Spanish Gp Fp3 & Qualifying

[Mark H]

Team Lotus Information

 

Highest G Force load on Pirelli tyres at the Circuit de Catalunya: 3.9g Journey time - Barcelona to Monaco (663 KMs): 7 hours

 

Shock absorbency test load Ruroc pitcrew helmets withstand: 250g

 

Go to www.teamdellracing.com to see how Team Lotus has the power to do more with Dell

 

 

 

Weather

 

Dry, sunny

 

Min / max air temperature: 21˚ / 26˚

 

Min / max track temperature: 24˚ / 35˚

 

 

 

Fastest laps / positions

 

FP3

 

KOV 18th, 1.26.236 (lap 10) / TRU 19th, 1.27.000 (lap 17)

 

 

 

QUALIFYING

 

Q1

 

KOV 17th, 1.25.874 (lap 2) / TRU 18th, 1.26.521 (lap 3)

 

Q2

 

KOV 15th , 1.25.403 (lap 5) Total laps FP3

 

KOV: 11 / TRU: 20

 

 

 

QUALIFYING

 

Q1

 

KOV: 3 / TRU: 4

 

Q2

 

KOV: 3

 

 

 

Runplan

 

Driver: Jarno Trulli

 

Chassis: T128-03

 

FP3

 

1059 - 1103: Installation, 1 lap (prime tyres)

 

1103 - 1110: System checks

 

1110 - 1123: Run 2, 7 laps (prime tyres)

 

1123 - 1134: Adjustments - rear ride-height, front anti-roll bar

 

1134 - 1147: Run 3, 7 laps (prime tyres)

 

1147 - 1151: Change to option tyres

 

1151 - 1200: Run 4, 5 laps (option tyres)

 

 

 

Qualifying

 

Q1 (all runs on option tyres)

 

1408 - 1413: Run 1, 1 lap

 

1411 - 1417: Refuel

 

1417 - 1421: Run 2, 3 laps

 

Finished 18th

 

 

 

Runplan

 

Driver: Heikki Kovalainen

 

Chassis: T128-04

 

FP3

 

1059 - 1102: Installation, 1 lap (prime tyres)

 

1102 - 1126: System checks

 

1126 - 1135: Run 2, 5 laps (prime tyres)

 

1135 - 1147: Adjustments - bleed brakes, change to option tyres

 

1147 - 1155: Run 3, 5 laps (option tyres)

 

 

 

Qualifying

 

Q1 (option tyres)

 

1409 - 1414: Run 1, 3 laps

 

Q2 (option tyres)

 

1438 - 1441: Run 1, 3 laps

 

Finished 15th

 

 

 

Heikki Kovalainen, Car 20: "This is obviously a great day for Team Lotus and I want to thank everyone here and back at the factory for working so hard to get us to this next step in our story. There is a lot more to come from this car and while we have performed really well today we can see that we can keep progressing and taking the fight to the cars around us on merit. With the work we did overnight and in FP3 I can feel that we have found a much better balance in the high-speed corners, and we can work more on how it feels in the low speed corners which is where I think we will find even more time, but for now this is a good feeling and puts us into a good position for the race tomorrow."

 

Jarno Trulli, Car 21: "First I want to congratulate to the whole team for getting Heikki into Q2. That's a great achievement for us and a sign of what's to come. For me the session was interrupted by what looks like an electrical issue that meant I was stuck in second gear when I went out for my first run, but we changed the steering wheel and I managed to get a lap in right in the last few seconds that still put me ahead of Rubens, so we'll start tomorrow from 18th and with the pace we have in the car in race conditions I think we'll have a good afternoon."

 

Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1 Support Leader: "We worked hard last night on the data from yesterday and in this morning's session we were able to do more work with the floor and the new exhaust which I think helped us perform so well today. Heikki reaching Q2 is very good news for the whole team, and we feel that there is a lot more to come. Rather than just working on different parts of the car and making those parts work, we will be able to make them work well together and the results of this will continue to be seen as we progress through the season. The plan for tomorrow is to keep our focus on maintaining our reliability. The performance matters throughout the race, not just in qualifying, and we need to see how the tyre degradation influences our strategy but for now congratulations to everyone and we must enjoy this feeling today."

 

Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: "That is a very pleasing result and thank you to the whole team for today's result. We took advantage of the misfortune that befell a couple of the other cars but Heikki did a great job to get the best out of his runs today, and Jarno put in a strong performance to get in a decent time at the end of Q1 after a gearbox problem cut into his first run. Now the important thing is to focus on having a good race tomorrow and learning as much as we can about the upgrades we have brought here over a race distance."

 

Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: "I am so thrilled. It is almost unbelievable but this is a great day for Team Lotus and just reward for the effort that the whole team keeps putting in. I am so thrilled for everyone associated with our team. Heikki did a fantastic lap and the whole team worked together brilliantly to give him the chance to take his car into Q2, and on top of that Jarno managed to put in a great lap in the dying seconds to put himself into 18th place under a great deal of pressure. We have a lot of work to do so we are not going to get carried away, but it is important that we enjoy days like this and the feeling that comes with hard work being rewarded with this sort of result. As I keep saying, these small steps will keep us moving up the grid, so well done and thank you to everyone."

 

 

 

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