was great, but the two safety car periods hurt our attempts to battle for the win. After the restart I should have been in front of Kimi on the road, but it was my mistake which let him past. I went a bit wide in Turn 15 and got on the Astroturf – which is very slippery – and that let him get a run on me. Then there were yellow flags into Turn 3 so I couldn’t take the place back straight away. Of course, I was asking the team to let me past Kimi as I was on fresher tyres, but they left us to race which is our philosophy of fair play. You lose so much downforce in sectors two and three and obviously our cars are pretty close on performance so it’s pretty hard to pass, but we have to be very happy with a double podium.”

Eric Boullier, Team Principal

“Another double podium for the team is a fantastic result and it tastes like a race win this late in the season. Credit to everyone back at Enstone for delivering us extra performance from the long wheelbase car, as any gain towards the end of the year is especially beneficial as we fight for position in both Championships. The race team delivered a great strategy and pit stops, whilst both drivers drove exceptionally well. We have a lot of promise for the remaining races and podiums are certainly on our agenda.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director

“A great result for the team. We thought we would be competitive coming into this weekend, and in the end we qualified well and raced extremely well. Romain drove an incredibly strong race, and without the safety car would have taken a very comfortable second place. There was an element of luck for Kimi with the safety car and he certainly made the most of that, before once more demonstrating that he never stops pushing by capitalising on the one mistake made by his team-mate all weekend. It was close between the two, but we let both drivers race to the end which was the right thing to do. All signs look positive for Japan.”

Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 Team Support Leader

“A fantastic race from both drivers. Romain was very strong in the first part of the race, controlling the pace and managing the fuel and tyres very well. We reused his engine from Singapore and everything worked perfectly. We were on the limit with Kimi’s engine with some of the richer fuel mixes to help him get through the field and maximize performance. A great result all round.”

Romain Grosjean took fourth position whilst Kimi Räikkönen set the tenth fastest time in qualifying for tomorrow’s Korean Grand Prix. Both drivers gain a grid position thanks to a penalty for Mark Webber, meaning Romain starts from third and Kimi ninth.

Romain progressed through the first qualifying session using only the medium compound tyre, enabling him to have two runs on new super soft tyres in Q3. Kimi was fastest in Q1, but suffered excessive understeer on his solitary flying lap of the final session to leave him tenth.

Kimi Räikkönen, E21-05 Q: P10 (Starts P9), 1:38.822 FP3: P6, 1:38.701

“I made a mistake on my only set of new tyres in the final qualifying session so my lap wasn’t fast enough for a better position, which eventually meant I ended up tenth and will start from ninth position tomorrow. We’ve had a bit of understeer in the car so I’ve struggled a little all weekend. If you look at the long run pace yesterday we should have a stronger race, but obviously we have to see how the weather turns out. We hope to do better tomorrow.”

Romain Grosjean, E21-04 Q: P4 (Starts P3), 1:37.531 FP3: P8, 1:38.857

“Our aim was to be up there fighting with the Mercedes today and that’s exactly where we were. The Red Bulls were always going to be quick, so to be reasonably close to them in terms of the times is not too bad. Gaining a place on the grid just because another driver has been penalised is not how you want to move forwards, but I’ve had to cope with it before myself and it’s part of the sport. Of course, it will be an advantage for us as it means we’ll start on the clean side of the track. Tomorrow will be interesting in terms of what effect the tyre degradation has, but our race pace looked strong yesterday so we’re aiming for a good result.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director

How was qualifying for the team?

We’re very happy with Romain’s qualifying position after a textbook performance through all three sessions with everything going absolutely to plan. He soaked up the extra pressure to get through the first session using only the medium compound tyre and the benefit of doing that was having two sets of the super soft in the final session. Kimi didn’t have the luxury of two runs in the final session, and unfortunately his crucial lap didn’t quite come off as planned. As ever, he will be a formidable force in the race so we’ve got good expectations for tomorrow.

What are the strategy considerations?

It’s a circuit where you can overtake with DRS; not the easiest, but certainly not the hardest. That said, tomorrow’s race will be about tyres – in particular the front right which has a very hard time – so managing the wear and performance will be an important consideration.

What do we think looking to the skies?

The threat of storms has certainly abated somewhat since the beginning of the week, however I think we can still expect to catch the outskirts of the bad weather meaning we could see some rain overnight and early tomorrow morning if not for the race itself. Of course, this is something we’re monitoring closely.

Romain Grosjean ended the first day of practice for the Korean Grand Prix with the sixth fastest time whilst team-mate Kimi Räikkönen placed eighth in Yeongam, South Korea.

Both drivers completed their Friday programmes as scheduled, with Kimi’s crew having a busy lunchtime repairing his E21 after an excursion into the barriers at the end of the first practice session.

While Kimi was unhurt in the incident, the damage incurred by the car necessitated the replacement of the front and rear wings, as well as suspension components on both left-hand corners of the car.

Technical programme notes:

• Kimi’s car spent additional time in the garage at the start of FP2 as his crew completed the repairs necessary after contact with the barriers at the end of FP1.
  
• Pirelli’s medium [white] tyre was used in the morning, with the medium and super soft [red] compound used in the afternoon session.
  

What we learned today:

• The E21 demonstrated strong potential on both varieties of tyre, with a smaller difference in performance between each compound compared to that seen in Singapore.
  

Kimi Räikkönen, E21-05

Free Practice 1: P8, 1:40.677, 15 laps

Free Practice 2: P8, 1:39.757, 33 laps

“Obviously it didn’t help that I destroyed part of the car this morning; maybe I ran out of talent there! It didn’t cause too much damage and the car was fine for the second practice, even if the guys had quite a hurry to fix it. They did a good job and we managed to complete everything we wanted today. The car feels quite strong – especially on the long runs – so that’s good news for the race. On the short runs it wasn’t exactly as I wanted, but we still have some time to make improvements there.”

Romain Grosjean, E21-04

Free Practice 1: P7, 1:40.396, 19 laps

Free Practice 2: P6, 1:39.226, 34 laps

“My first two runs this morning weren’t perfect, so we decided to change a few things during the break but that didn’t exactly go to plan either. Finding the right balance for a full lap here is quite tricky as the different sectors are quite unique from each other, but eventually we returned to a more conventional setup for a run on the option tyres and the car felt much better. This circuit is a bit more front limited which doesn’t particularly help us, but hopefully the track evolution will bring it towards us a bit more tomorrow. Half a second to the leaders is a bit of a gap and they look pretty quick, so I think top five is a realistic target in qualifying, but of course we’ll do our best to catch them.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director:

“It was a fairly routine Friday aside from Kimi’s small off this morning which looked a lot worse than it was, resulting primarily in some front trackrod and rear corner damage for us to repair. We lost some time at the start of the second session whilst the rectification work was completed, but this didn’t impact on our programme today. We completed long runs with both cars in the afternoon to give us plenty of data for analysis ahead of Sunday. As illustrated a few times, the track was quite slippery to start the weekend, which is something we expect to see improve throughout tomorrow and Sunday. The tyres are behaving as expected, with a smaller performance difference between the two compounds than what we saw in Singapore, which is in line with our predictions.”

Kimi Räikkönen drove through the pain barrier to finish in a superb third position, whilst Romain Grosjean felt pain of a different kind after a forced retirement whilst battling for his own potential podium finish in the Singapore Grand Prix. Both drivers put in fantastic performances around the tight confines of the Marina Bay Street Circuit; one of the most gruelling races of the season.

Kimi remains in fourth place in the Drivers’ Championship on 149 points – now just 2 points behind Lewis Hamilton with Mark Webber a further 19 points behind – whilst Romain remains eighth on 57 points. The team remains in fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship on 206 points from Ferrari’s 267 and well ahead of fifth-placed McLaren who have 76 points.

• Kimi started from P13 with a set of scrubbed super soft tyres, changing to new super softs on lap 10 and new medium compound tyres on lap 25.
  
• Romain started from P3 on a scrubbed set of super soft tyres, changing to a scrubbed set of super softs on lap 15, a new set of mediums tyres on lap 25 and finally stopping for a further set of scrubbed mediums on lap 33 while his engine air tank was refilled. He retired on lap 37 due to lack of engine air pressure.
  

Kimi Räikkönen, P3, E21-05

“It’s been a difficult weekend, so to finish on the podium is a good result. The car felt good and it could have been even better if I’d been able to do more work in practice, but even with a better qualifying performance I think third was the maximum we could achieve today. The problem with my back hasn’t been ideal, but it felt much better than yesterday and I didn’t really notice it in the race, only afterwards. I have some time to recover before Korea and we were pretty strong there last year, so let’s see what we can do next time out.”

Romain Grosjean, DNF, E21-04

“The race was going pretty well and I think a second or third place finish was a realistic prospect. We had a good strategy pitting under the safety car and we should have finished well, but unfortunately today my engine had other ideas. We lost air pressure and the team tried to fix the problem by topping it up with an additional pit stop, but that didn’t work so we had to retire which is never what you want to happen.”

Eric Boullier, Team Principal

“Once more Kimi drove an exceptionally strong race today – even without considering his back pain – whilst the team did an amazing job with the strategy for both drivers. Were it not for Romain’s engine problems we should have had both cars home in third and fourth. It’s unfortunate that Romain had the problem with the pneumatic system of his engine as he showed strong pace in the race after putting in superb performances on both Friday and Saturday. This level of downforce suits our car and that’s the level we’re running for the remaining tracks this season; we will fight for podiums for the rest of the year I’m sure.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director

“Another day of mixed fortunes and commiserations for Romain who had a superb weekend, stymied by a reliability issue in the race. On the other hand, huge congratulations to Kimi for a typical ‘never-give-up’ race carving his way through the field nicely to put the back problems which have affected him all weekend right behind him. Our race strategy worked perfectly today and we were able to jump a number of other cars well.”

Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 Team Support Leader

“The team did a great job with the strategy today; getting Kimi from 13th to 3rd on a track you can’t overtake on is a real achievement. Unfortunately Romain retired with an engine pneumatic system problem. Air consumption had been inconsistent throughout the race so we pitted him to top the air back up, however the consumption remained high so we were forced to retire the car on the next lap. We’ll look at why it happened as it was a brand new engine and put solutions in place to ensure it does not happen again.”

Romain Grosjean qualified in third position at the Marina Bay Street Circuit as Kimi Räikkönen pushed through the pain barrier to take thirteenth on tomorrow’s Singapore Grand Prix grid.

Romain equalled his season-best qualifying position from the Hungarian Grand Prix of P3 with a lap time of 1min 43.058secs, leaving only the Red Bull of championship leader Sebastian Vettel and the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg ahead of him.

Kimi suffered from back aggravations in today’s practice session and participated in qualifying after attention from physiotherapists.

Kimi Räikkönen, E21-05. Q: P13, 1:44.658. FP3: P12, 1:46.147

Unfortunately today didn’t go to plan as the issue with my back meant I couldn’t really drive properly this morning, so we didn’t get everything done like we wanted in the practice session. It’s still quite painful and there wasn’t much more I could do in qualifying when you take that combination of things into account. It’s not the first time I’ve driven with a problem and it probably won’t be the last time either, but I’ll be on the grid tomorrow and we’ll try to get the maximum from where we are at the start.

Romain Grosjean, E21-04. Q: P3, 1:43.058. FP3: P2, 1:44.364

After all the issues we had yesterday the team did a fantastic job to get the car running well and also to find a good setup despite having done so few laps. The car felt good all day; enough that we were confident in taking a risk during Q1 by not running the option tyres. It was a great strategy call that really paid off, and I think with a little more luck on the out lap we could maybe even have been one place higher. Sebastian [Vettel] looks to have a pretty clear advantage, but we’ve got lots of fresh tyres for tomorrow so a podium is definitely the target.

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director:

How was qualifying for the team?

We have mixed feelings today. It’s unfortunate that Kimi had a problem with his back which caused him quite a bit of pain and affected his performance, whilst Romain enjoyed a pretty much perfect day after all the car troubles he had yesterday. FP3 went well for him, then qualifying went completely to plan. We’re very happy with third on the grid and looking forward to a strong race tomorrow.

What’s changed with the car to make it qualify better here?

We knew the last two races would be difficult for our car and so they proved to be, but we were expecting better performance once we got to the higher downforce tracks such as Singapore and this has also transpired.

What are the strategic permutations tomorrow?

Our long run pace was very good yesterday with Kimi second on pace only to the Red Bulls. Sebastian [Vettel] will be hard to beat as he’s in very good form, but there’s no reason why a podium for Romain is not possible and we have seen some storming drives through the field from Kimi in the past too. We could be in for an exciting and rewarding race.

Romain Grosjean ended the first evening of practice for the Singapore Grand Prix with the fifth fastest lap – despite missing considerable amounts of track time – whilst Kimi Räikkönen set the fifth fastest time in the first session and eighth quickest in the second.

A mere thousandth of a second separated Kimi and Romain after their first outing on the Marina Bay Circuit. The sessions were characterised by hot and humid conditions with a distinct lack of sunlight given the evening timetable in Singapore.

Technical programme notes:

• Both cars ran with the original length wheelbase configuration E21 in the latest slimline bodywork specification.
  
• Romain’s car spent additional time in the garage in the first session, as work was undertaken on steering rack balancing.
  
• Both cars changed brake cooling packages for the second session.
  
• Romain’s car spent additional time in the garage at the start of FP2 due to a suspected brake master cylinder issue and then ended the session early due to a hydraulic leak.
  
• Pirelli’s medium [white] tyre was used in the morning, with the medium and super soft [red] compound slick tyres used in the afternoon session.
  

What we learned today:

• The E21 demonstrated strong potential using both tyre compounds.
  

Kimi Räikkönen, E21-03

Free practice 1: P5, 1:48.354, 18 laps

Free practice 2: P8, 1:45.778, 32 laps

“It was a pretty decent day. The car felt okay, but I had some traffic on my fast lap on the softer tyres so I wasn’t able to set a faster lap. The car isn’t too bad and there are still some places where we can make it faster. The times don’t matter on Friday so we’ll see what happens tomorrow.”

Romain Grosjean, E21-02

Free practice 1: P6, 1:48.355, 12 laps

Free practice 2: P5, 1:45.411, 18 laps

“We had a lot of problems today with the car which meant I didn’t complete many laps. It wasn’t the ideal situation, but nevertheless the baseline we have here is pretty good. Hopefully we can get on top of the issues we had and have a strong car for qualifying as track position is pretty important here. Tyre degradation was better than we expected with the super soft performing well, so we’ll have to look closely at the data for the rest of the weekend.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director:

“It was quite a difficult day for us today with Romain missing a reasonable amount of running in his car, but he made the laps he did complete really count. He seemed to get to grips with his car and the track very well considering the circumstances. The E21 looks reasonably competitive with both drivers pretty happy. We need to dial out some understeer on Kimi’s car and once Romain has some more track time we should be well placed for the rest of the weekend.”

Lotus F1 Team fought back from a disappointing qualifying session yesterday to show strong race pace, finishing the Italian Grand Prix in eighth and eleventh positions. After an eventful first corner, Kimi Räikkönen pitted for a new front nose cone and tyres whilst Romain Grosjean continued despite a rear-end onslaught from another car. Following his first lap pit stop, Kimi was the second fastest car through the race, with a determined drive including multiple fastest laps. Kimi finished in eleventh, hounding the McLaren of Jenson Button ahead, whilst Romain finished in eighth place, withstanding considerable pressure from Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes behind. Kimi remains in fourth in the Drivers’ Championship on 134 points, with Lewis Hamilton ahead on 141 and Mark Webber behind on 130 points. The team remains in fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship on 191 points from Ferrari’s 245 and well ahead of fifth-placed McLaren who have 66 points.

• Kimi started from P11 with a new set of hard tyres, changing to new medium compound tyres on lap 1 where he also received a new front wing, and scrubbed medium tyres on lap 30.
  
• Romain started from P13 on a new set of medium tyres, changing to a new set of hard compound tyres on lap 20.
  

Kimi Räikkönen, P11, E21-03

“When I lost the front wing I had to come in and change to a new one meaning an extra pit stop which we hadn’t planned. It’s not just the time in the pits, but you have to work your way through the field afterwards. We did a pretty good job of that and the car felt good, surprisingly good given where we were on Saturday. Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do after the start to the race we had.”

Romain Grosjean, P8, E21-02

“It isn’t easy to follow another car with the aero configurations that we had for the race here but we got the best result we could have done having started in P13. Unfortunately we had a poor pit stop where we had an electronic problem and the light didn’t turn to green, so we lost a few seconds there. I think we could have come out in front of the two McLarens and the Toro Rosso, which would have made things a bit easier for a stronger result. I had a good battle with Lewis on the last lap. I think we did the best we could here in Monza and I hope that for Singapore we can get back to the level of performance that we had in Budapest.”

Eric Boullier, Team Principal

"If you want to be competitive for the Championships you need to be able to fight every weekend at the front on Saturday as well as on Sunday. The positive from this weekend is that we showed fantastic race pace and both drivers drove exceptionally well. Romain withstood great pressure and performed great overtaking moves on both McLarens. Kimi fought back from a first lap incident in a superb display of his talents. The negative from this weekend is that we couldn’t qualify where we needed to be. The results at the end of the race aren’t rewarding for the team, but there are plenty of positives to take from the final European race of the season and we head to the final flyaway races with plenty of fight.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director

“Our damage was done yesterday by our poor qualifying positions. We actually had good race pace today and if you compare Kimi and Sebastian Vettel’s races, after Kimi’s first stop we only lost a second to Seb and we gained four seconds on Fernando [Alonso]. Seb won the race and Fernando finished second, so that gives an illustration of what could have been. We obviously will be dissecting where we lost the pace on Saturday and have some solace that we don’t visit another circuit of this level of downforce for the rest of the season as it certainly wasn’t beneficial for us in terms of qualifying. Starting where we did put us in the middle of the pack where incidents happen on the first lap and that was the case for both our drivers, but both made great recoveries.”

Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 Team Support Leader

“Monza is always a tough race for engines with a high percentage of the lap spent flat out. Today the race was even harder. Kimi’s early stop meant he went down the pack and had to fight to regain position. Fuel consumption was considerably higher than that expected as a result, so we had to manage the settings very carefully to give him the power he needed to fight without running dry. Sadly he missed the points by under a second – on the strength of his drive he really deserved it and the car had the pace to score. Romain did a great job to keep hold of eighth, which is a more representative indication of where we are this weekend.”

Kimi Räikkönen qualified in eleventh and Romain Grosjean thirteenth after a disappointing qualifying session at Monza for tomorrow’s Italian Grand Prix. After demonstrating strong pace yesterday, the team was unable to unlock any more speed today as it faced the unique challenge of the low-downforce Autodromo Nazionale Monza.

Kimi Räikkönen, E21-03.

Q: P11, 1:24.610.

FP3: P10, 1:25.120

“We were just not fast enough today. We have been suffering a bit all weekend so far and it was the same today. It just isn’t our kind of circuit and layout where we have to run small wings. The car behaved pretty okay but we just didn’t have the downforce to go fast through the corners with our low drag package. Hopefully tomorrow will be a bit better but I’m not expecting any big surprises. In any case we will do the best we can.”

Romain Grosjean, E21-05.

Q: P13, 1:24.848.

FP3: P14, 1:25.499

“Today was difficult for us as we had no grip. I was quite surprised at how it went in free practice yesterday, but today was simply a different story. The aerodynamic configuration for Monza isn’t an easy one and it didn’t go the way we would have liked it to go. I hope that we find grip levels for tomorrow and are able to deliver as good a race as we can.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director:

How was qualifying for the team?

It wasn’t great and there’s no secret that we couldn’t find the pace we needed from the car here at Monza. It was quite a hit not to make it into the top ten, but Monza is such a distinct challenge that there is often a shake-up in the order of which cars perform well here, which is what we’ve seen today. Eleventh and thirteenth is not where we want to be, and there’s no real solace in seeing another race winning car between us on the grid.

Why did we have pace yesterday but not today?

Where you end on the timesheets on Friday does not mean you’ll end up in the same place on Saturday due to the different programmes being run by each team and a variety of other factors. We weren’t able to unlock more speed out of our car today whereas our rivals did. The lap times are very close here, even with it being a fast track. We simply weren’t fast enough.

What are the strategic permutations tomorrow?

For a dry race we can start on whichever Pirelli compound we choose, as we are not constrained to those we used for our qualifying lap as those in the top ten are constrained. However, the weather forecast does highlight potential for rain which changes everything. We will be looking to the sky tomorrow as eagerly as our rivals.

Kimi Räikkönen ended the day with the third fastest time on the opening day of the Italian Grand Prix weekend, with Romain Grosjean fourth in the order with an identical lap time of 1min 25.116secs. Sunny weather characterised both of today’s sessions at the historic Autodromo di Monza.

Technical programme notes

• Kimi ran all day with the longer chassis configuration E21.
  
• Both cars ran with the slimline rear bodywork package in low drag Monza.
  
• Kimi evaluated a different front wing in the afternoon.
  
• Pirelli’s hard (orange) tyre was used in the morning and the hard and medium (white) compound slick tyres were used in the afternoon session.
  

What we learned today:

• The E21 demonstrated good pace in all configurations utilised.
  

Kimi Räikkönen, E21-03

Free practice 1: P5, 1:25.941, 22 laps

Free practice 2: P3, 1:25.116, 36 laps

Kimi: “The car felt pretty normal for me today and we’re going to look at the data in order to make a decision on whether to use today’s specification or the older one. It doesn’t feel much different to me so it’ll be a decision based on what the data says. Today we were a little surprised to be third fastest, but we’re still quite far away from the fastest cars. There are still some areas for improvement so hopefully we can find more speed for tomorrow.”

Romain Grosjean, E21-02

Free practice 1: P12, 1:26.295, 23 laps

Free practice 2: P4, 1:25.116, 40 laps

Romain: “We had a productive day today. The timesheets showed that Kimi and I were very close, however that doesn’t necessarily mean a lot. Kimi tested the new long wheelbase car and from today’s work we have sent data back to the factory and we will see what the outcome is when analysis comes back. As drivers, our feedback on the feel of the car is also key. It is hard to precisely compare the two though; it could provide more brake stability which is what we all want here in Monza, however each driver also has their own braking style.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director:

“That was a fairly straightforward Friday for us with both cars evenly matched and both drivers happy. We’ve completed a good amount of low and high fuel runs as well as evaluating the two tyre compounds for race strategy. Romain was happy on longer runs whilst Kimi’s afternoon session was slightly interrupted with an engine water pressure issue during his long run, but this was no big drama. Overall, the car looks quick, reliable and we’re happy today.”

Lotus F1 Team endured a difficult Belgian Grand Prix, with brake failure leading to the retirement of Kimi Räikkönen whilst Romain Grosjean employed a one-stop strategy to finish eighth. Kimi’s DNF was the first of his Lotus F1 Team career and his first retirement in 39 races. It was his first non-points finish in 28 races and only his second non-points finish since driving for the team.

Kimi now drops to fourth in the Drivers’ Championship on 134 points, having been overtaken by second-placed Fernando Alonso [151] and third-placed Lewis Hamilton [139]. The team remains in fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship on 187 points from Ferrari’s 218.

• Kimi started from P8 with a scrubbed set of medium tyres, changing to scrubbed medium compound tyres on lap 14. He retired on lap 25.
  
• Romain started from P7 on a scrubbed set of medium tyres, changing to a new set of hard compound tyres on lap 22.
  

Kimi Räikkönen, DNF, E21-03

“I had a brake failure so there was really no point in trying to continue. We both got good starts off the line but there wasn’t enough space into the first corner where I went over the kerb and lost some time, but after that I was pushing as hard as I could. There were some brake issues at the beginning of the race but we were managing them and it was going okay until we had to retire. We’ve finished a lot of races and had some good reliability; one day your luck has to run out and today was that day.”

Romain Grosjean, P8, E21-02

“We had a difficult first lap where we lost a few positions and then dropped back a couple more places in the incident with Sergio [Perez]. We decided on a one stop strategy today and with the new tyres I felt that the grip was much higher than before but I knew that it would be difficult to get the time back. We tried something different and you never know; had it rained in the middle of the race we could have been well-placed to take advantage. It is good to finish the race without any mistakes, even if eighth place isn’t what we were hoping for this weekend; it’s also a shame that Kimi didn’t finish the race, but we go to Monza hopeful of better things.”

Eric Boullier, Team Principal

"It was a disappointing weekend, with qualifying not as good as we had expected and then a difficult first lap in the race. Kimi suffered from a brake failure which, of course, is a concern. We already believe we know why it happened and we will investigate this in detail to prevent the situation arising again. Romain finished eighth which clearly isn’t the sort of position we hope for at the end of a race weekend. Today we lost some pace and part of that might be due to the low temperatures. We must now look ahead, learn from this weekend and make sure that next year we can deliver on a medium downforce track.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director

“It was a difficult race for us. We didn’t have the pace in qualifying yesterday and didn’t seem to have the pace today. We had a difficult first lap where we lost a few places and found ourselves sat behind slower cars. After that it was difficult to make up any ground. Unfortunately Kimi retired from the race with a front brake failure which we are now investigating. Romain was on a one stop strategy which was the right thing to do today. We look forward to starting again in Monza where we will bring new developments to the car can hopefully have a better weekend.”

Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 Team Support Leader

“Spa is traditionally very hard on engines, with long sections at full throttle, changes of altitude and compressions putting the engines under pressure. The RS27 has performed well all weekend and we were hopeful of a better result. The starting positions put us down in the pack and despite Romain’s efforts we could not make up any places. It’s a shame for Kimi but at least we come away with some points this weekend, which is important for the championship.”

Romain Grosjean qualified seventh with Kimi Räikkönen eighth after a rain tempered qualifying session for tomorrow’s Belgian Grand Prix.

Both drivers looked particularly potent in the dry Q2 session – with Kimi setting the fastest time – before rain returned for the top ten decider.

Kimi Räikkönen, E21-03. Q: P8, 2:03.390. FP3: P10, 1:49.008

“When it was dry in the second qualifying session we were fastest, so if it’s dry tomorrow we should be okay for the race; even though we will not start from a great position. The last qualifying session was wet and our car does not give its best in these types of conditions. Any lap which came right at the end of the session would have helped, but if it stayed dry it would have helped more. Tomorrow is another day so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”

Romain Grosjean, E21-05. Q: P7, 2:03.081. FP3: P8, 1:48.967

“It wasn’t an easy session today with the changing weather and while it’s good to be in the top ten, it wasn’t exactly what we were hoping for. It was a big challenge to know what condition the track was in, to make the right decisions at the right time and to adjust the speed according to the weather. At the end of qualifying you needed to be on the on track at the right time. I’ll work with the engineers later to assess why Kimi was a bit quicker in the dry, where we can improve in the wet, and options in terms of strategy. I’ll give my best in the race tomorrow.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director:

How was qualifying for the team?

It was a frustrating session for the team. The weather conditions were difficult, but the same for everyone. We displayed great pace in the dry with Kimi fastest in Q2, but unfortunately the rain returned for the final phase. We tried to get a lap in right at the start on dry tyres, but the rain beat the start of the session so we had to change to intermediates. Seventh and eighth on the grid isn’t where we want to be, but at least we’re in the top ten.

What are the strategic permutations tomorrow?

As we qualified on intermediate tyres we can start a dry race on either dry compound. A dry race would be better for us, but we can’t influence the weather. If it’s a wet race, there are many different permutations and conditions possible so we’ll be fighting for the very best result we can achieve.

Kimi Räikkönen took second place at the Hungaroring to jump back into second in the Drivers’ Championship after a hot and hard-fought Hungarian Grand Prix. Kimi used a two-stop strategy for his sixth podium of the season, spurring the advances of Sebastian Vettel in the final laps. Romain Grosjean drove a storming race, withstanding a drive-through penalty and a twenty second addition to his race time to finish in sixth position. Kimi is now second in the Drivers’ Championship with 134 points to Sebastian’s 172. The team was the second highest scoring in the Constructors’ Championship today, remaining in fourth place on 183 points, but closing the gap to Ferrari on 194.

• Kimi started from P6 with a scrubbed set of soft tyres, changing to new medium compound tyres on laps 13 and 42.
  
• Romain started from P3 on a scrubbed set of soft tyres, changing to new sets of medium compound tyres on laps 13, 25 and 47. He made a pit lane drive-through on lap 37.
  

Kimi Räikkönen, P2, E21-03

“It was a good race and a good result for the team. The strategy worked well. We did two long stints on the tyres but they weren’t too bad and the car felt strong so it allowed us to make one less stop. In the last few laps the rears were a bit on edge, but apart from that it was ok. Sebastian [Vettel] got the run on me a couple of times but luckily it was in places that you can’t really overtake. The main positive is that we gained a few points to Seb in the Championship. For sure we could have maybe closed the gap a little more with a win, but anything we can get back will help. We’re only halfway through the season and it will be hard to catch up, but anything can still happen so we’ll keep fighting until the end.”

Romain Grosjean, P6, E21-02

“For sure this is one that got away, but I’m very happy with my race and I honestly don’t think I could have done much more. Maybe the strategy didn’t quite work how we wanted, but the car felt really good and it was the traffic that cost us. Without this maybe there would never have been a drive-through penalty which for sure didn’t help. I haven’t seen the footage yet and I thought it was a good move, but unfortunately the stewards took a different view. I’ve no problem with the time-added for the incident with Jenson and I apologised to him afterwards. This could have been the one for me, but we will just have to wait a little bit longer and keep improving like we have been recently to make it happen.”

Eric Boullier, Team Principal

"Another good result for Kimi today. He drove very well and was backed up by a strong strategy to help him make the podium. Romain was very unfortunate in that we couldn’t quite jump Fernando [Alonso] in the pits which cost him a lot of time, plus the drive-through penalty cost him a far better result. He made a great move at a circuit where overtaking is difficult and he had no room to do anything else. For us the Stewards’ decision was harsh. The most important thing to take from the weekend has been the pace of the car; this circuit is a bit special, and I think there will be some circuits where we have to work a bit harder, but I’m confident we’ll be consistently fighting for podiums at every race weekend in the second half of the season. Red Bull are a long way ahead, but we’ve shown today that they can be beaten so we want to keep pushing them all the way.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director

“It was a great race today from Kimi – as always. We started the race intending a three-stop strategy, but as the race played out it became clear that a two-stop would give us better possibilities so we switched over to that strategy. Kimi drove superbly to look after his tyres but deliver exactly the pace we needed at the appropriate time. He was rewarded by returning to second in the Drivers’ Championship. I feel really sorry for Romain for what appears to be a very harsh penalty for a fantastic overtaking move on Felipe Massa. Yes, he ran off the track, but he had nowhere else to go. It certainly seemed like good racing to me; were it not for the drive-through penalty, we would have had two cars on the podium again.”

Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 Team Support Leader

“We had high expectations after our strong qualifying positions. Kimi drove a fantastic race with an aggressive strategy of two pit stops which was successful with a podium second place. Romain was very fast all the weekend but with his penalty he lost any chance to get to the podium. We controlled the engine temperatures during all the race and we demonstrated one more time that the Lotus-Renault package is really very fast. The summer break will be very good and we are looking forward to come back on track at Spa.”

Romain Grosjean will take third place on the grid with Kimi Räikkönen lining up sixth for tomorrow’s Hungarian Grand Prix, after a hot qualifying session at the Hungaroring.

Both drivers are one place behind where they qualified here in 2012 which resulted for a 2-3 finish for the team; Kimi coming home just ahead of Romain on that occasion.

Kimi Räikkönen, E21-03. Q: P6, 1:19.851. FP3: P11, 1:21.589.

“It hasn’t been the easiest weekend for me so far. Maybe the new tyres are a bit different – especially on the front – so it’s been hard to find a good setup. We’re getting there little by little and the car was definitely better in qualifying than at any other point this weekend. Obviously P6 is not ideal, but it’s better than we have seen sometimes so we’ll try and see what we can do tomorrow. It’s not so easy to overtake here, but we have seen in past years that if you can run with the tyres well you can make a lot of places, so let’s see what we can do.”

Romain Grosjean, E21-05. Q: P3, 1:19.595. FP3: P1, 1:20.730.

“It’s been a good weekend so far with the car consistently showing strong pace. Setting the fastest time in practice this morning was a good sign, and the car was handling really well throughout each qualifying session. Lewis set a very quick time, but we’re not too far from Sebastian [Vettel] and anything could happen in the race depending on the tyres. I think tomorrow will be very open and a lot will depend on strategy, traffic and things like that, so if we can put everything together there’s the strong possibility for a good result.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director:

How was qualifying for the team?

We’re reasonably happy but – of course – we always want more. Everything went pretty much as we expected. For Romain, his single lap and long run pace has been strong and Kimi is much more on top of his car than yesterday. From third and sixth there’s no reason why we can’t have a strong race with both drivers.

Who do we see as the main rivals for a good result?

We see Sebastian Vettel as our main challenger in the race. The Mercedes did go well in Monaco on a tight and twisty circuit – in the race as well as in qualifying – but here tyre degradation should be more of a factor. This should help us in our fight for a good result.

We saw some sideways moments from Kimi in the last corner; any concerns?

It happened a couple of times and certainly makes for nice slow motion television. He has complained of the rear sliding which has been something we’ve focused on eliminating through setup tweaks.

Romain just missed out on P2; how much of a difference is it here between being on the front or second row?

Third is actually almost as good as second here as you start on the clean side of the grid and it’s a very dusty circuit. Lewis [Hamilton] and Sebastian were just too strong for us in qualifying, but there’s potential for us to have a very good race tomorrow.

Romain Grosjean set the third fastest time on the opening day of the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, with Kimi Räikkönen third in the morning and eighth in the afternoon after a productive day of running at the Hungaroring.

Both cars ran with the team’s slimline bodywork configuration and without the ‘Device’ for what was both drivers’ first taste of the latest medium and soft compound Pirelli tyres.

Technical Programme Notes:

• Both cars ran with new mirrors, rear floor updates and exhaust configurations.
  
• Pirelli’s medium compound tyre was used in the morning, the medium and soft in the afternoon.
  
• Cooling levels were monitored closely in the high temperatures.
  

What We Learned Today:

• Setup was modified for the latest specification tyres.
  
• Soft tyre performance and long run performance were both favourable today, with evident areas for performance gains tomorrow.
  

Kimi Räikkönen, E21-03

Free practice 1: P3, 1:23.010, 20 laps

Free practice 2: P8, 1:22.011, 32 laps

Kimi: “It wasn’t ideal today but it wasn’t that bad either. We took a bit of time to understand the new tyres and it was also very hot. It’s too early to say if the heat will suit us with these new tyres, but we’ll soon have a better idea. I had some traffic in the afternoon and so wasn’t able to set a fast lap on new tyres, plus we have some areas to improve on with the setup. We’ll try to do the best that we can in qualifying and we’ll see where we are. If we get the car right we should be ok tomorrow.”

Romain Grosjean, E21-02

Free practice 1: P5, 1:23.111, 20 laps

Free practice 2: P3, 1:21.417, 40 laps

Romain: “It’s been a good day overall. I didn’t get to try the new tyres at Silverstone so the main focus was to work on getting the most from them which all went ok. To be honest they’re not really night and day from the old ones, which is good as it means we haven’t had to change too much. There’s still a bit of graining and degradation to deal with but that’s normal. Our pace looks pretty good on both compounds, but the field is quite close so it’s hard to say where we are. We’ll just keep doing our best to find the right compromise for qualifying and the race and see where we stand at the end of the weekend.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director:

“A good solid Friday for us with nothing untoward to note – save for a leaky drinks system – during the course of the day. The car is clearly working well here and we have no concerns about the heat. Kimi’s afternoon time isn’t representative as he got caught up with a McLaren on his fast lap and we have no concerns about our long or short run pace. We paid particular attention to the various temperature levels on the car to ensure cooling levels are sufficient for Sunday and we’re happy with all the data we’ve seen so far.”

With four second-place finishes and one victory in Hungary, our Finn reckons he knows what’s needed for a strong weekend in Budapest.

What makes a good weekend in Hungary?

I have finished second in Hungary too many times, so I know how important it is to lead the race after the first corner. DRS or not, it’s never easy to overtake at the Hungaroring. To get the weekend right, you have to have good sessions in FP1, FP2 and FP3, then a strong qualifying session and finally a perfect start to the race.

But your only win here came in 2005 starting from fourth on the grid?

I got a very good start to be second at the end of the first lap and everything went well from there.

What's the atmosphere like?

It is always nice to go to Hungary. The circuit is not the most difficult of them all, but it is a really challenging venue as it’s usually very hot which makes it a demanding race. Of course, the heat has helped us with the car so far this year so that will make things better, but only if it’s a win will you not suffer from the heat.

What are the key elements to a fast car at the Hungaroring?

A fast car. It’s such a slow, twisty circuit, so two things are really important there; good turn-in and good traction. If you have those, you have a strong car for the race.

How do you ensure a good start?

Obviously you need to get to the front in the qualifying, but also avoid the dirty side of the track on the grid. When you look back through the races this season, it seems the dirty side of the track is a real disadvantage in the starts.

In some ways this is viewed as a "home" Grand Prix for you?

Many times Hungary has been called as the Grand Prix of Finland. A lot of Finns go to this race every year and it is always nice to see the blue and white flags waving.

Any more thoughts after your second place in the German Grand Prix?

The points were good and we had a strong car. Again we saw that warmer temperatures suited us and we usually get hot weather in Budapest so that should be a good thing. Of course, you never know until you have driven the track in this year’s car. In Germany, my radio wasn’t working properly and I got stuck behind the Mercedes which didn’t help my race. The performance of the cars was pretty close and it’s easier to overtake at the Nürburgring than it is at the Hungaroring, so we will need to qualify well.

Was missing your final pit stop there an option?

My tyres felt pretty okay when we came to change them, but you cannot know how long they would have lasted or what would have happened in the race. It didn’t help that we had the radio problem as my engineers couldn’t hear me, although I could hear them asking me the questions. It’s easy to say ‘we should have done this’, but you never know for sure unless you try that strategy. We were right with Seb [Vettel] at the end of the race through coming in and putting on the soft tyres, but maybe if we had done things a bit differently we would have been slightly in front rather than slightly behind.

This was your best ever result in Germany; Does it taste any better than the previous ones or is it only victory that makes the difference?

Obviously we are here to try and win races. We couldn’t in Germany because we were not fast enough, but for the team it was a good result after a couple of quite difficult races. We lost some more points to the lead as Seb won, but it’s still a long season and if we keep putting ourselves in a position to at least be fighting for first place then I think we can do it again.

Can you go one better in Budapest?

There’s no point speculating before you get there. Hopefully we get the result we are looking for. It would be nice to take the break after this race and recharge the batteries in the middle of the season with a good result on the board, but most importantly, it would be good to have the points.

Nico Prost completed his second day of testing in the E21 as the third fastest driver to conclude the 2013 Silverstone Young Driver Test. Completing 83 laps, Nico ran through a programme of setup work and aerodynamic assessments, in addition to evaluating a new exhaust.

Fast Facts:

Track: Silverstone, England, 5.9km

Chassis: E21-03

Weather: Sunny, ambient 20-26°C, track 29-42°C

Programme: Setup work, assessment of new aero and exhaust components

Laps Completed: 83

Classification: P3, 1:33.256

Interruptions: None

What’s Next?

Lotus F1 Team heads to Budapest for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Nico Prost:

“It was a really good day for me. We focused on some more performance orientated work in the morning – which is always enjoyable to do – and especially beneficial after spending yesterday in the simulator in terms of correlation. I feel that I’m improving each time I get in the car. Obviously, it’s very fast so it takes some time to get used to it, but I feel I’ve definitely made good progress. It was clear that the team made some improvements with Davide [Valsecchi] in the car yesterday so I think it’s been a very productive and worthwhile test for the team. Overall, it’s been a fantastic week for me.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director:

“Today proved to be a good conclusion to a productive three days at Silverstone. Nico continued the assessment programme he started on Wednesday and we made further positive steps forwards. We worked more on setup to get the car to Nico’s liking, thereby enabling him to push harder through the day. We ran new aerodynamic parts designed to help extract the maximum performance from the tyres, and it was with these that Nico set his fastest lap time, which is certainly a positive sign. We also assessed a new exhaust in the afternoon which looks to be beneficial. Now it’s time to analyse all the data to determine which parts we intend to use in Budapest.”

Davide Valsecchi completed the second day of running at the Silverstone Young Driver Test as the third-fastest driver of the day. After completing 91 laps, Davide recorded the fourth-fastest time overall due to Daniel Ricciardo setting lap times in two different cars.

Davide ran through a programme of aerodynamic assessments including analysis work on the team’s rear wing ‘Device’. Nico Prost returns to the car on Friday in a change to the original programme – which had seen Kimi Räikkönen set to take the wheel – made following clarification of FIA rules.

Fast Facts:

Track: Silverstone, England, 5.9km

Chassis: E21-03

Weather: Sunny, ambient 20-27°C, track 30-44°C

Programme: ‘Device’ analysis, heavy fuel running, evaluation of latest hard and medium tyre compounds

Laps Completed: 91

Classification: P4, 1:33.554

Interruptions: None

What’s Next?

The Young Driver Test concludes tomorrow with Nico Prost returning to driving duties.

Davide Valsecchi:

“Today was the highlight of my season and I really enjoyed my time in the car. Everything seemed to be going well and I hope that I’ve been able to contribute to the team’s efforts ahead of the next race in Budapest. We completed all the jobs on the schedule and I think I got some extra laps in too. I did miss the pit board for a few laps when the team was trying to call me in as the radio was broken. I stayed out until I thought they were going to throw the pit board at me, then I thought it was better that I came in!”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director:

“Another excellent day from our perspective, with a full programme completed enabling us to develop our rear wing ‘Device’. It was perfect to test it here as we previously ran with the ‘Device’ at the British Grand Prix, so the data from that event combined with today’s work has allowed us to further refine it. Within today’s running we used the hard and medium tyres in high and low fuel configurations. We’re beginning to get a good understanding of the latest tyre evolution and have been looking at how best to get and keep them in their optimum operating window. We have some good data to study the tyre degradation characteristics and we’re well placed to go into the final day of the test and make further progress.”

Nico Prost completed the first day of running at the Silverstone Young Driver Test by setting the eighth fastest time of the day in the team’s E21. Nico ran through a programme of aerodynamic assessments over the course of a glorious day of sunshine at the Northamptonshire circuit.

Davide Valsecchi will take over tomorrow with Nico returning to the car on Friday in a change to the original programme – which had seen Kimi Räikkönen set to take the wheel – made following clarification of FIA rules stipulating that race drivers would be unable to test anything other than tyres.

Fast Facts:

Track: Silverstone, England, 5.9km

Chassis: E21-03

Weather: Sunny, ambient 20-28°C, track 29-46°C

Programme: Aerodynamic data logging, upgrade assessment, latest tyre evaluation

Laps Completed: 72

Classification: P8, 1:34.810

Interruptions: Minor delays in morning for niggle rectification

What’s Next?

The Young Driver Test continues tomorrow with Davide Valsecchi in action.

Nico Prost:

“It was a very positive day where we completed everything in the itinerary. We only ran with the hard tyres today; focusing on comparison assessments of the latest parts for the car as well as aero work which meant we didn’t make any setup changes. Considering this our pace was pretty good. I’m happy that I’ll be running again on Friday when hopefully we’ll be able to look for a bit more performance, but the important focus of this test is to complete a programme aimed at putting Kimi and Romain in the best position to be able to win the Hungarian Grand Prix.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director:

“Nico got our programme off to a strong start with fast and consistent laps all day meaning we have plenty of data to analyse overnight. We had a few niggles to sort in the morning, but were soon in our stride running with large aero-logging rakes and other data gathering equipment. We’ve evaluated some new updates which are looking promising and we have a good initial impression of Pirelli’s latest tyres. Tomorrow is Davide’s turn on driving duties and we expect another strong day of running. Looking to Friday, in a change to our original plan, we will now run Nico again. Once the details of what race drivers were allowed to do here became apparent, we would have only been able to conduct a very limited programme with Kimi. By running Nico again we can build on the work already carried out and hopefully be in the best position to develop the E21 ahead of Budapest.”

Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean returned to the podium with Kimi taking second and Romain third in a fast-paced German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring. Kimi finished just 1.008 seconds behind race winner Sebastian Vettel, who took his first home Grand Prix victory. Kimi remains in third position in the Drivers’ Championship with 116 points, but closes the gap from Fernando Alonso (123) to seven points. The team was the highest scoring in the Constructors’ Championship today, remaining in fourth place on 157 points, with Ferrari on 180 in third.

• Kimi started from P5 with a scrubbed set of soft tyres, changing to new medium compound tyres on laps 8 and 24 and a final set of scrubbed soft tyres on lap 49.
  
• Romain started from P4 on a scrubbed set of soft tyres, changing to new sets of medium compound tyres on laps 13, 24 and 40.
  

Kimi Räikkönen, P2, E21-03

“We had a pretty good last stint of the race, but the cars are close on performance so it’s difficult to overtake. Maybe some more laps would have helped us, but the race is only 60 laps so you have to do your best with that. After my first stop I was stuck behind a Mercedes for a while, but once I was past the car was pretty good. After the safety car three of us were able to pull away, but we were too close on speed to change the order. It was a good day for the team. Of course, we wanted to win; we couldn’t, but we did score the most points here. The warmer temperatures definitely helped us, so let’s hope for some more hot weather in Budapest.”

Romain Grosjean, P3, E21-02

“After some difficult races, everything went right today and it was pretty special when I was leading the race and returning to the podium is naturally a good thing. My car felt great on the first stint with the soft tyres and it’s clear that the summer weather really suits us. Hopefully we’ll have a long summer now in Europe! Letting Kimi past at the end of the race was the sensible thing to do as we were on different strategies and he had more of a chance of going for the win than I did at that point. We didn’t know which tyre would be the best at the end of the race, so we didn’t put all our eggs in one basket.”

Eric Boullier, Team Principal

"That was a very good race from the team which validates all the hard work which has been going on back at Enstone, so we thank everyone at the factory for their efforts. After three difficult weekends, being on the podium was exactly what we needed. We need to continue like this to make up for lost ground in both championships. The E21 worked very well today and both Kimi and Romain drove superbly. We had a good strategy from the pit wall, some fantastic pit stops, and were it not for losing some time behind both Mercedes, it’s possible that we could have won today. I think we’ll have to ask Pirelli to keep this weekend’s specification of tyres for the rest of the season.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director

“We’re very happy to be back on the podium again after a short spell of bleak races. Both cars ran faultlessly from start to finish and it did look like we could be able to take the fight to Sebastian [Vettel] but ultimately we didn’t quite manage it. Kimi was held up by Lewis [Hamilton] after his first pit stop but came back fighting at the end of the race. Romain did a fantastic job managing his first set of tyres which enabled him to make some great gains. We did consider running Kimi on a two-stop strategy but we could see the tyre performance dropping. We expected slightly more performance from his final set of soft tyres, but he was right with Seb at the end.”

Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 Team Support Leader

“A great race from both drivers, with incredible pace. It was a shame that the traffic pushed us back from the outright win but a double podium is still a great result, and more than we expected going into the weekend. Engine-wise, it’s been a good Grand Prix, although temperatures were hotter than expected. The result shows the engine-chassis package is back to its best and we’ll look to keep this going to the next race.”

Kimi Räikkönen qualified fourth with Romain Grosjean fifth after a hotly contested qualifying session for tomorrow’s German Grand Prix.

Today’s placings make for the team’s second best qualifying performance this season, after qualifying second and sixth for the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Kimi Räikkönen, E21-03. Q: P4, 1:30.676. FP3: P6, 1:30.671

“My car was okay today, but in my Q3 lap on the new tyres I struggled to get the fronts up to temperature which meant I lost quite a bit of time in the first sector; probably because there was traffic on my out lap meaning I couldn’t push as much as I wanted. For sure it didn’t help and we probably should have been P3 today, but P4 is still a pretty good place to be for the race.”

Romain Grosjean, E21-02. Q: P5, 1:31.242. FP3: P8, 1:30.781

“P5 is a pretty good result, but to be honest I’m a little disappointed with my fastest lap as there were definitely a few tenths lost in the first sector. We struggled a little getting the front tyres working this morning but the car felt really good during qualifying and we improved with every lap. It was a strong performance for the team with Kimi P4 as well, so we’re happy to be back at the front after paying a few unwanted visits to the lower positions recently.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director:

How was qualifying for the team?

We’re reasonably happy with today’s performance. Of course, you always want more and we could have got a little more from both cars in the final qualifying session as neither driver posted a good first sector. That said, with P4 and P5 on the grid, we’re happy.

How’s it looking for the race?

We know that our race simulations yesterday looked good and the forecast is for high temperatures tomorrow, so I think we can look forward to having a strong race.

How are the tyres working here?

The new rear construction with the Kevlar belt doesn’t appear to be hurting our performance and we’re as competitive as we thought we’d be here so we’ve no worries on that front.

Any particular strategy considerations for the race?

The medium compound looks to be the favoured one for the race as the soft has a reasonably high performance degradation; such that we have seen Ferrari opt to start on the medium compound as their approach to managing it. It will be interesting to see how that approach works; from our side, we’re pretty happy with starting on the soft.

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.

Technical Programme Notes

• Romain ran with the Device in the morning to calibrate and evaluate with the current level of downforce. He ran with the slimline spec aero pack in the afternoon.
  
• The Device will not appear again this weekend.
  
• Kimi ran slimline all day.
  
• Pirelli’s medium compound tyre was used in the morning, the medium and soft compound in the afternoon.
  

What We Learned Today

• The Device data collection exercise in the morning provided an ample sufficiency of data.
  
• Soft tyre performance and long run performance were both favourable today, with evident areas for performance gains tomorrow.
  

Kimi Räikkönen, E21-03

Free Practice 1: P5, 1:32.956, 22 laps

Free Practice 2: P5, 1:30.848, 27 laps

Kimi: “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.”

Romain Grosjean, E21-02

Free Practice 1: P9, 33.260, 27 laps

Free Practice 2: P4, 1:30.843, 32 laps

Romain: “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.”

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.”

Kimi Räikkönen set a new record for consecutive Grand Prix points placings [25] by taking fifth position in an eventful British Grand Prix at Silverstone today. The Finn ran as high as second place in a race punctuated by safety car periods and characterised by an unusual amount of tyre failures.

Romain Grosjean had a more difficult race, from which he retired at the end due to a front wing failure. Kimi leaves Silverstone third in the Drivers’ Championship while the team remains fourth in the Constructors’ Championship.

Kimi started from P8 with a used set of medium tyres, changing to new hard tyres on laps 11 and 29.

Romain started from P7 on a used set of medium tyres, changing to new hards on lap 9, scrubbed hards on lap 30 and new mediums on lap 42.

Today was Kimi’s 36th consecutive race finish – 28th consecutive with Lotus F1 Team – and 25th consecutive Grand Prix points finish; the latter statistic meaning he sets a new record

Kimi Räikkönen, P5, E21-03

“I tried to hold on at the end of the race, but with tyres that were maybe twenty laps older than the others’ it was impossible to keep them behind. It’s a shame as the race went pretty well until then; we had good pace and looked set for a pretty easy P2, but this is racing sometimes. It’s three races now where we haven’t had the result we maybe expect, but hopefully if we can have a bit more luck and also get rid of some of the mistakes we’ll be able to get back to the front.”

Romain Grosjean, DNF, E21-02

“Towards the end of the race we lost quite a big part of the front wing meaning it became really difficult to drive, so in the end it was best to retire because of safety considerations. We don’t know if it was caused by some debris or something to do with the fact that it was a new part; we will be working to find out the root of the problem. Before that my race wasn’t going quite to plan and we were suffering with tyre performance. This was related to the front wing issue which started earlier in the race. The safety cars didn’t really go our way either so it’s a race I’d rather forget. Let’s go to Germany and have a better weekend.”

Eric Boullier, Team Principal

"The outcome of the race isn’t rewarding with the amount of work that has been done by the team recently. Most of the upgrades we brought here seem to be working which is a positive sign, although we did struggle a bit in qualifying to generate good grip from the tyres. Our strategy was great today until the last safety car when we should have called Kimi in to save at least one position and make the podium. Unfortunately, we made the wrong call for which we apologise to Kimi and to the team. This sometimes happens and it isn’t easy to manage when you have so many safety car periods. We will be in Germany in a few days’ time where we’re confident we will be competitive and aiming to make amends.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director

“We have mixed feelings today. We made some good places up during the race but in hindsight, we should have pitted Kimi at the final safety car. It wasn’t obvious at the time, but the benefit of hindsight is always enlightening. Romain had a front wing failure near the end of the race, the cause of which we don’t know yet. We weren’t affected by the tyres issues that we have seen today but warned our drivers to stay clear of the kerb at Turn 4 as there was a suspicion it might be the cause. Despite not being as good as it could have been, it was a better weekend for us than the last two. Further upgrades we have coming for Germany mean we fight on.”

Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 Team Support Leader

“A positive Grand Prix on our side and we got the most we could from the engine performance. We decided not to run with new units to retain some flexibility for later in the season; this year it’s very unpredictable so we need to keep as many aces up our sleeves as we can. Obviously we would have liked to end up on the podium, particularly after Kimi’s performance, but a top five finish is important with our rivals scoring big this weekend. We’ll try and redress the balance next weekend.”

Romain Grosjean will start from eighth on the grid and Kimi Räikkönen right behind him in ninth after today’s qualifying for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

After a promising Q1 session where the cars finished P3 and P4, Q2 and Q3 proved to be more difficult at the team’s local circuit. Kimi ran with a Device-equipped E21, whilst Romain ran with a new slimline bodywork package.

Kimi Räikkönen, E21-03. Q: P9, 1:30.962. FP3: P8, 1:32.459

“It was a close qualifying session between both of the team’s cars so I think we both got pretty much all there was from the car today. It’s not ideal as we’d like to be nearer the front of the grid, but it is what it is. We’ll go into the race wanting to get a better result than we did in qualifying. Usually this is what happens for us and and hopefully that is the case again tomorrow.”

Romain Grosjean, E21-02. Q: P8, 1:30.955. FP3: P5, 1:32.391

“Whilst were very quick on the hard tyres at the beginning of qualifying, we weren’t as competitive on the mediums, I don’t know if it’s the weather or something else, but we weren’t as good on them as in free practice this morning meaning we didn’t have enough to qualify further up the grid. We are working hard and in the right direction, but the tyres are still playing a key part. I’m quite satisfied with my performance today.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director:

How was qualifying for the team?

I’m reasonably happy with both cars making it into the top ten but, of course, we would have liked a bit more from today. Romain didn’t have a perfect last lap and suffered from understeer in Turn 15 whilst there didn’t seem to be much more pace in Kimi’s car.

How are the tyres working here?

They seem to be quite close for us in terms of ultimate lap pace. We had quite a dilemma as to whether we should run Romain on the harder tyres in Q3 as he went very well on them in Q1. Other than that, both compounds are well suited to the demands of Silverstone and there should be a range of strategy permutations available tomorrow.

How’s the weather affecting the performance?

Like many of the crew, the E21 certainly prefers warmer temperatures. The cloud cover today can mean a reasonable temperature drop, so we’re certainly hoping for clearer skies and a warmer track tomorrow.

Romain Grosjean ended the first day of practice for the British Grand Prix with the ninth fastest time, with team-mate Kimi Räikkönen posting a Friday 13th in what was a characteristically wet start to the weekend at Silverstone.

The team completed a solitary installation lap with Romain – and no running at all with Kimi – during the morning session due to an inclement wet track, resulting in all meaningful track time taking place in the drying afternoon session.

Pirelli’s wet and intermediate tyres were used today in addition to the hard, medium and developmental dry tyres.

Technical programme notes:

• We didn’t run in the morning – save for an installation lap – due to the wet conditions.
  
• In the afternoon, Kimi ran the team’s ‘Device’ for evaluation. He also has a different hair configuration.
  
• Romain ran with new specification figure-hugging bodywork.
  
• Pirelli’s wet (blue) tyres were used in the morning, the intermediate (green), developmental (no markings), hard (orange) and medium compound dry (white) tyres in the afternoon.
  

What we learned today:

• The Device appears to be working well, but will require data analysis to determine if it will be used for the rest of the weekend.
  
• Romain’s new aero-package also appears to be delivering what we want from it.
  

Kimi Räikkönen, E21-03

Free practice 1: No laps completed

Free practice 2: P13, 1:34.120, 30 laps

Kimi: “We’re reasonably happy with everything today. We put quite a lot of effort into testing the new Device with feels pretty okay. I only ran with the development and hard tyre so didn’t go for a faster lap, but it didn’t feel too bad and we can work out where everything will be once we put it all together. I don’t think we’re one of the very quickest, but I don’t think we’ll be too far away.”

Romain Grosjean, E21-02

Free practice 1: P14, No time set, 1 lap

Free practice 2: P9, 1:33.322, 38 laps

Romain: “It was a solid day here at Silverstone. Thankfully, the rain stopped for this afternoon and we could get some good laps in so we can make a call on setup and configuration for tomorrow. It’s hard to say exactly where the car is due to the conditions we had, plus we ran with a lot of different tyres so my engineers will have a busy evening checking the info to work out what’s best. The car feels good; I think if we can improve in a few areas we could be well placed for qualifying.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director:

“After a wash-out in the morning where we elected not to run, we had a productive afternoon. Kimi was happy with the balance of the car with the Device fitted and we made some tweaks to it by trying different settings too. All appears to be working well and we have a good amount of data from which to decide if we will run it for the rest of the weekend. Romain’s car also looks to be working fine with the new aero package. We’re not concerned by the lap times this afternoon; Kimi didn’t use the softer tyre while Romain ran with it very early in the session, so we’re happy that we will be more competitive than we were at the last race.”