Romain Grosjean demonstrated fine pace in the morning, but contact with the HRT of Pedro de la Rosa in the Q1 session meant he was unable to set a representative time and will start the race from P18 on the grid.

Kimi Räikkönen, E20-05. Q : P9, 1:13.298. FP3 : P24, No Time Set

Of course we expect to do better but it’s been a tricky weekend. If I could have just done a few laps this morning it would have made things much easier, but after the engine problem I couldn’t complete any running and with the different temperatures from yesterday it was hard to know what would be the best setup. So I guess it was good to get into Q3 after all the issues ; it means we got something out of today when it could have been even worse.

Romain Grosjean, E20-03. Q : P18, 1:16.967. FP3 : P5, 1:13.420

Unfortunately there’s not much to say. I stayed behind Pedro [de la Rosa] during his flying lap to not disturb his time, but then when we got to the straight I tried to get past and he just didn’t see me. I braked as much as I could but it was too late ; he moved across, there was contact which broke my front wing and that was my afternoon ruined. To be honest I’m pretty upset about it ; of course, every driver is out there fighting for position but pulling that kind of move when the car behind is clearly faster is just pointless. The car felt very good this morning and we should have been fighting for the top five not struggling to get into Q2. There’s a lot of work to do now to get close to where we should be, but we know the pace is there so hopefully we can still bring home some good points.

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director :

“We’re confident in the pace of the car in both wet and dry trim.”

How do you rate Kimi’s qualifying performance ?

Kimi has suffered a terrible weekend of unreliability with an ignition coil fault in FP1 followed by a blown engine in FP3. His only full session came in FP2 on Friday where we saw significantly higher temperatures, so to put the car inside the top ten was a great effort. What’s more, he only completed a single run in Q3 at a time when the track was not at its quickest, so we believe there will be even more to come from him in the race.

Romain obviously starts out of position ; what can he do from there ?

There’s potential for a strong result from Romain tomorrow. Although he starts down in P18 after an unfortunate incident with Pedro [de la Rosa], the car underneath him is certainly much quicker than those around him whatever the conditions may be and he plenty of fresh tyres to help him through the pack. There’s no reason to believe he won’t be challenging for a solid points haul tomorrow and that is undoubtedly our aim.

What are your thoughts on the inclement conditions predicted for tomorrow ?

There was a light shower before qualifying today and our forecasts suggest that any rainfall tomorrow will be of a similar intensity rather than that of the heavy downpour which seems to be imminent this evening. We’re confident in the pace of the car both in wet and dry trim and have opted for a setup which keeps the potential weather variations in mind. It’s looking like being an intermediate start, but you never know what can happen here and there have been some spectacular storms in the past. Either way, we’re prepared for whatever the skies may throw at us.

Romain Grosjean went seventh fastest whilst Kimi Räikkönen set the twelfth fastest time during a hot opening day of the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend at Interlagos, São Paulo.

Both cars ran with the latest specification exhaust system as raced for the first time in Austin, as well as new front drums. An issue with an ignition coil shortened Kimi’s running in the morning session.

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director - Technical programme notes :

• Kimi’s car suffered an ignition coil issue in FP1 which was resolved during the session
  
• Both drivers trialled the 2013 Pirelli development tyres during FP1
  
• In FP2 we ran the 2012 spec hard and medium compounds
  
• We trialled new front drums on both cars and the latest front wing upgrade on Romain’s car
  

What we learned today :

• Our long run pace in hot temperatures looks to be good
  
• The car looks to be strong in both high and low downforce trim
  

Kimi Räikkönen, E20-05

Free practice 1 : P16, 1:15.701, 16 laps

Free practice 2 : P12, 1:15.371, 39 laps

Kimi :

“We had a problem in the morning but it’s just one of those things ; you don’t want it to happen, but it’s not the end of the world. It’s unfortunate it took a while to fix as we missed time on track. Other than that, it was a very normal Friday for us. It was quite difficult to find a good set-up so we tried quite a few things. Tricky is usually the way for our Friday’s and we’ve always been able to find a better set-up for Saturday so that’s exactly what we’ll try to do for tomorrow.”

Romain Grosjean, E20-03

Free practice 1 : P7, 1:14.719 33 laps

Free practice 2 : P9, 1:14.994, 37 laps

Romain :

“It was a very hot and sunny day which wasn’t so easy for the tyres as it was difficult to get them to work properly so we struggled a little bit. Speed was not especially easy to find today, but we ran through our normal programme with a little bit of focus on a wet set-up as we know there’s rain forecast for Sunday. We only ran a little with the 2013 tyres in the morning ; my initial impression is that they feel a bit better and you can notice they have a different construction. Our long run pace was good so let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director :

“We’ve had an encouraging start to the weekend. Although Kimi’s track time in FP1 was restricted, Romain completed some interesting back-to-back comparison runs with Pirelli’s 2013 development tyre which looks to be a few tenths quicker than the current configuration even on this year’s car. Kimi had some catching up to do in the afternoon and struggled initially on the prime tyres, but with a few balance tweaks to accommodate the soaring track temperatures and his engine now running as it should he settled down to put in some decent runs. The track temperature was around ten degrees higher than in the morning – one of the hottest Friday’s we’ve seen all year in fact – and therefore yielded less grip. Despite this however, our long run pace with Romain looked very competitive. We also ran differing setups in anticipation of a potentially dry qualifying, wet race scenario, so there’s a lot of data to look at overnight but overall we’re pretty pleased.”

Lotus F1 Team took a formation finish with Kimi Räikkönen in sixth and Romain Grosjean seventh in the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas this afternoon.

Kimi maintains third position in the Drivers’ Championship on 206 points ; 16 ahead of Lewis Hamilton in fourth. The team remains fourth in the Constructors’ Championship on 302 points ; an increased 166 in front of Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 in fifth.

• Kimi and Romain both started on used medium compound tyres.
  
• Romain pitted for new hard tyres on lap 9, Kimi on lap 24.
  

Kimi Räikkönen, P6, E20-05

"It was an okay day, but not a very easy one for us. I got a bad start and then I touched with a Force India at the second corner so I lost a few more places. After that the car was okay and I could get past some of the others. Unfortunately, when it got cloudy it got too cold so the tyres stopped working and that’s where we saw Jenson [button] get past. Basically, it was a race where we were just depending on the tyres to be in their window. I’m still 3rd in the championship and we’ll do everything we can to maintain this position until the end."

Romain Grosjean, P7, E20-03

"Not a bad race but the spin on lap seven was frustrating. The start was good, the first lap was good and the pace was definitely there. I recovered pretty well from where I was to finish P7 and was fighting Kimi at the end which is a positive sign. I pushed as hard as I could, so I was happy to bring home some more points for the team."

Eric Boullier, Team Principal

"Today wasn’t as good as Abu Dhabi obviously, but with both cars in the points we’re quite satisfied. The first part of the race created some expectations that we could have been in a position to fight for a better result, however the race didn’t play out that way. We had a small problem in Kimi’s pit stop and lost time there. Romain made a mistake behind Nico Hulkenberg and lost the opportunity to do a better job, but he had a very strong race from there and came back well. In the end, Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari were faster and there wasn’t anything we could do. It’s good to gain some points, plus we know we have better performance still to come from the car and the ability to achieve better results, so we’re looking forward to Brazil."

James Allison, Technical Director

"Although there were elements of today’s race that were quite positive, overall I have to admit it was a pretty joyless experience. Romain’s off-track excursion during the early stages put a sizeable flat spot on his tyres which proved to be too much to live with past a few extra laps. This was a real shame as he clearly had good pace and put in a very spirited drive to recover from there. After a tricky start from the dirty side of the track, Kimi did a good job of clawing his way forwards and was on course to jump Fernando [Alonso] in the pit stop battle, but unfortunately we had a bit of a drama with our tyre change which put paid to that. On a more positive note, our qualifying pace has certainly improved so with a trouble free race in Brazil we can hopefully wrap up the season with another podium."

Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 Team Support Leader

"Coming to a new circuit is never straightforward as we are constantly learning about the track and optimising engine maps, fuel consumption and grip levels. We’ve had a strong weekend overall and sixth and seventh is a solid result, although perhaps we would have expected more after qualifying yesterday. The next race is only a week away and has its own set of challenges so we’ll take that result and look forward now."

An exciting inaugural qualifying session at the Circuit of the Americas saw Romain Grosjean set the fourth-fastest time with Kimi Räikkönen right behind him in fifth. A gearbox change for Romain will see him start from ninth on the grid for tomorrow’s United States Grand Prix ; with Kimi inheriting fourth position as a result of his team-mate’s penalty.

Kimi Räikkönen, E20-05. Q : P5, 1:36.708. (Starts P4) FP3 : P13, 1:37.765

“I was actually expecting a more difficult qualifying session today, but the car was the best it’s felt all weekend so it turned out to be quite good. The set-up is still not exactly how I want it but it’s much closer. The warmer conditions make the car work much better and that certainly makes a difference. Starting on the dirty side of the grid maybe isn’t the best ; we’ll have to hope that the circuit picks up a little more grip for the race tomorrow.”

Romain Grosjean, E20-03. Q : P4, 1:36.587 (Starts P9) FP3 : P17, 1:38.753

“I will start P9, but this is racing. The guys did an awesome job to change the gearbox between FP3 and Qualifying – which was a really tight turnaround – but we’re still in the top ten even with the penalty so that’s a good result. Apart from the gearbox problem, it’s all gone very well today. We’ve understood a difficult and evolving circuit and found a good set-up. I’m happy to be where I am and at least I will be on the good side of the track for the start tomorrow.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director :

“There’s no reason we can’t be up there challenging for a podium spot again.”

What are your thoughts on qualifying ?

We’re certainly happy with today. It was a good qualifying performance from both drivers and we’ve shown that the car has improved pace in qualifying trim with the updated exhaust configuration which is a big positive. Unfortunately for Romain, we had a gearbox issue with his car this morning which means he’ll take a five place grid penalty but we know the car has good race pace ; with a clean start from both drivers there’s no reason we can’t be up there challenging for a podium spot again.

How difficult has it been to get up to speed with this new circuit ?

It’s been a bit of a struggle for everyone I think. We’ve seen a very green surface, low track temperatures and tyres which are really far too hard for what’s required. The circuit has started to clean up significantly which is allowing the car and tyres to behave in a much more normal fashion and it now seems to be relatively easy to run very long stints on either compound.

What are your thoughts in terms of strategy for tomorrow ?

As per the last few weekends, it’s highly likely that we’re looking at another one stop race. The decision will be whether to stop early and make the jump or whether to spend the most time possible running the option tyre, so that’s what we’ll be analysing tonight.

Are we feeling optimistic heading into the race ?

I think so, yes. Our race pace on Friday looked promising and – as a rule – the car has been kind on tyres so there’s no reason to believe we shouldn’t be aiming for another strong result.

Kimi Räikkönen went eleventh fastest whilst Romain Grosjean set the thirteenth quickest time as teams throughout the paddock got to grips with the Circuit of the Americas in Austin Texas for the very first time. The team evaluated new rear drums and the latest exhaust evolution with both cars running reliably throughout the two 90 minute practice sessions.

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director - Technical Programme Notes :

• We re-evaluated our latest exhaust update on Kimi’s car in FP1 and FP2.
  
• Romain evaluated new rear drums in both sessions.
  
• Kimi will evaluate our latest evolution front wing tomorrow morning.
  
• Pirelli’s hard compound tyre was used in the first session, the hard and medium in the afternoon.
  

What we learned today :

• We have sufficient data to be confident in running the latest exhaust system and new rear drums on both cars for the rest of the weekend.
  

Kimi Räikkönen, E20-05

Free practice 1 : P14, 1:41.880, 23 laps

Free practice 2 : P11, 1:40.166, 32 laps

Kimi :

“It’s a nice circuit to drive ; the sectors are quite different so there’s a good challenge there. Of course, like with any new track there was no grip at the start of the day which doesn’t give you a very good feeling, but as the grip improves it will be more fun to drive for sure. This morning was very slippery, this afternoon less so but you still can’t really push and it’s a bit tricky to find the limit. There’s a lot of improvement to come - from the track surface and from the setup of the car - so qualifying will be pretty interesting.”

Romain Grosjean, E20-03

Free practice 1 : P15, 1:41.998 27 laps

Free practice 2 : P13, 1:40.286, 32 laps

Romain :

“The most noticeable thing about the circuit at this stage is the lack of grip ; it’s really, really slippery out there. The layout itself looks very nice but we’re a long way off being able to push the car anywhere near the limit, particularly through Turns 7-9 and towards the end at Turn 19 where it’s tricky to predict how the car will behave. The good thing is that the car felt comfortable on long runs with the hard tyre so we have a good starting point, but there is still a little bit of work to do with the mediums. We still have tomorrow morning and I think the track will continue to improve right until the end of the weekend, so qualifying will be interesting for sure.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director :

“Despite being an all-new track, it’s been a fairly normal Friday for us. The morning session delivered the expected low levels of grip with the surface improving hugely later on making any comparison tests very difficult. This meant we concentrated on keeping the cars balanced and spending as much time out on track as we could. FP2 was a mix of setting the cars up and then carrying out high fuel work, however both struggled to get a clear lap on the medium tyres. Neither driver was particularly happy with their set-up so we’ve got a little bit of work to do. Our high fuel pace looks okay, and we’re confident we can deliver more on low fuel tomorrow.”

Iconic brands Star Wars and Angry Birds will feature on the cars of Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean in Austin, Texas next week at the forthcoming United States Grand Prix.

In order to celebrate the return of Formula 1 to America, Lotus F1 Team is proud to announce it will feature Angry Birds and Star Wars on the E20’s sidepods, promoting ‘Angry Birds Star Wars’, a joint game which was released to the public yesterday, November 8.

The game is a partnership between award winning programmers Rovio - founders of the chart topping ‘Angry Birds’ game, downloaded more than a billion times already - and Lucasfilm - the creators of iconic films ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Indiana Jones’.

Accompanying the team’s promotion of Angry Birds Star Wars, an official weekly tournament game incorporating Angry Birds, Star Wars and Lotus F1 Team will run on the Angry Birds Friends Facebook fan page for a week from November 12-19. Prizes for this Facebook-only tournament will include a one-off opportunity for a test ride in the team’s simulator - courtesy of Lotus F1 Team partner Rexona - a signed replica Kimi Räikkönen helmet courtesy of Clear, as well as specifically designed Angry Birds merchandise and Star Wars items from Hasbro.

The relationship between ‘Angry Birds’ and Lotus F1 Team began in Monaco this year for the team’s 500th race and makes another step forward with this new joint activation ; incorporating Lucasfilm to give a new dimension in entertainment opportunities.

Patrick Louis, Lotus F1 Team CEO :

“As a team, we are constantly pushing the boundaries of our approach to entertainment and promoting our aim to be a little different. By promoting the new Angry Birds Star Wars game at the upcoming United States Grand Prix, we have the potential to connect fans between Lotus F1 Team, Rovio and Lucasfilm. After our victory at the recent Abu Dhabi Grand Prix we certainly think that the Force is with us.”

Harri Koponen, Rovio COO :

“We’re extremely happy to once again link up with Lotus F1 Team in our recent agreement with Lucasfilm. ‘Angry Birds Star Wars’ is the latest in our exploration to further entertainment, and what better way to showcase and publicise our new game than at the inaugural United States Grand Prix. We’re very excited to be back on the car following our success in Monaco, and are looking forward to continuing our relationship with Lotus F1 Team to a galaxy far, far away...”

Colum Slevin, Vice President, Head of Studio Operations for Lucasfilm Ltd :

“By uniting the Star Wars, Angry Birds and Lotus F1 Team brands, we are able to offer an entertainment experience for fans from across the globe. Through linking up with the team at the United States Grand Prix, we’re able to offer something totally unique in terms of entertainment, showcasing our brand on a new global platform.”

Angry Birds Star Wars is already the number 1 app in the world : angrybirds.com/starwars

The final day of the Young Driver Test in Abu Dhabi saw reigning GP2 Series champion Davide Valsecchi top the time sheets in the race winning E20. Davide completed a total of 86 laps, running a comprehensive testing programme and showcasing his talent by quickly getting up to speed with the car and team.

Today signals the end of the Young Driver Test, with Lotus F1 Team having completed a total of 213 laps and gaining valuable data as the focus now turns towards the forthcoming United States Grand Prix next weekend.

Programme Summary :

• Morning Session : Aerodynamic testing and DDRS iterations.
  
• Afternoon Session : Front Drum testing and tyre assessment Programme.
  
• Total number of laps : 86
  
• Best lap time : 1:42:677
  
• Tyres used : Two sets of hard, two sets of medium and two sets of soft compound tyres.
  

Davide Valsecchi, E20-01

“It’s been a really good experience for me. I was very pleased with my sessions and followed everything the team asked of me without making any mistakes. I took it very easy in the morning so I could get used to the car and soon became more confident, meaning towards the end I was much better in terms of pace.

“The team listened to my feedback and made the changes I suggested, particularly towards the end of running. I want to say thank you to Lotus F1 Team who have been really good ; the engineers and the mechanics have all been brilliant and it has been a great day for me.”

Simon Rennie, Race Engineer

“The final day’s running with Davide has been a good end to our Young Driver Test this year. In the morning we completed additional aerodynamic work and looked at further evaluation of our DDRS, providing us with enough data to make an informed decision at a later stage in Enstone. Before lunch Davide completed performance runs as he became accustomed to the set up and quickly explored the limits of the car. Obviously the step from GP2 to Formula 1 is not enormous, but we were impressed with how quickly he was up to speed by this morning.

“For the afternoon session, we looked at developments of our front drums and then completed a tyre programme which gave Davide the opportunity to try out the various compounds. We ran the hard, medium and soft tyres and he found good improvements in terms of grip with each step in the compounds. All in all it’s been a good day, and Davide did a great job.”

A successful second day at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi showcased the talents of Edoardo Mortara as he took the wheel of the E20 for the very first time.

This was a first Formula 1 experience for the young French / Italian driver, who is currently competing in the DTM series. Despite this he finished the day third fastest, setting his quickest time at the last possible moment on his final lap.

Programme Summary :

• Morning Session : Aerodynamic programming and DDRS testing
  
• Afternoon Session : Setup adjustments and balance change
  
• Total number of laps : 75
  
• Best lap time : 1:43.418
  
• Tyres used : Two sets of hard and two sets of medium compound rubber
  

Coming Up Next…

• Reigning GP2 Series Champion Davide Valsecchi will round off the three day test as he makes his Lotus F1 Team debut in the E20 hot seat tomorrow
  

Edoardo Mortara, E20-01

“I had a wonderful time and I’m so grateful to everyone at Lotus F1 Team for giving me this opportunity ; I enjoyed every lap. At the same time, it was pretty tough ; I’ve come from a car which is a lot slower and the first laps were certainly an eye opener. I improved gradually over the day and I think my progression was pretty good. Every time I was on track I got a little bit better. I completed the test programme scheduled by the team so it’s satisfying to be able to contribute to their season. It’s been one of the best days of my life.”

Simon Rennie, Race Engineer

“Today we completed further aerodynamic work Including running two iterations of the DDRS. Edoardo spent the morning acclimatising himself to the car meaning that in the afternoon he was able to tune the set-up to his preferences. He did a great job, completing 75 laps and giving us a lot of valuable data to work with. We ran with new medium tyres in the afternoon meaning he was let off the leash a bit more to show his speed. At the end of the day he was third quickest, but there is more time to come from him and also the car. All in all, he did an excellent job today.”

A successful first day’s running at the Abu Dhabi Young Driver Test saw French driver Nicolas Prost step into the race winning E20. Nicolas completed a full engineering and aerodynamic programme during a trouble-free day, gaining valuable data for the team in the process.

Programme Summary :

• Morning Session : Pressure logging and aerodynamic testing.
  
• Afternoon Session : Evaluation of rear drum configuration and further aerodynamic testing.
  
• Total Number of laps : 52
  
• Best Lap Time : 1:44.194
  
• Tyres Used : Three sets of hard compound rubber
  

Nicolas Prost, E20-01

Today was my first real experience of a Formula 1 car. I had driven the R30 before, however it’s now two years old and uses different tyres so it’s quite different to my experience today. I’m obviously very happy and I’m impressed by the car ; it’s a massive step up even from the R30.

For me it was like a real test driver’s day and we trialled a lot of parts. We only worked on the hard tyres, so were obviously not looking for pace, but we have been analysing the data and I have been comparing myself with Kimi and Romain’s telemetry. Obviously I’m missing a bit in some corners, but others are quite good. For my first day I think it’s very positive and I did the job the team asked of me, so it’s been a very good day.

Simon Rennie, Race Engineer

For the first day of testing we ran Nico in the car and mainly focused on running some new aerodynamic developments. It was therefore quite a demanding programme for Nico in terms of procedures, but he managed them all very well. We worked our way through the programme and completed everything we hoped to get out of the day ; Nico did a great job.

We only used three sets of hard tyres ; as we had discovered from the race, the degradation at this circuit is very low and they were therefore ideal for completing our aero work. We focused on testing parts that take quite a while to change, meaning it is impossible to gain good data on them during a race weekend. We have not done a huge number of laps, however they have been laps where we have gathered very good data. We were not looking for performance, rather consistent runs from Nico which he did well, so all in all it’s been a very good day.

Kimi Räikkönen has taken his 19th Grand Prix victory - the 48th win for an Enstone team -

with a glorious day-to-night victory in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Kimi made an excellent

start to take second place at the start from fourth on the grid, then capitalised when Lewis

Hamilton's McLaren retired. Romain Grosjean did not finish the race after being involved in

an incident for which Sergio Perez was deemed responsible.

Kimi maintains third position in the Drivers' Championship on 198 points ; a diminished 47

shy of Fernando Alonso and an increased 31 ahead of Mark Webber. The team remains

fourth in the Constructors' Championship on 288 points ; a reduced 30 behind McLaren and

an increased 152 in front of Mercedes.

• Kimi started on soft tyres, pitting on lap 31 for a set of new medium compound rubber.

• Romain started on soft tyres, pitting on lap 1 for a set of new mediums then again on

lap 9 under safety car conditions for a further set of scrubbed soft rubber.

Kimi Räikkönen, P1, E20-05

"I'm very happy for the team, and for myself also. You never know what's going to happen

during the race ; the safety cars made it quite tricky, but I've had similar races many, many

times this year. Today we had a clear circuit to be able to use our speed. Perhaps we were

not the fastest at the end, but we were quick enough and consistent enough to win so it's

great for the team. We've had some difficult races in the second half of the season so it's

fantastic to come back with a win."

Romain Grosjean, DNF, E20-03

"I am very happy for Kimi as it's the win we were waiting for and it's an unbelievable result

for the whole team. For myself I'm disappointed as I was running pretty well. It was a tight

battle with three of us in a row at turn eleven, then Sergio [Perez] went off track at turn

thirteen and came back on the inside at turn fourteen leaving me with no room to go

anywhere else. Mark [Webber] then came from behind and we touched ; it was a big

shame. A great day for the team, but an unlucky one for me."

Eric Boullier, Team Principal

"I have one word first of all : Great. Then there are many words such as 'relief' and

'deserved'. It's obviously a very well deserved result for the team. I'm pleased for Kimi and

he did a very good job. We've been pushing very hard all season and we've nearly had it

before. There's a little frustration not to have had a win sooner, and we have been waiting

for it, but it's a fantastic feeling to finally take that victory and a superb reward for the team.

It's great for Formula 1, it's great for Kimi and it's great for our team."

James Allison, Technical Director

"When you are as happy as this it is hard to avoid lapsing into cliché. Despite being

tantalisingly close several times this year, we have waited a long time to return to the top

step of the podium. It is a massive tribute both to a flawless drive from Kimi and to the

tenacity of the entire Enstone team for never having taken their eye off the prize all year.

With two races left in the season we go on to Austin with a spring in our step, invigorated to

do it all over again and see what we can achieve."

Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 Team Support Leader

"It's just an awesome feeling to finally win a race ; the first victory for the Enstone-Viry

partnership in its present configuration. All season the chassis-engine package has been

strong and everyone has worked incredibly hard in the last few weeks to successfully

introduce new parts to get that last piece of performance. It all worked out beautifully today

and hats off to Kimi for judging it perfectly."

A tightly fought qualifying session at the Yas Marina Circuit saw Kimi Räikkönen net a fine fifth position on the grid whilst Romain Grosjean took tenth for tomorrow’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Kimi Räikkönen, E20-05. Q : P5, 1:41.260. FP3 : P9, 1:43.184

“Qualifying was good. The car hasn’t felt fantastic all weekend but we decided we weren’t going to change the car’s set-up from where it was for the last race. It was the right choice because in the end the circuit came to us in qualifying where the car was the best it has been so far here. We’ll give tomorrow our best shot ; Let’s see if we can make a good start to get right behind the Red Bulls, and then we’ll see what happens after that.”

Romain Grosjean, E20-03. Q : P10, 1:41.778. FP3 : P6, 1:43.015

“It wasn’t a great qualifying lap for me today, and P10 is not where we want to be on the grid. In the last run in Q3 I had no grip so wasn’t able to find more pace. The car had felt fine before that and we looked good through the other qualifying sessions. It just means I have some more work to do in the race and I think there’s more to come from me and the car.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director :

“Overall a good performance from the team.”

How do you assess today’s qualifying performance ?

“We are happy with our achievements today, however we could have possibly managed even more with both drivers. Fifth on the grid is very good for Kimi and means we should be well placed for tomorrow. Romain was looking set for a strong lap too, matching Kimi for the first two sectors, but he lost half a second on the final sector ; we’ll be looking at what went wrong there.”

Where do you think the car should be on race pace ?

“As has been the trend this season, we’re confident in terms of where our race pace should be relative to our opposition. We completed a promising long run on Friday afternoon ; we have no problems or issues with tyre wear, warm-up, or anything like that so there are no reasons why we should not have a good evening tomorrow.”

Do we fear being stuck behind other cars as in the Indian Grand Prix ?

“We’ve qualified further up the order with Kimi which should certainly help his race. Overtaking is slightly easier here, however Romain will have his work cut out. That said, he completed some nice overtaking moves last time out, so let’s hope for the same here.”

Romain Grosjean went fifth fastest and Kimi Räikkönen set the sixth quickest time – with just 0.032secs separating them – at the end of Friday’s two practice sessions at the Yas Marina Circuit this afternoon. The team evaluated new chassis wings and an exhaust update. Both cars ran reliably throughout the two 90 minute practice sessions.

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director – Technical programme notes :

• We evaluated an exhaust update on Kimi’s car in FP1 and FP2.
  
• Romain ran new chassis wings in both sessions.
  
• Pirelli’s medium compound tyre was used in the first session, the medium and soft in the afternoon.
  

What we learned today :

• We gained a good amount of data to make a conclusion on the exhaust update.
  
• We will run with the new chassis wings on both cars for the rest of the weekend.
  

Kimi Räikkönen, E20-05

Free practice 1 : P10, 1:45.422, 15 laps

Free practice 2 : P6, 1:42.532, 28 laps

Kimi :

“We were good on Friday in India and we’ve been strong again here in Abu Dhabi today. We tried a few new parts on the car in both sessions and we have some things to go through before tomorrow. Our lap times seem to be pretty okay so far ; hopefully we can find a little bit more pace for tomorrow in practice and then again for the qualifying session.”

Romain Grosjean, E20-03

Free practice 1 : P14, 1:45.743, 20 laps

Free practice 2 : P5, 1:42.500, 34 laps

Romain :

“Looking at today’s times I think it’s possible for us to be battling nearer to those ahead of us this weekend, as I think we can still improve our lap times. I did not drive the best lap of my life with the option tyres today ; with the first set of options you put on you have to go for it, so I think I can still improve a little bit. To get in front of the cars ahead of us will be difficult, but we will try, so why not ? We had some updates that worked well, so we will keep them.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director :

“We’re quite happy with where we are today. We spent the morning on medium tyres, setting up and balancing the cars. Both were reasonable, with the drivers relatively happy. We ran an exhaust update with Kimi in FP1 and went back to the standard setup for the start of the second session. We then did another back to back analysis, so whereas we would normally have done a much longer high fuel run we spent FP2 evaluating this to gain good data and give us a clear picture on where we need to be tomorrow.”

Currently occupying third place in the Formula 1 Driver’s World Championship – with an impressive six podium finishes along the way – Kimi has certainly silenced the critics during his comeback season in Formula 1. With solid foundations now in place, the Finn is looking for more with the team in 2013…

What have you learnt from your return to Formula 1 ?

This season has shown me that I still love racing as much as I ever did. Obviously, I would have not come back to the sport if I did not feel like this. Driving a Formula 1 car still gives me the same inspiration and I feel the same passion for it.

Lotus F1 Team is your fourth team in Formula 1 : how have things gelled ?

I have been very happy with the team ; how they work, how they approach the races and how they invest in developing the car. I think with the progress behind the scenes at Enstone we could be fighting for the podium even more often next year and also be able to make a stronger challenge for the Championship.

We, and around 500,000 other people, recently saw you signing an enforced contract on YouTube. How civilized was the process with Lotus F1 Team in comparison ?

Well the team did not need to tie me up and blackmail me with a photo album, unlike certain other contracts you may have seen me sign recently. That was not necessary on this occasion.

How strong is your motivation heading into the last races of this year and looking ahead to 2013 ?

My motivation is as strong as it’s always been. I’m keen to race on.

How can you build on your experience from 2012 next season ?

We have proven as team that we can build and develop a strong and reliable car. This year has been a good platform to put down strong foundations for what will hopefully be an even better season next time around. We know what we need to do to improve in some important areas, which should help us get even better results next year. All in all I’m looking forward carrying on working with the team to achieve more good things in 2013.

What have you learnt from this year ?

I think there were a few people who had doubts about how I would perform after being away for a while. Personally, I didn’t feel I stopped racing at all. I may have been doing something different with rallying, but after coming back to Formula 1 I immediately felt fit enough – and fast enough – to start racing again. My hunger for winning is exactly the same as always and I think I’ve shown that I’m capable of fighting for victories. Obviously there have been none so far this year, but we have come close a few times and for sure we’ll keep on trying for as long as it takes to start winning again.

What’s the main focus for you in 2013 ?

Of course, the main thing is to do my very best every time, every weekend, every race. I think to be able to perform better in the races I have to find more from myself and from the car in qualifying. This season has shown that you have to be on first two rows to be able to win every time. It’s important to improve our grid positions for 2013. That’s one of main targets for me.

Lotus F1 Team is pleased to announce that Kimi Räikkönen will continue to drive for the team in 2013.

Kimi, who currently stands in third position in the FIA Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship, returned to the sport in 2012 after two seasons away and immediately showcased his pace, stepping on the podium six times so far this season - in Bahrain, twice in Spain (Barcelona and Valencia), Germany, Hungary and Belgium.

Kimi has already started giving his input on next year’s car, the E21, and will play an active role in the whole design process.

Kimi Räikkönen :

“I think my return to Formula 1 has gone pretty well and the team has done a very good job all year so far. To be honest, I didn’t expect to be fighting for the Drivers’ Championship this season when you look at where the team was in 2011, so it has been great to be on the podium so many times and to score points on a regular basis. I feel very comfortable with Lotus F1 Team and we share the same philosophy of racing. Continuing with the team was an obvious choice for me and I’m looking forward to making another step forward together next year.”

Eric Boullier, Team Principal :

“Kimi has made an exceptional comeback to Formula 1. From the first time he sat in the car this year it was clear he had lost none of his pace or technical feedback and we have been rewarded by a focused and motivated driver all season. For Lotus F1 Team to be fighting for such strong championship positions this year is in no small part attributed to Kimi’s talent and experience of racing. It was a natural conclusion for us to confirm that we will be harnessing his abilities for next season.”

Kimi Räikkönen took seventh while Romain Grosjean finished ninth in a solid but frustrating Indian Grand Prix where both drivers finished right behind the cars ahead. Kimi maintains third position in the Drivers’ Championship on 173 points ; 54 away from Fernando Alonso ahead and six in front of Mark Webber behind. The team remains fourth in the Constructors’ Championship on 263 points ; 43 behind McLaren and an increased 127 in front of Mercedes.

• Kimi started on soft tyres, pitting on lap 27 for a set of new hards.
  
• Romain started on hard tyres, pitting on lap 36 for a set of new softs.
  

Kimi Räikkönen, P7, E20-05

“I had a very good car today but I just couldn’t do anything with it as I was not able to pass on the straight. It was quite disappointing but that’s how it goes. We put ourselves in that position yesterday with the set-up we chose for qualifying and we paid the price today. We had the speed but not in the right place and when you are behind someone there’s not much you can do. Hopefully in the next race we can be a bit more smart and use our race speed to take some more Championship points.”

Romain Grosjean, P9, E20-03

“Finishing 9th after starting from 12th is good but we could have done even better. That said, I think it was a very good race from myself, my engineers, and the crew during the pit stops. We did everything we could ; everybody was working at 100% but today we were lacking some speed in a straight line which makes it impossible to overtake. I pushed on every lap - it was like 90 minutes of qualifying - and gave everything to get the best performance from the car, so I’m very happy.”

Eric Boullier, Team Principal

“Like every race, qualifying is obviously the key to get good points so yesterday’s performance defined our race. Unfortunately Kimi was unable to overtake Felipe and stayed stuck behind. I think we had the pace to be a little bit better and get nearer the front. We clearly need to work on qualifying and make sure we do a better job. We know our car is strong in the race and I think both drivers today did the job we were expecting. The team did a great job on the pit stop strategy so we cannot complain. Let’s just say we’re frustrated that we didn’t do a little bit better.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director

“Both drivers reported that their cars were excellent during the race, which was good. The downside was that Kimi spent the whole race looking at the back of Massa’s car and Romain was held up for around four laps whilst Michael (Schumacher) received blue flags ahead of him. This circuit is pretty difficult to overtake on ; even though there’s a very long straight, the DRS zone isn’t actually that long. It was clear we were definitely faster than the cars ahead, just not sufficiently faster to overtake.”

Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 Team Support Leader

“A double points finish is a good result today. We worked very hard with the team to optimise the Coandă exhaust system and we have made some good progress in this area. In this respect it’s been a very positive weekend and we hope to build on this momentum in a week’s time in Abu Dhabi.”

A closely fought qualifying session at the Buddh International Circuit saw Kimi Räikkönen take seventh position on the grid whilst Romain Grosjean was just edged out of the top ten session, qualifying in eleventh place for tomorrow’s Indian Grand Prix.

Kimi Räikkönen, E20-05. Q : P7, 1:26.236. FP3 : P5, 1:26.209

"We changed the car after this morning’s session and we were quite confident heading in to qualifying. Unfortunately, we didn’t seem to have any grip this afternoon so it was much more difficult than we thought. I’m quite disappointed to be starting from seventh as I thought we had a much better car than that."

Romain Grosjean, E20-03. Q : P11, 1:26.136 FP3 : P10 1:26.664

"I was expecting better so I’m a little disappointed, however in terms of strategy P11 has one advantage as you’re the first car that can choose which tyres it will start the race on and I have a couple of new sets in my pocket for tomorrow. I wish I could have got through into Q3 and lacking two hundredths of a second to make it there was frustrating. On my second timed lap I was doing well, but for whatever reason the car snapped on me and I lost time. It was difficult to get everything right, but we’re looking strong to score some good points tomorrow."

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director :

"It’s going to be a tricky race to move forwards."

How do you assess today’s qualifying performance ?

"It was a disappointing result. Kimi had a very good session in the morning and we were looking forward to a strong qualifying. Unfortunately, neither driver felt they had the grip levels they had enjoyed in the morning. Romain reported poor overall grip in all corners, whereas Kimi had issues with the low speed corners - a nervous car on entry and poor traction on exit - which are typical comments made about a car which is lacking in all round grip."

Where do you think the car should be on race pace ?

"Qualifying seventh behind two Red Bulls, two McLarens and two Ferraris shows that we have the fourth fastest car here. We will do what we can in the race but we’ve seen very low tyre degradation and overtaking is difficult due to the circuit layout and DRS setup."

What strategies do the tyres allow ?

"We think one or two stops will be the preferred strategies and will work tonight to see which will suit us best."

Kimi Räikkönen went fifth fastest and Romain Grosjean set the ninth fastest time at the end of Friday’s two practice sessions at the Buddh International Circuit ahead of Sunday’s Indian Grand Prix. Both drivers used the team’s new Coandă exhaust system, with new updated rear bodywork sections, whilst Kimi evaluated a new evolution front wing. Both cars ran reliably throughout the two 90 minute practice sessions.

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director - Technical programme notes

- We ran the Coandă exhaust system on both cars for the first time following its successful debut with Kimi in Korea.

- New bodywork around the exhaust area to better harness and utilise the Coandă system was employed on both cars.

- Kimi evaluated the latest evolution front wing.

- Pirelli’s hard compound tyre was used in the morning, the hard and soft used in the afternoon.

What we learned today :

- We’re confident we’ll be able to put in a good showing tomorrow.

- We need to find more pace on the hard tyre, but soft tyre pace is good.

- We are yet to reach a conclusion on whether we will use the updated rear bodywork.

- The front wing will be used by both cars for the rest of the weekend.

Kimi Räikkönen, E20-05

Free practice 1 : P10, 1:29.291, 24 laps

Free practice 2 : P5, 1:27.030, 40 laps

Kimi : “The circuit is nice. For me it was easier to learn than the Korean track ; it’s not as technical but it’s good. It’s always nice to come to a new place like this – I’ve been racing for many years, and you always end up going to the same places so it’s good when you get a new place and a new circuit. For sure we can still improve on one lap but I think we are not far away from our maximum speed. Of course I hope that we are faster than McLaren. Our car was working well, especially on soft tyres but with the hard tyres it was more difficult to find grip.”

Romain Grosjean, E20-03

Free practice 1 : P15, 1:29.895, 19 laps

Free practice 2 : P9, 1:27.397, 36 laps

Romain : “It’s been very hard to set-up the car as the track has been evolving a lot through the day ; from zero grip in the morning to much better in the afternoon. However, we’ve made good progress today and we’re working on improving further overnight. There are a few blind corners, and some quick places where you don’t want to make mistakes either. Hopefully we find the car we want for qualifying and get what we want tomorrow.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director :

“Both drivers got up to speed pretty quickly on a new track once more. We spent the morning session evaluating the new front wing and some new rear diffuser parts ; we need to investigate further the diffuser parts but the new front wing looks good so we’ll run it with both cars for the remainder of the weekend. We were able to conduct an uninterrupted FP2 programme, running both tyres reasonably early on, followed by a long run on the soft compound. We’re missing a little pace on the hard tyre so we’re investigating our tyre temperatures and pressures, however on the softer tyre our car looks very competitive on both low and high fuel loads. It would be nice to squeeze another two or three tenths out of the car in qualifying, but nevertheless we confident of the potential for a good show tomorrow.”

A closely fought qualifying session at the Korea International Circuit saw Kimi Räikkönen clinch fifth position whilst using the team’s new Coandă exhaust system, while team-mate Romain Grosjean with start in seventh place on the grid for tomorrow’s Korean Grand Prix.

Kimi Räikkönen, E20-05. Q : P5, 1:37.625. FP3 : P5, 1:38.666

“Qualifying was okay and I think we did the best we could have done. We tried some different things on the car over the weekend and qualified in a reasonably good position, but of course you always want to go faster. The new exhaust system feels good ; you do lose a little horsepower from it but it’s better on the aero side and you can’t get something for nothing. The gap to the cars at the front is not too much so we’ll try to do what we can tomorrow.”

Romain Grosjean, E20-03. Q : P7, 1:37.934. FP3 : P4 1:38.582

“It was a bit of a strange qualifying session for me to be honest ; In Q1 the car felt nowhere, in Q2 it was good, then in Q3 it wasn’t fantastic either so we need to spend some time analysing what happened. The track changed a little and the tyres felt slightly different so we need to understand that. For sure there will be a lot of attention on my start tomorrow ; I know my objectives and I think we’re capable of a good result.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director :

“It looks like our new package is working as it should.”

How do you assess today’s qualifying performance ?

“We’re reasonably happy with today’s performance and it looks like our new package is working as it should. We’ve clearly taken a step forward and getting both cars solidly into Q3 is satisfying.”

How did the new Coandă exhaust system work ?

“We have made clear performance gains and there’s still further improvement to come from it once we have optimised the set-up. Kimi had great pace in Q1 to go through with a single run on the soft tyre whereas Romain needed a set of the super softs to be sure of getting into Q2, but from then on we were confident of getting both cars into Q3. The advantage from the new Coandă exhaust system on Kimi’s car confirms that we will run it on both for the next race.”

How do the different tyre compounds perform here ?

“After some difficulties with front tyre graining yesterday we now have both the soft and super soft compounds working well. We’ve seen track improvement and have also found a better set-up to make improvements in this area. Pirelli say one stop is possible, which is something we’ll have a good close look at.”

Kimi Räikkönen evaluated the team’s new Coandă exhaust system whilst Romain Grosjean ran through the usual programme of general setup work during the first day of running here at the Korea International Circuit. Both drivers made their inaugural appearance on Korean soil, running reliably through the two 90 minute practice sessions.

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director - Technical programme notes

• We ran the Coandă exhaust system on Kimi’s car for both sessions.
  
• Romain ran with the Singapore generation rear wing for evaluation at the start of FP1, swapping to the Japan spec rear wing for the remainder of the day.
  
• Pirelli’s soft compound tyre was used in the morning, the soft and super soft in the afternoon.
  

What we learned today :

• The Coandă exhaust performed as expected aerodynamically.
  
• Heavy fuel balance and tyre degradation levels were both promising.
  

Kimi Räikkönen, E20-05

Free practice 1 : P11, 1:40.929, 14 laps

Free practice 2 : P10, 1:39.839, 26 laps

Kimi :

“The circuit is okay ; it’s surprisingly bumpy in some parts but it’s quite different from other places we race. It’s difficult for me to say about the exhaust until I’ve sat down with the engineers and gone through the data. We’ll try to improve the car for tomorrow as it wasn’t very easy to drive and get a good lap today. Let’s see if we can get it completely right and maybe we can be in the top five in qualifying.”

Romain Grosjean, E20-03

Free practice 1 : P8, 1:40.422, 22 laps

Free practice 2 : P11, 1:39.957, 28 laps

Romain :

“It’s not been the easiest day. I think we still have some work to do with the car to get the best out of the tyres so tomorrow morning will be important. The track is interesting but it’s not been so hard to learn. The trickiest part is definitely Turns 11 & 12 which are not easy to get exactly right but overall it’s not too bad. On the positive side we’ve had a good amount of time learning the circuit and gathered a lot of data, so hopefully we can analyse things overnight and see an improved performance by the time we get to qualifying.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director :

“We’re happy with how the new exhaust worked from a performance perspective and now need to assess if there are any potential reliability implications due to the hot exhaust gas running in different areas than usual. Early impressions are certainly good and we expect to retain it for the rest of the weekend with Kimi. Both drivers learnt the circuit very quickly. Romain complained of a little too much oversteer and with Kimi there’s still potential with the setup, especially as we learn more about the new exhaust. Both drivers reported that they were very happy with the balance of the car when on high fuel loads and degradation levels look manageable from the tyres so it’s been a productive first day.”

Kimi Räikkönen came home a solid sixth, maintaining his third position in the Drivers’ Championship, whilst Romain Grosjean finished a classified 19th after retiring from 15th position on track after an eventful Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka. The team remains fourth in the Constructors’ Championship with increased gaps of 103 points to Mercedes behind and 24 to Ferrari ahead.

• Both drivers started on Pirelli’s soft compound tyres.
  
• Kimi pitted for his first set of hard compound tyres on lap 13, then his second on lap 30.
  
• Romain pitted for hard compound tyres and a new front wing on lap 1, served a ten second stop and go penalty on lap 7, then took another set of hards on lap 22.
  

Kimi Räikkönen, P6, E20-05

"Sixth wasn’t the result we were hoping for but unfortunately we didn’t have the speed to do better today. The start was very tight ; I was alongside Fernando [Alonso] straight away and he kept moving further across until there was nowhere left go. We lost some time there and our second pit stop wasn’t the best, so overall it was quite a difficult race. The good thing is we still managed to score points to stay in touch in the championship."

Romain Grosjean, DNF / Classified 19th, E20-03

"Ever since I came back in Singapore my priority has been to be very cautious at the start, and I was watching Sergio [Perez] on my left to make sure there was no contact with him. There was quite a big speed difference between me and Mark [Webber] as I came into the first corner which caught me by surprise and we collided. It was a stupid mistake. Mark [Webber] came to see me after the race and was obviously not happy, but I apologised and we have to move on. We’ll sit down and look at things again before the next race to see what we can do to improve these situations. In the last few laps of the race the tyres were at the end of their life and we were out of the points, so it made sense to retire. Not a good day, but we have to look ahead to Korea and a chance to make amends."

Eric Boullier, Team Principal

"Obviously, it hasn’t gone as well as we expected. We could see in Singapore, when Romain was back on track, that the other drivers were putting some pressure on him at the start. Here it was a little bit easier, but he made a small mistake misjudging his pace compared with Mark, which was a bit higher. I think he has made some progress, but it’s unfortunate that this has happened again in these circumstances. With Kimi, the car’s pace was not as good as we were expecting. Starting seventh we had higher hopes, but if you don’t have the pace completely it doesn’t work well. We couldn’t put everything together in order to make his race more successful and gain more places."

James Allison, Technical Director

"The best thing that can be said about this event is that we scored some more points, but it’s certainly not been the weekend we hoped for on Friday, nor the one we expected after Saturday. We’re disappointed that Kimi had to race whilst looking in his mirrors rather than attacking those ahead and we need to face the fact that we need more performance from the E20 if we are to move up in the Constructors’ Championship rather than resting on our very secure fourth position. It would have been much better for us to have scored points with both cars but sadly a first lap incident for Romain put paid to that."

Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 Team Support Leader

"The combination of corners and wide open throttle time at Suzuka makes the circuit a challenge for the engines so we introduced new units on both cars to maximise power and torque available. We had a trouble-free event on this front and will re-use the same engines in Korea. Kimi has not had the best of weekends so getting eight more points today is very positive and keeps him third in the championship. We look forward to Korea in just a week’s time."

Romain Grosjean will start the Japanese Grand Prix from P5 on the grid with Kimi Räikkönen in P8 after Saturday’s qualifying session at Suzuka. Both cars progressed easily through to the top 10 Q3 session, however Kimi span on his fast lap.

Kimi Räikkönen, E20-05. Q : P8, 1:32.208. FP3 : P12, 1:33.224

“I spun. I was on a good lap and I was pushing - maybe a little too hard – and lost the rear. It’s a shame as the car feels the best it has all weekend. If the car’s good tomorrow we should be able to move forwards. Let’s see what happens.”

Romain Grosjean, E20-03. Q : P5, 1:31.898. FP3 : P7 1:33.008

“Yesterday we had two tricky sessions, so to have both cars in Q3 is a good recovery. We knew it would be very tight in qualifying and I think we could maybe have been one place higher with a cleaner run through the first sector, but the leaders were too quick today. We’re lacking a little bit of downforce at the moment, but with a few minor adjustments overnight and the right strategy I think we can take home a good haul of points tomorrow.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director :

“Not bad but we could have done better.”

How do you assess today’s qualifying performance ?

“We had the pace to get both cars further up the grid. Kimi spun off on a new set of tyres which hampered his progress and Romain didn’t have a great first sector on his qualifying lap so he could have maybe been a place higher, but overall, it’s been a reasonable weekend so far.”

How are we looking for the race ?

“We’re comfortable with the E20’s performance on a full fuel load and over long runs so we’re looking forward to the race and hopeful that we can gain positions from where we start. Suzuka is pretty demanding on the tyres and we have shown well in this area previously, so there’s certainly potential.”

How do the different tyre compounds perform here ?

“We know these tyres pretty well. For qualifying there was a reasonable difference in pace, but for the race it’s likely to be more even.”

Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean conducted setup evaluation runs and upgrade evaluations during the first day of running at the fabulous Suzuka circuit today. Under glorious skies both cars ran reliably in the morning, however Kimi suffered a coolant-leak induced KERS issue in the afternoon meaning he missed most of the session.

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director - Technical programme notes :

• We ran updated front wings on both cars today.
  
• In the morning we ran the DDRS Device on Kimi’s car and an updated rear wing on Romain’s. In the afternoon, both cars used non DDRS rear wings.
  
• The Singapore-spec floor was evaluated on both cars.
  
• Pirelli’s hard compound tyre was used in the morning, the hard and soft in the afternoon.
  

What we learned today :

• We were not able to get ‘The Device’ functioning at a sufficient level for it to be used over the rest of the weekend.
  
• We made good progress dialling in the new floor as well as both the front and rear wings, which will all remain on the car for the rest of the weekend.
  

Kimi Räikkönen, E20-05

Free practice 1 : P13, 1:35.691, 22 laps

Free practice 2 : P14, 1:34.291, 12 laps

Kimi :

“We didn’t get much running because of the issue with the KERS, but at least it happened today and we got it fixed. It wasn’t ideal for helping us find the best setup but there’s nothing you can do about these things. Suzuka is not the easiest place to get the car set up, but we still have tomorrow’s practice before qualifying. I think we have the potential to be nearer the front than we have done in the last couple of races.”

Romain Grosjean, E20-03

Free practice 1 : P14, 1:35.724, 21 laps

Free practice 2 : P6, 1:33.107, 35 laps

Romain :

“Not a bad day overall. The car felt much better in the afternoon than it did this morning ; we’re still not quite where we want to be but the team has been working hard and hopefully we’ll make a similar step forward tomorrow. Suzuka is not an easy track on the car ; the demands on the tyres are really high but the car felt consistent with both compounds which is a big positive. It’s hard to say if P6 is the kind of position we’ll be in qualifying ; there are definitely still a few tenths we can find so let’s see what happens tomorrow.”

James Allison, Technical Director :

“We suffered a disrupted day with Kimi’s car but despite that we’ve achieved a reasonable amount. We evaluated ‘The Device’ in the morning but were unable to make it switch effectively so we won’t be using it for the rest of the weekend. Romain suffered from understeer in the morning and by the time we had put this right he had already used up the best performance from his tyres. In the afternoon, with a better set up, he showed that there’s still a reasonable turn of speed in the E20. We look in OK shape on both the hard and soft rubber as well as on high fuel, and we feel there is more to come from the car tomorrow ahead of Qualifying.”

Kimi Räikkönen fought back from twelfth on the grid to maintain his third position in the Drivers’ Championship with a battling sixth place in the Singapore Grand Prix. Romain Grosjean finished close behind in seventh after a gruelling race with two safety car periods and a number of retirements. The team remains fourth in the Constructors’ Championship, 95 points ahead of Mercedes in fifth and 14 behind Ferrari in third.

• Both drivers started on Pirelli’s super soft compound.
  
• Kimi pitted for his first set of soft compound tyres on lap 13, and his second set of softs just as the first safety car came out on lap 32.
  
• Romain ptted for soft compound tyres on lap 14, and for his second set of softs under safety car conditions on lap 33.
  

Kimi Räikkönen, P6, E20-05

After the result in qualifying today’s race was not too bad, but I think we had a chance to do a bit better. We weren’t quick enough to be fighting for the podium but the first safety car didn’t help us and maybe we could have gained an extra place without that. We were definitely faster than Michael [schumacher] and Nico [Rosberg] but we ended up stuck behind them for most of the race which was frustrating. It’s so hard to overtake here that you have to rely on passing people in the pit stops or on someone making a mistake. I’m still third in the Drivers’ Championship but we’ve got some improvements to make for the next races to be fighting with the cars in front. Hopefully we can make a step forward in Japan and take it from there.

Romain Grosjean P7, E20-03

It was a tough race but not a bad result in the end. I made a good start, managed to hold position when things got quite close through the first few corners and the car felt pretty good throughout. Our performance was much better than what we would have expected at the start of the weekend. Of course, I dropped a position to Kimi as well ; he was quicker than me towards the end of the race and there was no sense in holding him up. It’s never easy as a driver to let someone past – even if it is your team-mate – but we need to be intelligent in these circumstances. My target is to be as close to Kimi as I can in terms of pace and we achieved that today, so after a difficult start to the weekend I think we can be pleased with this result.

Eric Boullier, Team Principal

We had a difficult start to the weekend but the team did a good job to recover. Qualifying was frustrating after both cars showed strong pace in Q1 and the first part of Q2 but ultimately fell short of what we were hoping for in the end. The race pace from both cars was good and although we were unlucky with the first safety car our strategy worked well. After a difficult weekend for us Kimi is still third in the Drivers’ Championship and we have not lost too much ground to McLaren and Red Bull in the Constructors’ standings so that is a big positive. The fact that we feel our lack of performance here was quite unexpected shows our ambition and our priority for the rest of the season will be to make sure we’re in the sort of positions we know we can achieve right from the start of each weekend.

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director

It hasn’t been a great weekend for us, so to salvage sixth and seventh is something of a result in the circumstances. We took a gamble with Kimi’s second stop, but he was caught by the safety car coming out as he left the pit lane. We certainly didn’t have the pace to challenge the front runners today and after a difficult qualifying session it was difficult to get through the field. It’s clear we need to do a better job in qualifying to enable us to achieve better race results.

Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 Team Support Leader

A dramatic race that was quite difficult to manage on the engine side due to the two safety car periods. We had to play with the engine mixes a lot throughout the race to correct the fuel level and avoid finishing with too much. Both drivers did a good job to avoid the incidents on track and get a double points finish, which based on our grid position and overall performance this weekend is a very positive result. We are looking forward to Suzuka now, which should suit our car better.

Romain Grosjean will start the Singapore Grand Prix from P8 on the grid, whilst Kimi Räikkönen will be in twelfth position after a hot and sticky qualifying session at the Marina Bay Street Circuit. The grid results mask significant improvements found in the E20 overnight, illustrated by Romain setting the fastest time in Q1 and the fourth fastest time in Q2.

Kimi Räikkönen, E20-05. Q : P12, 1:48.261. FP3 : P5, 1:48.865

“The car was much better overall today than it was yesterday. We were quick with the used tyres but for some reason struggled for grip with the new ones in the second session and we were actually slightly slower. For sure P12 is not the position we wanted ; we don’t seem to have the speed to challenge the leaders here but the car is definitely quicker than that. We’ll see what we can do in the race.”

Romain Grosjean, E20-03. Q : P8, 1:47.788. FP3 : P15 1:50.840

“The result is not as good as we wanted, but this is a very hard track to get right and we’ve been struggling for ultimate grip throughout this weekend so far, so overall it was good to be in Q3. After Q1 and Q2 we felt positive but it didn’t quite come together in the final session. I pushed a little bit too hard on my last lap ; it felt good in the car, but it wasn’t good for my lap time and there was one moment where I lost most quite a lot of time. It was pretty close but I don’t think I touched the wall ; I’ll have to check to see if the Pirelli tyre markings are still there !”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director :

“We’d found a lot of improvements in the car so we’re disappointed with qualifying.”

How do you assess today’s qualifying performance ?

“We’re disappointed with qualifying as we were hoping for a lot better than we achieved. We improved the car dramatically overnight and through today’s practice session. Romain was two tenths slower in Q3 than he had been in Q2, but we could all see where most of that time was lost on his lap. Kimi was slower on a fresh set of tyres than he was on a scrubbed set, but it’s not immediately apparent why this was the case. He looked in excellent shape with his scrubbed run.”

The car seemed to be better than yesterday – why was this ?

“We found a much better setup in our analysis overnight and we continued in that direction through FP3, steadily improving the car with a further step made going into qualifying. Both drivers were pretty happy with the car at the end of practice today.”

How do the different tyre compounds perform here ?

“The super soft compound is a lot faster than the soft tyre and it will need a big difference in degradation for the soft to be the preferred option in the race.”

Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean took to the streets of Marina Bay Street Circuit for the first practice sessions of the Singapore Grand Prix. The first session, held between 18:00 and 19:30 local time, started wet with the track drying over the duration. The second session, from 21:30 to 23:00, was dry throughout. Kimi ended the day with the twelfth fastest time ; Romain with the tenth.

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director - Technical programme notes

• A wet start to the first session meant we only ran with our updated rear wing at the end of proceedings on Kimi’s car.
  
• Pirelli’s wet, intermediate and soft compound tyres were used by both cars in FP1.
  
• Pirelli’s soft and super soft tyres were used in the drier second session.
  

What we learned today :

• We didn’t gain sufficient data in the first session to run with the new rear wing for the rest of the day.
  
• There is quite a bit of difference in single lap pace between the two tyre compounds.
  

Kimi Räikkönen, E20-05

Free practice 1 : P12, 1:52.716, 16 laps

Free practice 2 : P12, 1:50.345, 24 laps

Kimi :

“It wasn’t the easiest of days for us today. We don’t have enough grip for some reason, and we seem to be lacking downforce. It’s the same on both tyres ; a little bit better when the tyres are new, but still not quite the pace we want. I think we can improve for tomorrow but we have to find two seconds to get to the front. I don’t think we’ll find that much time ; but I think we should improve from Friday as we usually do.”

Romain Grosjean, E20-03

Free practice 1 : P15, 1:53.028, 20 laps

Free practice 2 : P10, 1:50.161, 24 laps

Romain :

“It feels good to be back on track. Our position on the time sheets in the morning was not what we’d have liked and even after FP2 we know there is more performance to be found. The car is basically the same as what we ran in Monaco and Budapest where we were very competitive but we’ve struggled a bit for grip today. The good thing is we understand what we need to do, the team has been working hard to make improvements and I’m sure we’ll be stronger tomorrow.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director :

“We didn’t learn too much in the first session, but we did get some quick laps on the intermediate tyres. In the second session we evaluated the two tyre compounds, completing long runs on both. There’s quite a bit of single lap pace difference between the two of them. It’s fairly clear which tyre will be the preferred one for qualifying but not so clear at the moment which tyre is the better prospect for the race. We’ll be looking closely at lap times and degradation levels overnight.”