Kimi Räikkönen scored a strong fifth place in the Italian Grand Prix to move him into third position in the Drivers’ Championship after a hot and fast-paced race at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza. Kimi is now just one point off second-placed Lewis Hamilton, whilst the team falls to fourth position in the Constructors’ Championship. Jérôme D’Ambrosio made an impressive race debut for the team, finishing in thirteenth place despite having no KERS for most of the race.

• Kimi started on used medium compound Pirelli tyres, stopping on lap 17 for new hards.
  
• Jérôme started on new hard compound tyres, stopping on lap 27 for new mediums.
  
• Jérôme’s stop at 2.44 seconds was the team’s fastest-ever race pit stop.
  

Kimi Räikkönen, P5, E20-05

"It’s good to go into third position in the Drivers’ Championship but we lost some points to Fernando [Alonso] which is not ideal. It was a difficult weekend as we were too slow in a straight line, making it very difficult to hold off anyone and even with the DRS it was difficult to overtake the cars in front. We did the one stop strategy and the tyres were fine. We came into the race looking for sixth or seventh so fifth is the maximum we could have done here this weekend.”

Jérôme D’Ambrosio P13, E20-03

“It was a pretty long and difficult race for me today. After losing my KERS on lap 6 it was always going to be tough as that’s worth about half a second per lap around here. I got a good start and was up fighting with Daniel [Ricciardo] and Nico [Rosberg], but once I lost that extra boost it was impossible to keep up and I dropped back. My last stint on the medium tyres in clean air was pretty good and I didn’t make many mistakes, so maybe with a bit more luck we could have had a slightly better result. My main aim was to finish the race and I’ve achieved that so it’s not so bad overall. It was great to be back in the car and especially with such a fantastic team ; I’ve learnt a lot this weekend.”

Eric Boullier, Team Principal

"From this weekend I don’t think we could have expected better. The key to a good championship position at the end of the season is always scoring points, even when it is a difficult weekend. Kimi delivered exactly as we wanted from him today and moving to third in the standings is a just reward. We are still in contact with those ahead of us in both Championships with seven races to go. Jérôme did an amazing job after being thrown in at the deep end. Without his KERS issue I’m pretty sure he could have achieved a points finish. We are optimistic that from Singapore onwards we will be much more competitive due to the circuit layout and updates we have coming, meaning we will be able to score more points in every race.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director

“We weren’t looking forward to coming to Monza as it doesn’t play to the strengths of our car so we’re very happy to come away with fifth place from Kimi. He drove exceptionally well at a circuit where we knew we weren’t going to be super competitive. It’s fantastic that he has moved up into third place in the Drivers’ Championship, and is now just one point off second. Jérôme had one arm tied behind his back with a KERS failure very early in the race and KERS is worth a significant amount of time here. He did a very credible job despite this, and his pace on the medium compound tyre in the second part of the race was pretty good. We now move to a circuit which we feel should really suit our car so we’re looking forward to the fly-aways.”

Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 Team Support Leader

“A very difficult race for us. Kimi did a fantastic job to finish in fifth ; he was flat out for the entire race. Jérôme finished his first race for the team, also performing well, despite having a KERS problem early on. We have to look at both of these issues and improve for Singapore.”

Kimi Räikkönen and Jérôme D’Ambrosio will start the Italian Grand Prix from P7 and P15 respectively at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza tomorrow. Jérôme set the sixteenth fastest time today but gains a position thanks to a penalty for Pastor Maldonado, while Kimi notched the eighth quickest lap but also gains a place courtesy of a penalty for Paul di Resta. Despite not dazzling on paper this afternoon, the team is confident that the E20’s downforce levels and efficient tyre usage will bring a stronger result in the race.

Kimi Räikkönen, E20-05. Q : P8, 1:24.855, Grid P7. FP3 : P8, 1:25.255

“We didn’t have the speed today but at least we are in the top ten. We’ve been in more or less the same position all weekend so today’s pace was not a big surprise. It’s a long race and usually we are a bit stronger in race conditions. It is possible to overtake here so let’s see what happens tomorrow. ”

Jérôme D’Ambrosio, E20-03. Q : P16, 1:25.408, Grid P15. FP3 : P17 1:25.973

“I have mixed feelings really to be honest. I progressed through to Q2 but it’s frustrating not to have done a bit better as I’m really close in the second and third sectors but I’ve struggling a bit in the first since yesterday. About 60-70% of the difference to Kimi is lost there, so there’s a lot of time to be found in just two corners ; we need to work on that for tomorrow. There’s a lot to take in for me this weekend so it’s not too bad, but I would have liked a bit more.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director :

“P6 was our target ; we missed it by half a tenth.”

How do you assess today’s qualifying performance ?

“We’re a little disappointed with where we are on the grid for tomorrow’s race, as P6 was our target with Kimi’s car and we missed that by just half a tenth. Kimi had Fernando [Alonso] ahead of his for his last run, which should have given him a nice tow. Unfortunately though, Fernando was not fast on that lap and we were too close to him in the Ascari chicane which cost about a tenth and a half. That’s qualifying sometimes.”

What can be achieved in the race ?

“We’re confident that – with the amount of downforce we have on the car – we can have a strong race. Our tyre degradation is generally less than some of our rivals so that should assist us too. We’re pretty confident we can put in a decent performance and score some good points.”

How was Jérôme’s first qualifying session for the team ?

“It’s been a steep learning curve for him and he’s done a good job. It’s going to be a difficult race for him tomorrow with the low downforce specification on the car, especially pushing through the chicanes in this configuration. We hope that his progressive improvement over the weekend so far will continue through the race, as anything can happen tomorrow.”

How do the different tyre compounds perform here ?

“Both compounds are very close together. The medium slightly had the edge for qualifying today, yet it also showed pretty low degradation when we used it for long runs on Friday.”

Kimi Räikkönen and Jérôme D’Ambrosio took to the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in glorious conditions today for the first practice sessions ahead of Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix.

Jérôme – who is standing in for the team’s regular driver Romain Grosjean whilst he serves a one race ban – notched up a total of 65 laps as he completed his first Grand Prix sessions since the 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director – Technical programme notes :

• Dry conditions enabled us to complete a full programme today.
  
• Pirelli’s hard tyres were used in the morning.
  
• Pirelli’s hard and medium tyres were used in the afternoon with long runs undertaken on both.
  

What we learned today :

• We’re pretty happy with the car on both low and high fuel.
  
• Jérôme acquainted himself admirably on track.
  

Kimi Räikkönen, E20-05

Free practice 1 : P7, 1:26.046, 25 laps

Free practice 2 : P6, 1:25.504, 42 laps

Kimi :

“It was an okay day. We tried a few different things with no issues and I’m happy with the car. Our long run pace was not too bad and we weren’t too far away from the fastest lap set today either. There aren’t many corners here, but running with low downforce means the grip is not as good under braking and cornering through the chicanes. It’s not easy to get the perfect lap here but maybe we can improve tomorrow ; we shall see.”

Jérôme D’Ambrosio, E20-03

Free practice 1 : P15, 1:27.180, 29 laps

Free practice 2 : P12, 1:26.157, 36 laps

Jérôme :

“Today went pretty well overall and it feels good to be back in the car. It’s not an easy task stepping in at the last minute ; there’s a lot to take in and with a low downforce track like Monza it can be quite tricky to find the limit, but we completed a busy schedule and put in a lot of laps which is a good start. It’s difficult to say where we are right now, but we made steady progress between the two sessions and my aim for tomorrow is to take another step forwards and see where we go from there. So far so good.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director :

“It’s nice to have a straight-forward Friday with dry running ; it’s our first for a while ! The lower downforce here means we focused on the various compromises ; getting the car to work in the corners, balancing the need for a soft car to ride the kerbs versus a stiff car to enable high speed change of direction and so on. We feel we’ve made good progress with the running we’ve had. Jérôme has done a great job ; chipping away at the time difference between him and Kimi without any problems while absorbing all the procedures and information we’ve thrown at him.”

Lotus F1 Team third driver Jérôme D’Ambrosio will compete for the team in the Italian Grand Prix as a replacement for Romain Grosjean who received a one-race ban after the last race in Spa.

Jérôme – who contested the 2011 Formula 1 season as a driver for the Marussia Virgin Racing team - had a seat fitting in the race chassis on Sunday night in Belgium and is working closely with the team to ensure a seamless transition from third driver to race driver for Monza.

Eric Boullier, Team Principal

“When we signed Jérôme as our third driver we signed a man who is highly motivated, fresh, talented and who contested the full 2011 season. We hope that this will pay dividends when he drives the car this weekend in Monza. We know that Jérôme is well integrated into the team and that he did a good job when he drove the E20 at the Mugello test. Now he has the challenge of a Grand Prix at the challenging circuit of Monza, in a car which is capable of finishing on the podium. One thing is for sure, he’s half Italian and I think I know which driver the spectators will support apart from Fernando ! It’s a tough task for Jérôme, but we will be supporting him in every way to achieve a good result.”

Jérôme D’Ambrosio, Third Driver

“My desire for 2012 has always been to get back into the seat of a Formula 1 car so I am grabbing this opportunity with both hands. Monza is a fantastic circuit and I can’t wait to take to the track on Friday. As third driver I have worked with the team at every Grand Prix, attending all the briefings and meetings that the race drivers do, so I am well prepared in this respect. Monza is a superb circuit, but it is also quite a technical one so I am not underestimating the task ahead of me. I want to reward the faith that the team has in me with a good haul of points from the race. I will hand the wheel back to Romain after Sunday’s race and I hope that this one showing in Italy will allow me to show my capabilities fully.”

Lotus F1 Team’s Top Ten Facts about Jérôme D’Ambrosio

1. He’s so eager he sometimes arrives at the track before all the engineers.

2. His last race was the 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix.

3. He was nicknamed ‘custard’ by his last team, in recognition of the similarity named Ambrosia custard brand.

4. He is The Master. Or, at least, he was the inaugural International Formula Master champion in 2007.

5. He is the first Belgian to race in F1 since Bertrand Gachot in 1995.

6. He likes taxi drivers.

7. If he wasn’t an F1 driver, he’d like to be an airline pilot.

8. He has very blue eyes.

9. His name generates ‘about’ 1,370,000,000 results on Google

10. At 1.72m he’s the team’s shortest driver.

Kimi Räikkönen took a strong third position in the Belgian Grand Prix to move him back into fourth position in the Drivers’ Championship after a warm, dry and action packed race at Spa-Francorchamps. Kimi is now just one point off third-placed Mark Webber, whilst the team remains in third in the Constructors’ Championship. Romain Grosjean had a short race, ending with contact heading into the first corner. He was later penalised by the Stewards and is suspended from the next race in Monza, Italy. The team will not appeal this decision and will communicate the name of Romain’s replacement as soon as possible.

• Both drivers started on scrubbed medium compound Pirelli tyres
  
• Kimi stopped on laps 11 and 28, both times for new hard compound tyres.
  
• Both stops were sub 3 seconds.
  

Kimi Räikkönen, P3, E20-05

"I made a pretty okay start, similar to Jenson [button]’s and I overtook the Sauber. I saw a lot of action in the mirrors but luckily it missed me. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the pace today. My car wasn’t great all weekend and we couldn’t find a competitive setup. On new tyres it was okay, but we had to use a lot of downforce to prevent sliding. That meant we were very slow on the straight. You could see this in my battle with Michael [schumacher]. Each time I passed him he just went straight back past down the Kemmel straight. My only chance was to go for a gap at Eau Rouge. Luckily it paid off and I managed to stay ahead of him that time. We didn’t have the pace today and it wasn’t an easy race, so P3 was not too bad.”

Romain Grosjean, DNF, E20-04

“When your life is all about racing, not being allowed to attend an event is probably one of the worst experiences you can go through. That said, I do respect the verdict of the Stewards. I got a good start - despite being disturbed by Pastor’s early launch, which I think was the case for everybody at the front - and was heading into the first corner when the rear of my car made contact with the front of Lewis [Hamilton]’s. I honestly thought I was ahead of him and there was enough room for both cars ; I didn’t deliberately try to squeeze him or anything like that. This first corner situation obviously isn’t what anyone would want to happen and thankfully no-one was hurt in the incident. I wish to apologise to the drivers who were involved and to their fans. I can only say that today is part of a process that will make me a better driver."

Eric Boullier, Team Principal

"It’s been a tough day for the team but we fully respect the Stewards’ decision. Romain won’t be driving at Monza but he still has our full support. We’ll announce the name of his replacement a bit later in the week. As far as the race is concerned, unfortunately we didn’t have the pace for Kimi to challenge Jenson [button] or Sebastian [Vettel]. We had to look closely at the strategy during the race to see if we should switch to one stop, but in the end a podium finish still brings us some good points. Of course, everyone talks about ‘the win’, and this is something we all want. We were not fast enough for it today, so we all need to keep working hard for this goal."

James Allison, Technical Director

“Kimi did a really good job to salvage third position today with a car which really wasn’t quick enough, contrary to all our expectations coming into the event. In actual fact, this has been one of our tougher weekends and we’re thankful that Kimi did his best to limit the damage to our Championship aspirations. Fortunately, Spa can be viewed as sufficiently distinct in its characteristics to mean that we’re not unduly worried about the car’s potential performance heading to the next races.”

Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 Team Support Leader

“Getting a podium here is satisfying considering the challenge of the track, with nearly three quarters of the lap spent at full throttle. We introduced new units this weekend to maximise power on the straights and help overtaking. Wwe needed it today when Kimi made an awesome move to overtake Michal [schumacher]. It bodes well for Monza though where a similar emphasis is placed on outright top speed.”

Kimi Räikkönen will start from P3 on the grid with Romain Grosjean in P8 for tomorrow’s Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. Kimi qualified in fourth position but gains a place thanks to a penalty for Pastor Maldonado. Romain set the ninth fastest time but also gains a place courtesy of a penalty for Mark Webber.

Kimi Räikkönen, E20-05. Q : P4, 1:48.205. FP3 : P2, 1:48.683

“It wasn’t the easiest of qualifying sessions. The car is okay but it doesn’t look like we have the speed that some others have and we were certainly not quick enough for pole today. The race is a different story. On the grid we’re in front of of the guys who are ahead of us in the championship so we’ll try to score more points than them.”

Romain Grosjean, E20-04. Q : P9, 1.48.538 FP3 : P8 1:49.266

“That wasn’t my best qualifying ever and I struggled a little bit. I had traffic in Q1 and I didn’t feel as confident with the car as I would like. You can see how close it was in the top ten so I suffered from not having everything exactly as I wanted, especially on the softer compound. Missing yesterday’s practice because of the weather didn’t help either as any time in the car is always beneficial, especially for a long lap like Spa. I’m sure the car will be good in the race and we should have a good strategy.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director :

“We can still do things from where we start.”

How do you assess today’s qualifying performance ?

“A little disappointing to be honest as we hoped for a bit more than that today. Kimi didn’t quite get a perfect lap and Romain wasn’t happy with the setup of his car. The car looks to have been unusually difficult today, with some inconsistency making it difficult to extract the best lap time. This is unexpected, as previously this season we’ve been able to find a good setup very rapidly when there has been limited running.”

What can be achieved in the race ?

“We’re looking forward to a strong race and there looks to be no weakness in the car or our race strategy. The race will be about tyre management as the loads on the tyres are very high here. If there are no strategic dramas we hope to bring home another good points haul.”

How compromised were preparations after yesterday’s poor weather ?

“We ran much less than normal, but it’s the same situation for everyone. We still have a good idea of what we are going to do in the race. This is our twelfth race of the season so we understand the tyres a lot more and we’re far better off than in the earlier races.”

How do both tyre compounds perform here ?

“We’re happy, with no dramas and no warm-up issues. We had a little graining with the soft tyre this morning and we preferred the harder tyre with high fuel loads. We’ll start with the medium compound and take it from there.”

Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean took to the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in wet conditions today for the first practice sessions ahead of Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix.

The cold and very wet conditions meant that the team only completed limited running in the morning, when both cars ran the team’s new aerodynamic device. No laps were completed by the team in the afternoon.

Free Practice 2 Summary

0mins : It’s raining, a lot

5mins : Kimi gets into his car

17mins : Kimi gets out of his car

29mins : Romain thinks about putting his helmet on, but decides against it

45mins : At the halfway stage, it’s still raining

51mins : Will Buxton and Natalie Pinkham drop by to cheer us up

68mins : The team fire up Kimi’s engine to keep warm

73mins : Serious debate begins as to the best choice of biscuits with our tea

80mins : Romain’s side of the garage gets a bit chilly, so we fire up his motor too

90mins : An enthralling session of damp media members and biscuit banter concludes

Kimi Räikkönen, E20-05

Free practice 1 : P23, 2:46.580, 9 laps

Free practice 2 : No time set, no laps completed

Kimi :

“There’s not much to say about today. It was too wet to run and there was little point as the forecast is for better conditions over the next two days. I’m looking forward to driving the circuit in the dry. It’s a shame that we haven’t been able to evaluate our new developments as it would have been interesting to see how they perform here. Tomorrow is another day, let’s see what happens.”

Romain Grosjean, E20-04

Free practice 1 : P21, 2:38.701, 9 laps

Free practice 2 : No time set, no laps completed

Romain :

“It’s a big shame we couldn’t do much running today as it was so wet. I was really looking forward to trying the famous ‘Device’ for the first time, but I guess I’ll have to wait. The weather should be better tomorrow, so we’ll have a busy time getting two days of evaluation into one session and then going straight into qualifying. The E20 has been strong at every circuit so far this year, so I’m sure it will be pretty good around this track in any case.”

James Allison, Technical Director :

“The forecast for the next two days is for dry and warmer weather so running today was not very useful in terms of preparing for qualifying or the race. Today’s rain also prevented us from seeing how the ‘Device’ would perform in the expected race conditions. With discretion being the better part of valour we will conduct P3 tomorrow with a conventional aero package rather than attempting to squeeze Friday’s intended evaluation into the precious final practice session. On the plus side we learned today that the cars are working fine and we’re happy to end the day with no damage from running in these difficult conditions.”

Lotus F1 Team would like to reassure its fans that even though the team’s factory at Enstone will shut down for two weeks from the end of this week, there will be plenty to keep them occupied during the summer break.

To this end, the team has launched the papercraft E20. Instead of the factory and around 500 people required to create the real thing, this particular E20 only requires six sheets of 180g paper, some time and patience. Download it here.

There are no resource restrictions or customer chassis preclusions the papercraft E20, which can be raced by paper people everywhere (subject to local bylaws).

The papercraft E20 does not come with an engine. The more creative methods of motorising it should be sent to webteam@lotusf1team.com

For those who don’t want to risk paper cuts, the Lotus F1 Team website www.lotusf1team.com will continue as the mice in the press office keep the presses running over the entirety of the break.

With just over 30 days until the Belgian Grand Prix, Lotus F1 Team would like to wish everyone a well deserved rest until the second half of the season kicks off.

NB – It has also come to the team’s notice that there might be other sporting activities occurring during August. Good luck to all Olympians in the London 2012 Olympics from the 16 different nationalities represented at Enstone.

Lotus F1 Team scored a fantastic double podium in Budapest this afternoon, with second place for Kimi Räikkönen and third for Romain Grosjean in a searing hot and searing paced Hungarian Grand Prix. The team returns to third position in the Constructors’ Championship, just one point off second. Despite his strong result, Kimi drops to fifth spot in the Driver’s Championship ; just one point off today’s race winner Lewis Hamilton who is now fourth in the standings. Romain remains in eighth, equal on points with seventh placed driver Jenson Button.

• Both drivers started on scrubbed soft compound Pirelli tyres, changing to another set of scrubbed softs and finishing on new sets of the medium compound tyres.
  
• Romain stopped for tyres on laps 19 and 39. Kimi on laps 20 and 45.
  

Kimi Räikkönen, P2, E20-05

"It’s a shame we couldn’t quite get the win but it’s a good result for the team and we’ll keep pushing to make that final step. My start was not too bad but then we had some issues with the KERS and I lost a place to Fernando [Alonso]. When we got it working again we were stuck in the pack so it was a bit frustrating, but once we were in clear air we could push and it looked like we could make up a few places in the second stops. The team said it would be very close with Romain, but it was okay in the end. We managed to catch Lewis [Hamilton] but it was impossible to pass.”

Romain Grosjean, P3, E20-04

“It’s a good result for the team, but to be honest I’m a bit disappointed. We had a good battle for the lead with Lewis [Hamilton] all through the first two stints, but then I got stuck behind Michael [schumacher] who didn’t respect the blue flags at all which cost me a lot of time. Because of this I lost a place to Kimi, and at the same time a possible chance to fight for the win. It’s very hard to overtake here ; every time I came close to someone in front I would lose a bit of front end grip which made it impossible. Still, that’s racing and we’ve take home a lot of points for the Constructors’ Championship which is a real positive.”

Eric Boullier, Team Principal

"Both cars on the podium end a pretty good weekend for the team. For everyone back at Enstone we must pay credit as they work so hard for results like this, but seldom get to taste the champagne at the track. I’m very happy that Romain came back after a tough weekend in Germany and I’m very happy to see Kimi fighting for the win. Our new approach to qualifying is delivering. We qualified better this weekend and we chased the leader of the race for many laps. On a different track layout which allows overtaking I think we could have won this race.”

James Allison, Technical Director

“It was an excellent race from both our drivers, from the E20 and from the whole team. We made very strong progress with a good haul of Drivers’ and Constructors’ points today. We’re only just past the halfway mark in the season so it’s not fantasy to think that we’re still in the hunt in both championships. The general trend is of our car getting stronger and I hope that we can press that home in the coming races.”

Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 Team Support Leader

“A fantastic double podium today and very important for the championship. We’ve worked very closely with the chassis team all weekend to deliver the correct engine response into and out of the many corners of the Hungaroring and the package has looked quick all weekend. It’s very positive that we are able to score results on all types of tracks, from the high speed circuits such as Hockenheim to the low average speeds of the Hungaroring.”

Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean took to the Hungaroring circuit today for the first practice sessions ahead of Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix. With a wonderfully warm morning and marvellously mixed conditions in the afternoon, the team assessed a number of aerodynamic developments.

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director - Technical programme notes :

• Pirelli’s medium compound tyres were used in the morning.
  
• The medium, soft and intermediate compounds were used in the afternoon.
  
• We spent the morning tuning the new aerodynamic device with various improvements after initial running in Hockenheim.
  
• Romain had a normal programme in the morning, and an interrupted afternoon after an off which damaged his bodywork.
  

What we learned today :

• The new aerodynamic system is now working well and will have its race debut in the near future.
  

Kimi Räikkönen, E20-05

Free practice 1 : P8, 1:23.983, 24 laps

Free practice 2 : P2, 1:22.180, 20 laps

Kimi : “It was a normal Friday for me. We did the normal things and tried to make the car as quick as it can be. We were second fastest which was good, and we’ve managed to improve the setup on my car over the last few races so I’ve been pretty happy with it. We’re just making small improvements, but we’re making them all the time and going in the right direction. It’s only Friday, but we’re hoping for another good day tomorrow. ”

Romain Grosjean, E20-04

Free practice 1 : P5, 1:23.633, 24 laps

Free practice 2 : P9, 1:22.922, 12 laps

Romain : “Not the best day we’ve had but not the worst either. The car didn’t feel quite as I like it, similar to how it felt in Hockenheim, which made things a bit tricky. I made a mistake running wide on the exit of turn seven in the second session which meant I touched the wall, so a big apology to the guys for that. On a more positive note we now understand a few things which need improving in terms of setup, so hopefully tomorrow these will make a difference and I’ll have the confidence to push a bit harder and show the true pace of the car.”

James Allison, Technical Director : “We conducted valuable analysis of our latest aerodynamic developments on Kimi’s car this morning which help bring it a step closer to deployment in a race sometime in the future. Romain was uncomfortable with his car today which is something we will try to understand this evening. Kimi was pretty happy overall, even this morning when we weren’t running the native downforce settings for this circuit. With the Hungary setup in the afternoon, Kimi was comfortable, quick, and happy with both specifications of dry tyre. Whilst we haven’t conducted our usual long runs today it looks like both compounds should be reasonable race tyres.”

THE HUNGAR GAMES

Lotus’s Romain Grosjean had a mare of a weekend in Germany and can’t get to Budapest soon enough to get his season back on track. Fortunately, the two rounds are back-to-back. Kimi Raikkonen, on the other hand, put in a solid drive from P10 to fourth across the line and ended up getting promoted to third when Sebastian Vettel was penalised. He’s now fourth in the drivers’ championship. Should Lotus’s elusive first win come in Hungary this weekend, it could put the cat among the pigeons.

ON TRACK

The first F1 circuit to appear from the Eastern Bloc, the Hungaroring has been dubbed ‘Monaco without the buildings’ and as a result, races can be processional. However, it’s also true that since 1986 this circuit has hosted some truly remarkable outcomes and a few breathtaking moves too.

The drivers enjoy it too because it’s so involving. Each corner leads into the next, and there is very little chance to pause and catch one’s breath.

The constantly changing gradient makes the track interesting to race on, and precision is of key importance because the car is turning for a large part of the lap. It can be hard on tyres, and the cars require mechanical grip and a torquey engine. Most of all, the emphasis is on downforce and teams will run maximum wing.

The track runs along one side of a valley, drops down into the sweeping Turns 1 and 2, and then rises up again. It’s at this first corner that the only real chance of a passing move lies. The final section of spoon curves allows cars to bunch up tightly behind each other, all looking to catapult themselves past on the straight.

Local start time: 14h00

Number of laps: 70

Circuit length: 4.381km

Race distance: 306.630km

Lap record: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari, 2004), 1m19.071

WHAT THE DRIVERS SAY

Kimi Raikkonen: “If you had told me in January that we would be fourth halfway through the season, I think I would have been pretty pleased. It’s not a bad place to be, but I think we have a car good enough to have scored more points. I want to win and the whole team is pushing hard to make that happen, so let’s see what we can do in the second half of the season. I have won once in Hungary and finished second three times. It is a very hot and demanding race. There are two things which are really important for fast lap times: good turn in and good traction. If you have those, you’ll be competitive. This is one of those circuits where it’s very difficult to overtake, so you need to get to the front in qualifying and ideally avoid the dirty side of the grid.”

Romain Grosjean: “There are races where nothing goes right and Germany was one of those. Let’s hope the luck will turn around and everything will be much better in Budapest. I scored my first GP2 Series pole position there in 2008. Last year I won and finished third, so I’m heading to Hungary with a positive attitude.”

OFF TRACK

Consisting of two very different cities, Buda on the west bank of the Danube River and Pest on the east bank, Budapest offers travelers Viennese romanticism and Iron Curtain character.

Regarded as one of the most attractive cities in Europe, and with renowned nightlife and great cuisine, Budapest often hosts some of Formula One’s biggest parties – thanks in no small part to the month-long gap before the next race, which means pretty much everyone is on holiday on Sunday night.

Most teams head to club Rio. Palm trees, dancing girls, and space for 6,000 revelers. The dance floor is open air, and the DJs among the best in Budapest. The winner of the Hungarian Grand Prix invariably ends up here.

Lonely Planet recently voted A38 as the best bar in the world. Cruise the waters of the Danube on this ship-cum-nightclub. It used to be a Ukrainian stone-carrier but now it’s a summer-club with live music and DJs. Don’t be afraid to rock the boat!

In 1934 Budapest was awarded the supreme title ‘Spa City’. It is unique in being the only large city to abound in fountains of healing water. The Gellert baths are perhaps the most impressive architectural example. Its effervescent pools can reach 38ºC. The indoor pool has wonderful classical styling and there’s an open air pool too, with a wave machine that dates back to the 1950s.

The place to head for souvenirs and foodstuffs is Nagy Vasarcsarnok. Translated as ‘Central Market Hall’ it’s housed in a splendid 19^th century building with a colourful green and yellow tiled roof. Handmade embroidered table cloths are popular buys here, and there are lots of stalls selling salami, paprika goose liver and a fruit spirit called Palinka.

Statue Park is where communism in Hungary has gone to die, beyond the city boundaries. Thirty statues, many of which are on a huge scale, were taken from Budapest after its Soviet occupation and dumped in this park. Marx, Stalin, Lenin, all the usual suspects are here.

Look out from the plateau of the paddock and you’ll spot an intestinal mess of red, green and blue plastic flumes jutting out on the hillside. This is the Aquarena Water Park and GP2 drivers have been known to skive off briefings so they can race each other down the water slides. After a hot, sweaty day at the track it’s the perfect pitstop on the way back to Budapest.

Kimi Raikkonen was classed third at Hockenheim having started back in tenth place.. He crossed the line in fourth, but with the stewards penalizing Sebastian Vettel 20 seconds for passing Jenson Button off the track, Kimi inherits the podium position even though he missed out on the rostrum bubbly.

The Finn qualified a disappointing tenth in the rain affected session but made an aggressive start to Sunday’s race, making up two places on the first lap and then pulling off a thrilling maneuver on Force India’s Paul di Resta around Turns 7 and 8. Having started on the soft compound tyre, he went for the same again on Lap 11 but his middle stint was a little underwhelming. He held out until Lap 38 to switch to mediums, before passing Michael Schumacher and finishing behind the McLaren of Jenson Button.

Romain Grosjean had a less rewarding race, making contact with Bruno Senna and coming off at the hairpin on Lap 1 with a broken front wing. He dropped to the back as he pitted for a replacement, and two more times for fresh tyres, opting for a soft-medium-medium-medium strategy. He finished in 18th.

Romain drops to eighth in the drivers’ championship with 61 points, while Kimi rises to fourth with 98. Winner Fernando Alonso extends his lead in the championship to 154 points. Lotus drops one point behind McLaren to fourth in the constructors’ championship.

Kimi Raikkonen: “We did the best we could given where we started, but the chance of victory was lost on Saturday, and not for the first time. We didn’t have much grip in the wet unfortunately. Therefore we can be quite happy with where we ended up today. My start was okay, but I had to slow down to avoid hitting Lewis [Hamilton], which let Paul [di Resta] past, and then I went after him. The car worked well today, and if we had started higher I think we could have done a bit better, but there are positives to take to the next race.”

Romain Grosjean: “We were on the back foot this weekend having been given a five-place grid penalty for changing the gearbox. Nothing went right today. It’s a shame because I had a good start and made up some places through Turn 1. Then on the straight there was contact, and that was the race ruined. I’m not sure exactly what happened, I need to watch the on-board. My car was badly damaged with a broken wing and a puncture. I’m hoping for a much better weekend in Hungary.”

Lotus F1 Team finished in a fighting fourth with Kimi Räikkönen at the German Grand Prix, whilst Romain Grosjean battled back from first lap wing and tyre damage to finish in eighteenth position at the Hockenheim circuit this afternoon. Despite having yet to join the list of seven race winners thus far this season, Kimi moves up to an impressive fourth place in the Driver’s Championship whilst Romain drops a spot to eighth. The team also moves down one place to fourth in the Constructors’ Championship, just one point off third position.

• Both drivers started on new soft compound Pirelli tyres.
  
• Romain stopped on lap 1 to replace his front wing and change to new medium compound tyres.
  
• Romain pitted again on lap 24 for a further set of mediums and a third time on lap 42 for softs.
  
• Kimi stopped on lap 11 for soft compound and lap 38 for new medium compound tyres.
  

Kimi Räikkönen, P4, E20-05

"We did the best we could today from the position we started. My start was okay, but then I think Lewis [Hamilton] had a problem in front of me and I had to slow down to avoid hitting the back of his car. This let Paul [Di Resta] through in the DRS zone and from there we had a big hill to climb as it was tricky to get back past. Maybe if we had found a bit more pace in the wet yesterday we could have started higher and pushed the leaders, but it is what it is. For sure we were hoping for a bit better here, but the car worked well all through the race and we still brought home some good points for the team so there are some positives to take to the next race.”

Romain Grosjean, P18, E20-04

“We were on the back foot from the outset after the grid penalty and nothing went right today. It’s a shame as I had a good start and took a few places in the first corner. Then on the straight there was contact and that was the race pretty much ruined for me. I’m not sure exactly what happened – we’ll have to look at the on-board footage to get a better idea – but my car was badly damaged with a broken front wing and a puncture. By the time I managed to get back to the pits the race was as good as over. You never want to have these kind of weekends, but it happens. It will make us enjoy the next good race even more.”

Eric Boullier, Team Principal

"We saw a great recovery from Kimi after yesterday’s issues. It was a very strong and experienced drive coupled with a good strategy from the team. Starting in tenth and nineteenth positions we were always going to have our work cut out, so it’s good to see Kimi score big points again and display strong race pace. With Romain it was a difficult first lap and he had to fight with a damaged car from then on. We have all seen him have very good weekends, so we need to ensure that he has solid weekends even when circumstances mean he starts from the back of the grid. As a team we had the same pace as the frontrunners so there is no question about our capacity to score podiums and maybe a win one day.”

Alan Permane, Director of Trackside Operations

“Romain was compromised by his first lap incident which severely damaged his floor, losing him a lot of downforce. With Kimi moving tenth to fourth we saw the strategy work as we wanted it to. We were hoping to be able to get on the podium but the first few laps cost a bit too much time. Ultimately we could run at the pace of the leaders, but we were just too far back to make the top three today. It’s a familiar story we know all too well ; we have to qualify better to get stronger results. The wet weather of Saturday really hurt us in qualifying here, so hopefully we can bounce back in Budapest and do a good job.”

Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 Team Support Leader

“Hockenheim is a tough race on engines, with high top speeds around the first part of the lap but a twistier section in the back stadium section. Fuel consumption is also very high which was something we needed to watch throughout the race. It was a great performance from Kimi. He had the same pace as the top three, but starting in tenth he was not going to be able to realistically fight for the lead. Romain had a long race after the first lap incident so we decided to run some safer engine settings to be able to be more aggressive in the race where the engine will be used next.”

After demonstrating a promisingly brisk car in dry conditions, Kimi Räikkönen claimed tenth position during a rain afflicted qualifying session for tomorrow’s German Grand Prix, while Romain Grosjean was fifteenth fastest but will start in twentieth position due to a penalty for a gearbox change.

Kimi Räikkönen, E20-05. Q : P10, 1:45.811. FP3 : P4, 1:16.238

“We weren’t fast in the wet today for some reason and we need to look at why that was. I wasn’t able to get any grip from the tyres, even when we tried a fresh set of wets half way through the final qualifying session. In the dry the car is very good and in the races our car usually has strong pace. Let’s hope for some dry weather tomorrow and see what happens.”

Romain Grosjean, E20-04. Q : P15, 1.40.574 FP3 : P11 1:16.962

“The rain seemed to come at the wrong time for me ; it always was at its heaviest when I was trying to go for a quick lap. It was certainly difficult out there to find enough grip and not to get held up by other cars. It’s difficult to understand why I was so far behind Kimi in qualifying when I’ve been very close to him during the rest of the weekend. I’ve got it all to do tomorrow and I’ll be working hard with my engineers to ensure we’ve got the quickest car and the best strategy to go for some points.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director :

“A frustrating session.”

How do you assess today’s qualifying performance ?

“Qualifying was a frustrating session. In the dry we looked to be comfortably one of the quickest cars out there, but as soon as it rained we really struggled with both. We will obviously investigate why we weren’t able to extract any pace at the crucial time today.”

What can be done in the race ?

“The forecast is for a dry race and we are confident in our pace in those conditions, particularly over a race distance. Kimi can still have a good race from P10 on the grid and we’re looking at the strategy options for him. Romain has more work to do from P20, but it’s a relatively easy track in terms of overtaking with DRS so we can still achieve a good result.”

What can be achieved by Romain from the back of the grid ?

“Romain has his work cut out, but in dry conditions he’s likely to have one of the fastest cars on the track. We’ll be doing everything we can to give him the best strategy to move up the order and that’s certainly his objective for the race.”

Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean took to the Hockenheim circuit today for the first practice sessions ahead of Sunday’s German Grand Prix. In mixed wet and dry conditions the team assessed a number of aerodynamic developments as well as conducting the usual Friday programme.

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director - Technical programme notes :

• Pirelli’s developmental hard tyre and the regular medium compound rubber were used in the morning.
  
• The intermediate and wet tyres were used in the afternoon.
  
• Aside from the more obvious development tested on Kimi’s car, the team also assessed a number of other aerodynamic updates.
  

What we learned today :

• Our aerodynamic upgrades look to be doing what they should.
  
• The prototype aero concept trialled on Kimi’s car worked as expected.
  

Kimi Räikkönen, E20-05

Free practice 1 : P15, 1:18.831, 14 laps

Free practice 2 : P10, 1:29.327, 22 laps

Kimi : “We didn’t learn a lot today with the weather conditions as they were ; it was like Silverstone when we also didn’t have very good conditions. We tried a few different things which I think some people noticed. It would have been nice to have some more dry track time but you can’t do anything about that. The track does feel quite slippery when it’s wet ; it’s definitely not very grippy in these conditions. Overall, it was a pretty normal Friday when you try different things and get as much running as the weather allows.”

Romain Grosjean, E20-04

Free practice 1 : P10, 1:18.130, 21 laps

Free practice 2 : P5, 1:28.420, 20 laps

Romain : “It was a difficult session with the rain coming down. It looks like we’ll have more wet running tomorrow so it was good to get a feel for the wet and intermediate tyres. We had a few things we were hoping to test in dry conditions but unfortunately this was not the case. If we get to Sunday without any dry laps then people won’t have so much of an idea about tyre degradation and the difference between the compounds, which may help me starting further back on the grid with the penalty. Either way, we now have a good base line setup from today and hopefully this will help bring us a decent result at the end of the weekend.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director :

“We saw a tricky first session with track conditions changing a lot due to intermittent rain, which didn’t aid the learning process regarding our new parts. The afternoon was far more productive as the wet conditions were reasonably consistent. We looked at both the intermediate and wet tyres in the second session to give us some good data if qualifying or the race are run in similar conditions, and also assessed a variety of set-ups and tyre pressures. Both cars ran with aero updates, which were rather more visible on one car than the other. We’ve seen encouraging signs from our latest prototype concept and although we won’t race it here, it’s likely to make another appearance during practice in Budapest.”

Lotus finish British Grand Prix fifth and sixth

Lotus showed strong pace once again during the team’s home race at Silverstone, but difficulties on Saturday ultimately kept them off the podium.

While the sun came out on Sunday, Friday and Saturday’s running was wet and slippery. During qualifying, Romain Grosjean set the fifth fastest Q2 time but then beached his Lotus E20 in the gravel, meaning he was unable to compete in Q3. He started the grand prix ninth, benefiting from Nico Hulkenberg’s five place gearbox-change penalty. Kimi was able to run in Q3 despite having no KERS for the entire qualifying session. He finished up P6, which was impressive given the advantage a horsepower boost has around the very fast Northamptonshire track.

At the start Kimi made an aggressive move down the outside of Sebastian Vettel at Turn 4 but launched himself across the inside kerb in order to avoid Felipe Massa’s Ferrari. Romain was forced to make an early pitstop on Lap 2 after he hit Paul di Resta’s Force India at the start and suffered a broken front wing. The damage and the subsequent nose-change sunk him to 20th place, from where he fought through the field. Kimi came in on Lap 13 and emerged one place ahead of Grosjean in P7. With the soft tyres out of the way, both Lotus drivers did their second and third stints on the superior hard compound.

The pair then set about dispatching the cars in front of them, Kimi passing Michael Schumacher and Romain pulling off some thrilling moves on Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton. In the final laps, Kimi was pushing Felipe Massa for fourth but was unable to improve, while Romain followed in sixth seven seconds behind his team-mate.

Lotus remains third in the Constructors Championship with 144 points. Ferrari improves and is now second to Red Bull with 152 points, while McLaren slips to fourth two points behind Lotus. Kimi moves up to fifth place in the Drivers’ Championship with 83, while Romain retains seventh on 61 points.

Kimi Raikkonen: “"I had a pretty okay first few corners but I had to avoid the cars in front and drove over the kerb on the inside of the turn, then I lost a place and was pushed wide. If I had stayed in front of Mark [Webber] at the start it would have been pretty good seeing where he finished, but after that Lewis [Hamilton] also got past me. I fought back and our car was strong, especially on the harder tyres. If I’d had a better start I could have finished much better; but that’s racing and sometimes you pay a bigger price than you expect from the first lap.”

Romain Grosjean: “There was a little bit of confusion at Turns 3 and 4, and I was on the outside at Turn 3. The Force India came from the inside and just touched my front wing with his rear wheel. It was a shame but there's nothing you can really do in these situations. I think the best thing is to qualify on pole or second place and then it's easier in the first corners. The result itself is not fantastic, but the way the race went, from 22nd to sixth is very good. To come in the points after a change of nose is quite unbelievable, but the team did a great job to give me a car, which was fantastic. The strategy with only one stop in the middle was quite risky, but it worked well, and there were some good battles on track with Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. It was very enjoyable.”

Kimi Räikkönen qualified in sixth position whilst Romain Grosjean qualified tenth after a rain-interrupted qualifying at Silverstone for tomorrow’s British Grand Prix. Romain will line up in ninth position on the grid thanks to a penalty for a car ahead.

Kimi Räikkönen, E20-05. Q : P6, 1:53.290. FP3 : P5, 1:32.454

“We made a slightly wrong decision by using the full wet and I only had one lap in the restarted final qualifying session with the intermediates, otherwise I think it was possible to have gone faster. We also had a problem with the KERS which we tried to fix during the red flag break. We’re in sixth place, which is certainly not a disaster ; but it could have been better. The weather makes it a bit tricky for everybody. It’s not easy, especially with the spray and this is even more difficult in race conditions when everyone is fighting for the same piece of track. On the plus side for the fans, it’s good fun to watch, even if it’s not the nicest weather if you’re in a grandstand.”

Romain Grosjean, E20-04. Q : P10, No time set in Q3. FP3 : P3, 1:32.358

“It’s frustrating and I’m very sorry for the team as it looks like we had a strong car, but sometimes mistakes happen. My lap was not much different from the previous lap but it was different enough for me to go off and the car went backwards into the gravel and then it was stranded. It was very slippery. We deserved better, but we will do our best tomorrow to gain positions to get some good points. It will be a long race and starting position doesn’t mean as much if there are variable conditions. There’s also a benefit from not making it into Q3 as I have a fresh set of intermediate tyres. Let’s see what happens tomorrow.”

Alan Permane, Director of Trackside Operations :

“We’re certainly ready for any race conditions.”

How do you assess today’s qualifying performance ?

“We’re disappointed with qualifying in sixth and tenth today. Romain made a mistake after going fifth fastest in Q2 so was unable to demonstrate any of his pace in the top ten qualifying group. With Kimi it looks like we should have used intermediates sooner in the restarted session, but that is something which is easy to say with hindsight but difficult to judge at the time.”

How much did Kimi’s KERS issue in qualifying hamper him ?

“In the wet conditions we experienced, the lack of KERS would have cost him a couple of tenths. With the KERS functioning it could have been possible to be a position further forwards on the grid. That said, being on the correct tyres and crossing the line to be the last driver on a flying lap would have yielded far more time. We took advantage of the rain delay to change everything we could to rectify the KERS issue, but were unable to do so in the time available. We don’t expect it to be an issue in tomorrow’s race.”

How confident are we in the different weather conditions we’ve seen so far ?

“It looks like there will be showers again so we need to be prepared to run any of the four different tyres available from Pirelli. From what we’ve seen so far this weekend, we’d prefer it to be dry, as we looked competitive in this morning’s dry practice session with Romain on the hard tyre. If it is dry, the hard compound looks to be the favoured race tyre, but if it’s wet we’re certainly ready for any race conditions.”

Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean took to the Silverstone track briefly today for the first practice sessions ahead of Sunday’s British Grand Prix. The day’s running programme was beset by persistent and continual rain which meant only Pirelli’s wet weather tyres were used.

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director - Technical programme notes :

• We ran evaluations of our wet weather setup, completing a limited number of laps with both cars because of the inclement conditions.
  
• Both cars ran Pirelli’s full wet tyre, with Kimi completing limited running on the intermediate tyre at the end of the second practice session.
  

What we learned today :

• Our base wet weather setup appears to work well at Silverstone.
  

Kimi Räikkönen, E20-05

Free practice 1 : P16, 2:00.253, 6 laps

Free practice 2 : P8, 1:58.897, 8 laps

Kimi :

“It was wet. It’s a shame we don’t have more wet tyres to be able to get more track time, but if it’s going to rain for the whole weekend then everybody tries to save their allocation. We were able to test certain things so it wasn’t a total waste of time. It was interesting to see the new section of the track ; it’s only a few corners so it doesn’t make too much difference to a lap. Hopefully tomorrow the weather will be a bit better. Even if it is wet again, everyone will go out in practice and in qualifying so we should see a drier line emerge. When there are only a couple of cars running this doesn’t happen and there’s much more chance of aquaplaning, but with everyone out there it should be much better.”

Romain Grosjean, E20-04

Free practice 1 : P1, 1:56.552, 13 laps

Free practice 2 : P21, No time set, 0 laps

Romain :

“It wasn’t the busiest day ever due to the weather conditions but still FP1 went well. The car looks to be good and consistent. We tested a few new aero parts which have worked pretty well. I also learnt that the old part of the circuit has a bit more grip than the new part. At the end of FP1 this morning it was incredibly wet and the same conditions at the start of FP2 so we had to wait and be patient. I would have liked to have more track time but due to the regulations on tyres we didn’t want to use up all our wet tyre allocation as more rain is expected on Saturday and Sunday. We looked at putting inters on but it wasn’t dry enough so we couldn’t really do many laps this afternoon. The conditions were a shame for the fans out there who came to watch us today, but we always appreciate their support.”

James Allison, Technical Director :

“It’s never too much fun in conditions like we saw today as it is always a big dilemma about whether to risk the car to learn about what it is like to run in the conditions. We haven’t done a lot of wet weather running this year so it was useful for us to establish that the car behaves well in these conditions, especially as it may well be wet in the race. We were able to validate that all the wings are doing what they are supposed to do, even when the car is wet, and we did that with both drivers. Our pace in the morning showed that we don’t have any problems in these conditions. We were also able to conduct some pit stop practices which went well. Tomorrow and qualifying should be interesting.”

Following on from Kimi Räikkönen’s second place in Valencia, Lotus F1 heads to Silverstone for its home grand prix.

ON TRACK:

Britain has a proud history in Formula One. The country has produced ten world champions and over 200 race wins, and the majority of competing teams have been born right here in Blighty. The Lotus F1 factory in Enstone is just half an hour from Silverstone.

The Northamptonshire circuit was, of course, the venue for the first world championship race in 1950. In recent years the layout has changed a bit, with a new middle sector designed to get the most out of bike racing, and a new pit complex which is technically in neighboring Buckinghamshire.

Overall, this is a power circuit and the drivers love its sweeping high-speed turns. It demands commitment and a good set-up, because aerodynamic efficiency is the name of the game here. Due to its flat nature, as befits a former RAF airfield, crosswinds are a problem and can threaten the balance of the cars.

Local start time: 13h00

Number of laps: 60

Circuit length: 5.141km

Race distance: 308.355km

Lap record: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari, 2004), 1m18.739

WHAT THE DRIVERS SAY:

Kimi Räikkönen: “If you asked me before the start of the season whether I would be happy with podiums I would have said yes, but now I’ve had some good results, I want more. In the last few races the results haven’t been as strong as I’ve wanted. We’ve finished well but I’m disappointed not to have a win yet. We just have to get everything together and I’m sure it can come. It’s always such a good feeling going to Silverstone. It’s a great place to race. I have a long history there. It was the real base for the start of my international racing career. I’ll enjoy the weekend whatever the weather will be. We’ve seen quite a lot of different conditions there in the past, and not always good! The track conditions change very quickly, which makes the car more tricky to set up. It’s part of the fun racing in England; at least it’s the same for everybody. When you win in Silverstone, it gives such a good feeling. You have to get everything exactly right. I won there in Formula Renault and then with Ferrari in 2007. It would be fantastic to win again there, especially with the factory just down the road. I’m sure we would have some fantastic celebrations.”

Romain Grosjean: “I think we head to Silverstone with more confidence. We understand a few more things with the car. It was good to have a really hot weekend all the way through at Valencia as we were able to work on the car and really analyse things. Silverstone is very high speed; I’m confident we’ll have strong pace and that should lead to a good race. I won at Silverstone in the GP2 Series last year, so I’m not too bad on the track! It’s the same for everybody. It’s challenging, but it has a good feel. It’s one of the quickest tracks of the year. There are corners which are legendary like the Magotts, Becketts, Chapel complex. What a feeling... It’s a special grand prix for our team as the factory is very close to the track. It will be nice to see them. They are all doing an amazing job, always working so hard. I will be visiting them after the race and hopefully we can go there with some good silverware to show them.”

OFF TRACK

You’re in GB, and that means two things: real ale and vindaloo. There are plenty of places offering both in the villages around Silverstone. In Brackley, where former F1 racer Karun Chandhok lives, the local curry house Khushboo serves up a ‘Karun Chandhok Special’ which is a lot more powerful than the HRT he used to drive. There are too many pubs to mention, but we suggest heading to the villages of Stoke Bruerne, Woughton-on-the-Green, Abthorpe, Brayfield-on-the-Green and Little Tingewic.

Lotus F1 Team secured another podium finish thanks to a searing performance from Kimi Räikkönen to finish second in today’s European Grand Prix. The Finn was terrific through the traffic and was able to challenge at the front right to the end of the race.

For Romain Grosjean, hopes of another podium were dashed after an alternator failure at two thirds race distance whilst running second.

Kimi and Romain are now sixth and seventh in the Drivers’ Championship. The team remains third in the Constructors’ standings ahead of Ferrari, despite being the 11th team in terms of race laps completed this year. Lotus F1 Team still holds the second highest total in terms of podiums this year (5), behind McLaren (6).

Kimi is now the driver to have contested the greatest number of laps this season, along with Fernando (Alonso) and Nico (Rosberg): 498 in total. Kimi sits third in terms of podiums clinched this year (3), behind Lewis (Hamilton) and Fernando (Alonso) with 4.

• Both drivers started on used sets of soft compound Pirelli tyres.
  
• Kimi stopped on lap 14 for more used softs as did Romain two laps later.
  
• Both drivers changed to new medium tyres under the safety car on lap 28.
  

Kimi Räikkönen, P2, E20-05

"Second place is okay but the win is what I really wanted. We didn’t quite have the pace for it today. I got a good start but I was blocked by Pastor (Maldonado) at the first right-hander and lost quite a few places which put me a bit behind. We made a good recovery from that position and had quite a hard fight with a few people - overtaking and being overtaken. I couldn’t get the tyres up to temperature quickly enough after the safety car, and I made a small mistake on the re-start lap too. I was able to fight back as we had good race pace again. Today was close but the race win was just out of reach.”

Romain Grosjean, DNF, E20-04

“Basically the car lost power and switched off. I couldn’t even call my engineer on the radio as the radio was dead. The race was almost perfect up until that point: we had a good start and a good strategy. I don’t think we were that far from our first win. The positives of this weekend are that we battled right at the front and we showed good pace. Sebastian (Vettel) was very strong and I don’t know if we could have caught him. When he had his issue, I was in second place behind Fernando (Alonso) and it was then that I thought we could challenge for the lead because we knew that our tyre degradation was going to be less than his. Unfortunately fate decided otherwise…”

Eric Boullier, Team Principal

"It’s a good result for the team and for Kimi. Second brings a lot of points, and we also didn’t lose ground on the teams ahead of us in the championship standings. On the other side of the coin, it’s been a disappointing day for Romain as he was in such a good position for at least a podium finish. This is racing, and we will work closely with our partners to ensure we don’t see a failure like this again in the future. Both drivers and the team worked very well this weekend and we have shown that if we achieve a good qualifying position we can fight for the win.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director

“I’m very happy for the team to be on the podium again with a strong second position from Kimi. I’m sorry for Romain as he was in a good position before what we believe was an alternator failure resulted in a lack of fuel pressure, causing his car to stop. He was right in the fight to be on the podium again so that was unfortunate. Our tyres held up well against the opposition and we did see overtaking once the tyres of other cars dropped away. It was quite a straight-forward call for the final pit stop under the safety car, and we could see that there was enough space between both cars to double stop them. Both drivers did very good jobs today. We know we need to look at getting heat into the tyres quicker after a safety car, but otherwise a very strong weekend.”

Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 Team Support Leader

“Second position for Kimi shows the strength of the car in race conditions. We have to apologise to Romain however, who could also have got a very decent result here as well. The alternator failed at about two thirds distance and the car stopped due to no electrical power. We will look into this thoroughly and see what happened in this instance.”

Romain Grosjean went fourth fastest whilst Kimi Räikkönen was just eight thousandths of a second behind with the fifth quickest time in a searing qualifying session on the streets of Valencia for tomorrow’s European Grand Prix.

Kimi Räikkönen, E20-05. Q: P5, 1:38.513. FP3: P3, 1:38.759.

“It was very close in qualifying, especially in Q2, so it’s good to be fifth on the grid. The car felt good. If we could have improved just a little bit on my last lap then we could have gained a couple of places, but it is an improvement on last time out so I’m very happy with that. We found a few good things with the setup this morning to make the car easier to drive. I’m looking forward to tomorrow. The car usually goes well in the race when it’s hot, so let’s see what we can do.”

Romain Grosjean, E20-04. Q: P4, 1:38.505. FP3: P2 1:38.655.

“Today we got pretty much the most out of the car that we could have. P4 is a good position for the start of the race but of course you want always more and to do better. Sebastian did an unbelievable lap and today we could not have matched it. We have improved our qualifying performance but there is still room to do better. Tyre degradation will be more important than what we saw at the last race. There will be 57 laps in hot conditions on Sunday; we will see what we can do for a good race tomorrow.”

Alan Permane, Director of Trackside Operations:

“We’ve come from much further back on the grid than P4 or P5 and finished very well.”

How do you assess today’s qualifying performance?

“We’re very happy with today’s performance and both drivers have done an excellent job. Fourth and fifth positions on the grid are excellent places to start and we know the E20 has demonstrated very strong race pace at the majority of circuits this season. I’m sure tomorrow will be no exception.”

Has there been a particular focus on qualifying this weekend?

“We haven’t done anything radically different from our approach at previous Grands Prix. We’ve certainly had a smoother weekend so far than we did last time out in Montréal, and we seem well suited on the soft tyres. We’ve looked at the data and given greater consideration to qualifying pace, but our race preparations remain the same.”

What are the strategy considerations for tomorrow?

“We’ve come from much further back on the grid than P4 or P5 and finished very well, so we have good confidence heading into tomorrow’s race. That said, overtaking is very difficult here even with DRS, so we’re not expecting an easy race from that perspective. It’s likely to be a very hot race which will give the tyres a hard time and we’re confident in those conditions. It’s open for a one, two, or three stop strategy tomorrow, so let’s see what happens.”

Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean took to the track today for the first practice sessions at the Valencia Street Circuit ahead of Sunday’s European Grand Prix. The day’s programme began with windy and cloudy conditions in the morning which improved in the afternoon.

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director - Technical programme notes:

• Today we evaluated a new front wing on Romain’s car and an updated floor, new rear suspension configuration and revised steering set-up with Kimi.
  
• Both cars ran Pirelli’s medium compound tyres in the morning and the medium and soft compound in the afternoon.
  

What we learned today:

• Our base setup appears to work strongly in Valencia.
  
• Long-run, heavy-fuel pace in particular was good.
  

Kimi Räikkönen, E20-05

Free practice 1: P10, 1:41.620, 22 laps

Free practice 2: P11, 1:39.945, 34 laps

Kimi:

“The car feels okay and there were no issues. The wind was a bit of a factor in the morning but it was better in the afternoon. I was stuck in traffic for quite a bit of my long run in the second session, so I wasn’t able to go as fast as the car was capable of, but we don’t have any issues on that front. The E20’s strong point always seems to be its race pace but of course we are looking to make it quicker in qualifying. Let’s see how it is tomorrow morning and we’ll do whatever’s necessary. We’ll make a few changes to the car for sure, but I think we’re pretty okay.”

Romain Grosjean, E20-04

Free practice 1: P11, 1:41.784, 15 laps

Free practice 2: P8, 1:39.868, 33 laps

Romain:

“Today was not as hot as we expected, certainly after the weather we saw here yesterday, but the long run pace was there and the car felt good. We still have a few things to try with the setup, so there should be some more pace to come. Qualifying will be the big moment for us as we have seen that we need to find a little bit of improvement there. It’s not the end of the world, as we have seen that we can make good gains on Sunday with our race pace. The trick will be to find more speed in qualifying without disturbing this.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director:

“It’s been a straight-forward and issue-free Friday for us. We conducted aero evaluation of a new front wing and new floor and we will be considering the data this evening. In the afternoon we concentrated on race pace and tyre management so our finishing positions, as usual, don’t necessarily represent where we expect to be after qualifying tomorrow. Overall, we’re very happy with the way the E20 is performing here. There is some scope for improvement to get both Kimi and Romain 100% happy with their cars, which we will work on tomorrow morning. In terms of long run pace we think we are looking competitive.”

Seven races, seven winners... Will this weekend be Lotus's time?

The Lotus E20 has been arguably the most consistently fast car so far during this thrilling 2012 season. Kimi Räikkönen has already picked up a third and a second place, and sits sixth in the standings (60). Romain Grosjean has achieved the same podium placings and is just two points behind his team-mate. The next step is clear.

ON TRACK:

Valencia Street Circuit winds around a harbour and across a dynamic-looking swing bridge, which is welded shut, forcing yacht captains to get their berths in the harbour before the track action begins.

Valencia has one notable straight, which is one more than Monaco, and encourages overtaking - though we’ve seen little of it in the two years since the track appeared on the calendar. As with any street circuit, there are more bumps than on a purpose built track, and the first proper corner – Turn 2 – is made trickier by being both bumpy and tight.

The next stretch is rather stop-start in nature down to Turn 8, with the emphasis on traction rather than aerodynamic grip. Between Turns 10 and 12 the cars run flat-out for 12 seconds.

There are 25 corners in total, which make this circuit physically challenging over the course of 57 laps, and it’s easy to make a mistake. Due to its coastal location, a strong sea breeze can cause balance problems.

Local start time: 14h00

Number of laps: 57

Circuit length: 5.419km

Race distance: 308.883km

Lap record: Timo Glock (Toyota, 2009), 1m38.683

WHAT THE DRIVERS SAY:

Kimi Räikkönen: “Valencia is a street circuit, but the layout is not like Albert Park, Monaco or Montreal. It’s definitely the fastest track of these four. It’s likely to be hot and we seem to go well in warm conditions so that’s what we’ll be hoping for. Qualifying is going to be very, very important again here. Obviously, there will be an advantage to starting on the clean side of the track as the streets are only used as a circuit once each year. It’s not an easy place to overtake and we’ll have to see how much help the DRS will be. Valencia is all about being very consistent. It’s so easy to lose time with small mistakes. I’ve never won in Valencia, so it’s a good target. Last time I raced in Valencia I finished in third after starting from sixth on the grid, which was not too bad.”

Romain Grosjean: “The gap to the win is not that big. We need to qualify better, that is not our strength this season but we are working on it. I think Friday and Saturday were quite difficult for us in Canada but we have been learning a lot about the car so it’s good that we now have that in our pocket for the next races. I made my Formula One debut in Valencia 2009, so it brings back good memories and it’s a circuit I like anyway. I had a podium in the first GP2 race here in 2008 and was leading the second race until somebody took me out! Then I managed to win in 2011, so it’s a circuit I’m comfortable with for sure. It definitely helps to know the track already as it usually takes less time to get up to speed and you have a rough idea of where the braking points, turn ins and so on will be. There’s always a great atmosphere too; the city centre is obviously very close, and the America’s Cup harbour is a really nice place to go. The track itself it quite interesting; there are a few second / third gear corners, some high speed sectors, heavy braking zones and usually good weather too so on paper it’s a circuit that could suit us quite well. Hopefully this will be the case!”

OFF TRACK:

Santiago Calatrava’s City of Arts and Sciences is a masterpiece surrounded by mirror-calm waters. L’Hemispheric is built in the shape of an eye and features an IMAX cinema, planetarium and laserium, while the Principe Felipe Science Museum behind it resembles the skeleton of a whale.

Also part of the City of Arts and Sciences, L’Oceanographic has sharks, Beluga whales, walruses, sea lions, penguins and manta rays, which inhabit nine underwater towers. The marine park simulates tropical seas and polar oceans, and also has a spectacular dolphinarium. The piranha club is popular with spectators too, but you have to trot down to the F1 paddock to see that.

Monty Python fans will be thrilled to discover that the (alleged) Holy Grail resides here, in Valencia’s Old Quarter at the Santa Maria Cathedral. Whether it really is the cup used by JC and his disciples at the Last Supper is disputed, but plenty of scholars and historians believe it’s the most likely candidate.

Spitting distance from the paddock, Valencia’s proudest tapas bar, Casa Montana, is also one of the least expensive. Order their delicious anchovies and cod fish croquettes. Wine tastings are often organized. Participants are requested not to wear perfume, in case it throws them off the scent.

Café Infanta is a mentally eclectic bar, which draws every demographic known to man, all in search of a good time. Décor amounts to a clutter of cinematic memorabilia. Specialities include the Café Infanta vodka-based cocktail, and whisky and gin mixes. Music ranges from jazz to opera and disco to salsa. Should you visit on Wednesday you’ll find an antiques auction begins at midnight. Bizarre.

Club Las Animas Puerto is right on the circuit, down at Turn 7, and actually features a grandstand built into the dance floor. Guests can watch the race with a refreshing Pina Colada, should they wish. At night, it gets packed out – David Coulthard had one of several retirement parties here (no, not just when his car broke down).

How did Romain Grosjean shoot from the midfield to second place in those dying laps? He was originally on a two stopper just like Vettel and Alonso.

It was a fantastic performance. When we see how Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso finished the race with no grip and terrible lap times, you appreciate what an unbelievable result it is for Romain. He looked fast the whole race, normal pace, but all the time he was saving his tyres so the tyres were in really good condition for the final 15 laps. Another four or five laps, I just wonder what could have happened. Lewis Hamilton was fast, but Romain was even faster. I tell you, it was a great race. The middle was a bit boring, but the end was sensational.

The Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve must hold a special place in your career, having taken your sole grand prix win there. What is it about the place that you love?

The layout is very exciting for drivers, because the walls are so close, as are the grandstands and the fans. The crowds there have so much passion, because of Gilles Villeneuve and the spirit he brings to racing in Canada. All the fans remember him, and I’m one of them. He gave me the passion I now have for motorsport.

Speaking of inspiring the next generation of drivers, did you see Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne wore a Jean Alesi-inspired helmet in Monaco?

That was fantastic. It actually made me very emotional because nowadays you think the current generation don’t care about what happened in the past, the drivers that raced in F1 years ago. It was a full surprise to me. I spoke to him the day before on the telephone and he told me he had a surprise for me, but I wasn’t expecting that. It was a lovely gift.

Romain outperformed Kimi Raikkonen last weekend, as he did in Monaco. Both drivers now have second places to their name. Is the pressure now on Kimi to deliver that first win of the year?

I don’t think so because there have been seven winners from seven races, and the points are all shared across the board. Almost anyone is capable of winning the championship. Romain and Kimi are both very capable of not only winning the next race, but winning the title. What impresses me is the consistency of speed from Lotus. We all wondered if they had enough budget to keep up in the development race against Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari, but they are maintaining their competitiveness very well.

How do you think the team will get on next week in Valencia?

It’s a strange circuit, but even if we look at the results at ‘normal’ circuits this year, like Barcelona where everyone knows a lot about the track, the winner was a surprise! Next weekend could be the same, and I’m hoping the surprise winner is driving a Lotus.

Lotus F1 Team returned to the podium with a superb performance from Romain Grosjean, the Frenchman clinching his best Formula 1 result to date by climbing from seventh on the grid to second place in a searing Canadian Grand Prix. Kimi Räikkönen rose from twelfth on the grid to eighth at the chequered flag, helping the team move eleven points ahead of Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship. Lotus F1 Team have now scored more points from the seven races thus far in 2012 than during the entirety of the 2011 season.

• Romain started on used super softs and changed to new softs on lap 21.
  
• Kimi started on new softs and changed to new super softs on lap 40.
  
• The team is now the second highest scoring team over the last four races and have the second highest number of podiums this season.
  

Kimi Räikkönen, P8, E20-03

“The car was a bit better in the race than it was in qualifying. I seemed to get stuck behind people a few times. The DRS zone is not very long, and it’s still a difficult battle if the car ahead of you is also using the DRS. We had a chance to do a bit better, but it didn’t quite all come together today. We scored points again so that’s always a good thing, especially this season. Qualifying yesterday wasn’t perfect so obviously that left us with more work to do. If you start further forward it’s easier to finish higher up the order. We’ll try to achieve that in the next race.”

Romain Grosjean, P2, E20-04

“It’s been a great day for the team. It was an incredible race and the one stop strategy worked perfectly for us. It wasn’t an easy race, but we wanted to be aggressive to achieve a good result. Yesterday was a bit disappointing, but we learnt a lot from Friday to Saturday and the fruits of all these lessons were seen today. It wasn’t easy to manage the second set of tyres for so long, but it worked so I’ll happily do that again for another result like today. It’s fantastic to finish in second position on my first visit to Montreal, hopefully I will finish in first on my second time! I would like to thank the entire team for the amazing job we’ve done this weekend”

Eric Boullier, Team Principal

"Today’s result is due to very good team work and keeping focused on the task at hand. The E20 was very well setup for the race, our strategies worked for both cars to finish much higher than they started and both drivers drove superbly. Romain drove an excellent race and P2 is superb for the whole team, especially everyone at Enstone who keeps pushing to develop every area of the car. We know that if we can get more in qualifying we will be able to achieve even better things in the races, so that is our task ahead.”

Alan Permane, Director of Trackside Operations

“Today all went very much to plan. Coming into the race we were fairly confident that we could do a one stop strategy; it would be a bit tight on the tyres, but it was clear from Friday that the tyres had the pace and the durability to do one stop. Today was a lot hotter, and we had a fall back of a two stop strategy, which we didn’t need. Romain did everything he needed today and it’s a well deserved result. For Kimi we used the opposite tyre strategy from Romain by starting him on the soft tyre and it worked for him to finish four places higher than he started in what was a very competitive race. It’s two very solid drives we’ve had today so we’re very happy to bounce back from Monaco in emphatic fashion. ”

Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 Team Support Leader

“A fantastic double points finish for the team with a career-best result for Romain. It was not an easy race as fuel consumption was difficult to gauge on Friday, but we took a risk to go very aggressive and it was the right choice: Romain’s pace in the last few laps was impressive. Congratulations to all as the result moves us ahead of Ferrari in the championship now.”