Unlucky For Some

Mixed fortunes at the Hungaroring where Romain Grosjean spins out and Pastor Maldonado finishes P13.

The 2014 Hungarian GP was made rather challenging by the wet track in the opening section of the race following a period of rain before the start. Most drivers suffered in the very slippery conditions, not least Lotus F1 Team driver, Romain Grosjean who started from P14 on new intermediate tyres, changing to new soft compound tyres on lap 8. Unfortunately Romain's slip forced him off the track and out of the race on lap 11.

Pastor Maldonado started from twentieth position on new intermediate tyres. He carried out a three-stop strategy changing each time to new soft tyres, fitting a new front wing in the middle stop following contact with Jules Bianchi.

Maldonado battled his way up to P7 in the middle of the race but dropped back down to P14, finally finishing in P13 matching his "lucky 13" driver number.

Romain Grosjean DNF E22-03: “We didn’t finish the race today which is very disappointing. The conditions on the circuit this afternoon were very tricky and we couldn’t get the best out of the tyres. We made the right call to move to slicks when the safety car came out – like most of the grid did – but I made a mistake when I was trying to keep the tyres warm. Unfortunately, I touched the white line and spun and that was it. I feel very sorry for everyone in the team who are giving everything they can to give me the best car possible. Hopefully these last two weeks of work and the break ahead of us will help us move forward and come back stronger for the next race in Spa.”

Pastor Maldonado P13 E22-01: “It was a tough race for us. It was a struggle to find enough grip and the track surface was very slippery. We didn’t always have full power, which certainly added to the challenge in what was already a pretty difficult race with the changeable conditions. We weren’t able to close in on the cars ahead along the straight which made it hard to overtake, and there aren’t many places to overtake around here. The important thing is we finished all 70 laps so we have plenty of information to make further improvements to the car.”

Federico Gastaldi, Deputy Team Principal: "It was quite some race for us and for many teams too! Romain was unlucky to be caught out by the conditions as he had good potential in the race, but as we saw many drivers had moments off track today. It was good for Pastor to see the chequered flag in such an eventful Grand Prix. The team worked well together all weekend and now we have a week to apply all the lessons learnt from the last two races before the well-needed summer shutdown.”

The drivers will take a well-earned rest, while the team continues to work on improvements to the car. After a month's break, the Belgian GP will take place at Spa-Francorchamps on 22-24 August 2014.