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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.”

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.”

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.”

Romain Grosjean set the seventh fastest time whilst Kimi Räikkönen suffered a hydraulic issue which prevented him from climbing higher than twelfth during qualifying for tomorrow’s Canadian Grand Prix. Kimi Räikkönen, E20-03. Q: P12, 1:14.734. FP3: P9, 1:14.997 “Obviously it’s disappointing to go out in Q2 but we had some issues with the differential which meant the car wasn’t handling as it should. When the grid is so tight it makes a big difference not having the car exactly as you like it. Still, we had no issues on the long runs yesterday, we have options to choose from with the tyres, and the warmer weather is definitely suiting us better so hopefully we can put everything right before tomorrow and go from there. The race is where it counts, so let’s see what we can do.” Romain Grosjean, E20-04. Q: P7, 1:14.645. FP3: P8 1:14.873 “For sure we wanted a bit more from qualifying but this is a tricky circuit to get right, and the big variation between conditions yesterday and today didn’t help. The warmer temperatures definitely suited us more but not quite as well as we thought. The car felt pretty strong but my last run could have been better, which is a shame. Still, making it through to Q3 is never a bad thing and it’s a long race tomorrow. Our car has been quite easy on tyres so far this season and hopefully that could make the difference. Last time I started in P7 we ended up on the podium, so let’s hope it can happen again tomorrow!” Alan Permane, Director of Trackside Operations: “Good, but not great...” How do you assess today’s qualifying performance? “We had a problem with the hydraulics on Kimi’s car in the session which meant the differential was not working properly, so he did a good job to qualify where he did. Romain went through to the final qualifying session comfortably and then did a really good first timed lap in that session on scrubbed tyres. The new tyres didn’t give him the grip and confidence he expected and his lap on these wasn’t any faster. It’s unusual that we would have a warm-up issue here in these conditions, but we’ll be looking at everything to understand what happened.” How difficult has it been to read the track here? “The track was very dirty after yesterday’s rain so we saw a lot of evolution today, though it wasn’t particularly tricky to predict. Having said that we’ve had a little bit more trouble than usual setting the cars up; just finding the right balance with the heavy breaking here, making it comfortable enough into the corner and not having too much understeer mid-corner. Certainly with Romain it’s fair to say that he’s not as comfortable as he normally is with his car” Could Kimi’s hydraulic problem in qualifying carry over into the race? “I have no doubt that we’ll resolve Kimi’s issue for tomorrow. We can see the symptoms clearly on the data and we recognised it very early on. We informed Kimi that there was a problem during qualifying. It wasn’t something we could easily remedy during the session but I’m very confident that we’ll find the problem overnight and fix it.” What are the strategy considerations for tomorrow? “In terms of strategy we’ll be assessing different options. Tyre degradation is very low here, so we could see a few teams attempt a one stop race. Overtaking is very much possible here with the long straights and the DRS; it won’t be easy by any means but certainly simpler than in Monaco.”

Lotus F1 Team endured a difficult Monaco Grand Prix, with Kimi Räikkönen finishing in ninth position and Romain Grosjean crashing out of the race before the first corner. It was also a difficult race for the strategists with rain looming but never arriving to any significant extent until immediately after the chequered flag fell. Lotus F1 Team are now tied in third position in the Constructors’ Championship with Ferrari. Both cars started on used sets of red-marked super soft Pirelli P-Zero tyres. Kimi changed to a set of new soft tyres on lap 29. Kimi Räikkönen, P9, E20-03 “Ninth was the best we could do today. I didn’t start in a great position and I had some difficulties during the race so it’s not been the easiest weekend, but at least we got a couple of points. It’s better than nothing but not exactly what we wanted. One race doesn’t change the fact that we have been pretty strong everywhere – even here at the beginning of the weekend. This circuit is completely different from any other and I don’t think we should worry too much about the fact that it wasn’t our best weekend. It is what it is – sometimes it doesn’t go the way you expected and now we should look to Canada for a better result.” Romain Grosjean, DNF, E20-04 “We struggled to get off the line and it looked like Lewis [Hamilton] in front didn’t have the best start either. Fernando [Alonso] pulled alongside him so I was then on the outside of both cars, and unfortunately Michael [schumacher] was on the outside of me as well. There just wasn’t enough room and next thing I’m facing all the traffic after just one hundred metres which wasn’t a nice feeling. It’s a disappointing end to the week after some positive early signs, but that’s racing and now we look forward to Canada and a chance to bounce back.” Eric Boullier, Team Principal "We arrived in Monaco after two consecutive podiums and did not really know what to expect at such a unique circuit. Before qualifying it was obvious that the E20 was going to be competitive, but things did not go as planned. Our positions on the grid did not reflect our true pace and that put us on the back foot for the rest of the weekend. Unfortunately Romain’s race ended prematurely after contact with Michael Schumacher, and like the Stewards I think it was a racing incident. With Kimi, we knew that fighting for a podium was going to be more than difficult. It then became obvious that we were struggling with our tyres when the temperature fell. The grip was just not there and we could only defend our position. In the end, the two points we’ve scored today are disappointing but because the field is so tight we have not lost too much ground on our opponents. We have the same number of points as Ferrari in the constructors’ championship, while Kimi is 25 points away from Fernando Alonso who’s leading the drivers’ classification. Anything can still happen and the championship is wide open. We’re now looking forward to Montreal, the first low downforce track of the season, where the E20 should be strong. Finally, I wish to congratulate the team for all their hard work this weekend. Our 500th was not one of our best, but I hope the 501st is!” James Allison, Technical Director “We’ve had five races so far this season where we’ve shown strongly. Sadly, at the sixth we were not on the pace. It was a completely joyless experience from start to finish. Romain has been metronomic this weekend, but he was out of the race before the first corner which was a massive blow to our hopes for today. Kimi had an okay start, but wasn’t able to keep the car running at a challenging pace once the sheen came off his tyres after ten or fifteen laps. We stayed out longer than we would have done otherwise on the first set of super soft tyres as we, and everyone else, were waiting for rain to come. Now we have to pick ourselves up and come back in Canada to bring both cars home in strong placings.” Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 Team Support Leader “We worked hard to deliver good drive and response over the lower rev ranges to deal with the low average speed of the Monaco track. The package has been quick this weekend, which was reflected in the qualifying positions, but Romain was very unlucky to be involved in the accident at the start. Ninth place for Kimi is a bit frustrating and not reflective of the general level of performance we have shown at this event.”

Romain Grosjean qualified in P5 whilst Kimi Räikkönen set the eighth fastest time in qualifying for tomorrow’s Monaco Grand Prix. Romain gains a position on the grid due to a five position penalty for fastest man today, Michael Schumacher. Qualifying was exceptionally close, with all nine cars setting a time within a second of pole in Q3. Kimi Räikkönen, E20-03. Q: P8, 1:15.199 FP3: P12, 1:16.301 “For sure we’re not very happy after that session. Since the first practice we’ve been a little bit behind where we should have been and we’ve been trying to catch-up. The car is fine, the biggest problem today was trying to get the tyres working as it seemed to be a bit tricky to get them up to temperature. I could have been a bit faster on my best lap, but I went a little bit too deep in the swimming pool section. It’s a bit disappointing but you can’t get it right every time. At a normal race track you would be able to gain positions through overtaking, but in Monaco this is difficult. That said, anything can happen here so hopefully we can achieve something good tomorrow.” Romain Grosjean, E20-04. Q: P5, 1:14.639 FP3: P5 1:15.445 (will start from P4) “We are not as high on the grid as we wanted to be, but things were very tight today. I did a very good lap in the first part of Q3 but then I couldn’t improve on my second set of tyres. This was a shame because our strategy was perfect for the last part of qualifying. The traffic wasn’t too bad but I missed out in sector two. I think pole position was within reach. P4 is not exactly where we wanted to be but the race will be long. It’s Monaco, it will be difficult; nonetheless we know that the car is quite good on high fuel and with the tyres, so let’s see what we can do and put the best strategy into place.” Alan Permane, Director of Trackside Operations: “We’ve got it all to do...” How do you assess today’s qualifying performance? “Disappointing. After the pace we saw in the car on Thursday and this morning we expected better. Monaco is a very difficult place to get everything exactly right on a lap and the penalties for making a mistake were seen elsewhere in qualifying, but nevertheless we thought we were a realistic prospect for a front row here so to miss out is a bitter pill to swallow.” What are the strategy considerations for the race? “Overtaking is notoriously difficult here due to the narrow and twisty confines of the track. No matter what the tyre performance or the presence of DRS, KERS or any other factor, a slower car can hold up a faster car for a long time here. Our best opportunity for a strong race result is for Thursday afternoon’s rain to return or for there to be an eventful race to mix up the order.We will of course spend a long time looking at what we can do strategically as the E20 is generally easy on it’s tyres. Also Monaco can often throw up many surprises.so the podium is by no means out of reach” Did missing FP1 affect Kimi’s performance? “We certainly can’t say it helped him. Kimi struggled to get sufficient heat in his tyres today, even with the super soft compound, so he didn’t feel he had sufficient grip to push harder. He needed one more set of super softs than Romain to get into Q3, so consequently had one fewer set than Romain in that session.” Romain has looked very strong so far this weekend; was there more possible in qualifying? “Romain lost out in the second sector on his fastest lap and we will be looking to understand what went wrong. When you look at his times all through the weekend, and consider the track evolution, his qualifying lap was short of what we thought possible. But still, it’s not a bad effort for a first F1 qualifying here.” On the plus side? “We do have both cars in the top ten which is good for our Constructors’ Championship points potential. McLaren in second in the standings ahead of us have one car outside of the top ten so we have scope to do well against them, but equally it’s a very close field.”

Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean took to the track for the first practice sessions on the streets of Monaco in mixed conditions today. A dry and warm morning session was followed by a mixed dry and wet afternoon session. Both drivers used new helmet designs today – images can be downloaded below. Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director - Technical programme notes In FP1 we conducted evaluations of our Monaco setup and gained initial data of Pirelli’s soft compound. Kimi completed just his initial installation lap in FP1 as he found the Monaco steering setup not to be to his liking. FP2 saw lower fuel running than usual, focusing on qualifying specification performance of the soft and super soft compound tyres when the track was sufficiently dry. We also ran with the intermediate tyres on both cars. What we learned today: Our Monaco specification setup works well in both dry and damp conditions. The changed steering setup for Kimi was more to his liking for FP2. Kimi Räikkönen, E20-03 Free practice 1: No time set, installation lap completed Free practice 2: P19, 1:19.267, 25 laps Kimi: “It’s good to be back in Monaco even if we missed some running today. The steering wasn’t to my liking so the team changed it for me. It’s something you change for Monaco and there’s no way of knowing what it will be like beforehand. The car felt good in the second session, though it was obviously pretty slippery when the track was wet. I would have liked to have had more time in the car, but Monaco’s a track I know pretty well and it hasn’t changed much over the years. Let’s see what happens tomorrow.” Romain Grosjean, E20-04 Free practice 1: P2, 1:16.630, 22 laps Free practice 2: P2, 1:16.138, 19 laps Romain: “I think the car is suiting the track pretty well and I love Monaco, it’s good to be here and it’s nice to see so many fans. The car was looking good this morning and this afternoon – we are working in a good direction. Unfortunately it was a bit wet this afternoon and we couldn’t do all the programme we wanted to achieve but as we have a good baseline it shouldn’t be such a big deal. Let’s see what the weather will be like tomorrow and what we can achieve. I think that we are looking good in both conditions.” James Allison, Technical Director: “We’re happy with today’s performance as we came here with a certain amount of trepidation about whether our cars would be competitive. It was a disappointment to have missed the first session whilst we changed the steering setup on Kimi’s car, but he’s an old enough trooper to get himself up to speed on Saturday. The pace shown by Romain in both sessions was certainly encouraging. All the Monaco upgrades seem to be working well and the E20 is pretty happy around what is a very unique track.”