Romain Grosjean

Pastor Maldonado drove an impressive, measured race to take seventh position whilst Romain Grosjean suffered from a gearbox issue to halt his charge in the Austrian Grand Prix. Both drivers ran to one-stop strategies, with Grosjean starting on his qualifying super soft Pirellis and Maldonado starting on the harder soft tyres and eking out a long performance life from the super softs, passing cars late into his final stint. Grosjean’s car was brought into retirement at the end of lap 35.

Grosjean started from P9 on the grid on his qualifying super soft compound tyres, changing to new soft tyres on lap 23. He retired from the race with a gearbox issue on lap 35. Maldonado started from P10 on the grid on new soft tyres, changing to new super soft tyres on lap 37.

Romain Grosjean, DNF, E23-04:
“Of course it’s disappointing to retire from the race. We had good potential after the pit stop and it was good to be able to pass some cars with some side-by-side action. We were P8 when we retired and the car was feeling good. I just lost my gears and there was nothing we could do other than retire. Let’s hope our bad luck is behind us as we head to Silverstone confident of showing well again.”

Pastor Maldonado, P7, E23-03:
“It’s great to get another seventh position and the points that come with it. It was a big moment fighting with Max. The super soft tyres were very hot so losing their grip and you lose a lot of downforce close to the car ahead, but everything was under control. I wanted to get the position and I think we deserved it. It seems like we’re coming into a good time of the season for us so we’ll all keep working hard to continue scoring points.”

Federico Gastaldi, Deputy Team Principal:
“That was a fantastic drive from Pastor to take his second consecutive seventh position this season. It was a tough tactical race where he saved fuel in his first stint then managed his tyres, doing everything that was asked of him from the pit wall, plus showing us an incredible bit of car control right at the end too. We are sorry that Romain was unable to make the finish and we will do everything to diagnose and rectify the issue as he too was on course for a great result. Once more, with the pace shown this weekend, we have shown our potential to score strong points in the races ahead.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director:
“That was a very lively end to the race to highlight a fantastic drive from Pastor. He did lose positions at the start, so after that we used a very aggressive strategy to get past Sergio Perez and thereafter Pastor managed the super soft tyres very well indeed for almost a half-race distance. This included a great dice with Max Verstappen in the final laps, which Pastor won to take seventh. Romain would have been well up in the points too but suffered from what looks like a gearbox issue so our joy is tempered by the knowledge we have to find and fix whatever issue affected him.”

Pastor Maldonado

Romain Grosjean

Pastor Maldonado

Lotus F1 moved into fifth position in the FIA Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship after a strong Canadian Grand Prix where Pastor Maldonado finished seventh and Romain Grosjean tenth at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Maldonado had been running in seventh before contact passing a backmarker meant an additional pit stop and time penalty. His seventh position represents his first points of the year.

Grosjean started from P5 on the grid on his qualifying super soft compound tyres, changing to new soft tyres on laps 27 and 49. A five-second time penalty was added to his race time, but it didn’t affect his tenth place finish. Maldonado started from P6 on the grid on his qualifying super soft tyres, changing to new soft tyres on lap 17.

Romain Grosjean, P10, E23-04:
“It was good for the team to get both cars in the points. Unfortunately, that car didn’t feel as strong as it did in qualifying but I was able to push nevertheless. It can be difficult with traffic here and I was held up a few times even when there were blue flags. I thought I was past the Manor, but it was soon clear that I wasn’t. It was my fault entirely and I apologise for it. You never stop learning as a driver.”

Pastor Maldonado, P7, E23-03:
“Finally, here we are in the points. I think now we’ve started scoring there’s potential for this to be a great season for us as we have really good pace. It was a good race. We had to pit quite early to gain the place against Nico Hulkenberg which made the later part of the race quite tricky and I couldn’t defend later on as a consequence. I’m pleased for the team that we got both cars in the points; let’s continue like this.”

Federico Gastaldi, Deputy Team Principal:
“It was a happy day for us. Pastor scored his first points of the season after driving a strong and measured race and Romain was in the points too even if it was in a more eventful manner. For Pastor this should be a turning point for his season and we thank all his supporters in Venezuela and PDVSA for their faith in us. Both cars scoring points is always our target and we want more of the same for the rest of the year.”

Nick Chester, Technical Director:
“That was pretty good. Pastor drove strongly and consistently with a long second stint for seventh place. Romain should have finished further up were it not for the rub with the Manor but the weekend overall has been positive. We ran well in qualifying and if anything lost a little bit of pace in the race, which is something we’ll be studying ahead of our visit to Austria. All things considered, we have a good platform for the races ahead. ”

Grosjean makes a pit stop

Lotus F1, in co-operation with Warner Bros. Pictures, has prepared a radical-looking proposal for an alternative Formula 1 future (above).

The vehicle – designated the Lotus F1 Team Mad Max Hybrid – is a fusion of Formula 1 technology reimagined for a post-apocalyptic future to coincide with the 15 May 2015 launch of the action adventure Mad Max: Fury Road, from Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures.

More than a decade in the making, Mad Max: Fury Road is filmmaking mastermind George Miller’s keenly anticipated return to the post-apocalyptic world he created more than 30 years ago with the seminal Mad Max trilogy.

Fitted with special accessories and heavy modifications for a world gone mad, the Lotus F1 Team Mad Max Hybrid was unveiled at the Barcelona International Motor Show at the Montjuïc Exhibition Centre – at the same location for four Spanish Grand Prix between 1969-1975 – in Barcelona along with two custom, drivable vehicles designed and created for the film: Nux’s car and the iconic Mad Max Interceptor.

Accompanying the vehicles was Lotus F1 Team’s Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado, both of whom drove Mad Max: Fury Road-branded cars in the Spanish Grand Prix.

And why not…

Romain Grosjean.

Pastor Maldonado.

Nice night shot of Romain Grosjean on the Friday.

Romain Grosjean drove a strong and measured Bahrain Grand Prix to finish seventh whilst Pastor Maldonado endured an eventful race to finish an eventual fifteenth in the first night race of the season. Grosjean started from tenth and worked his way up to seventh without incident. Maldonado started from sixteenth on the grid, served a five-second pit stop penalty then experienced engine-kill activation when entering the pits for his final stop. The subsequent reset and restart process cost Maldonado considerable race time, translating to his fifteenth-position finish.

Grosjean started from P10 on the grid on his qualifying soft compound tyres, changing to scrubbed soft tyres on laps 12 and new medium tyres on lap 31. Maldonado started from P16 on the grid on new medium compound tyres, changing to new soft tyres on laps 10, 24 and 41. Maldonado served a five-second penalty in the first stop and had an engine restart on his final stop.

Romain Grosjean, P7, E23-02: “It had been a tough weekend until now for me, so it was really great to get another strong seventh position. Today’s race was great, especially as there was lots of overtaking. I was really hoping to catch Daniel Ricciardo but he was too quick for us today. It was quite difficult to manage tyres, especially with the rears so I think we did a good job to make the two-stop strategy work. We only had new medium compound tyres for the race, the rest were scrubbed, so it really was a great job by the team. It was a good recovery from Friday and Saturday’s session and I’ll happily take seventh place as my birthday gift for myself and the team.”

Pastor Maldonado, P15, E23-03: “That was a frustrating race for me. I pushed as hard as possible at the start on the medium tyres whilst everyone around me was on the grippier soft compound rubber. Once I moved to the soft tyres I was able to set the race’s then fastest lap so things looked good with our strategy. Unfortunately the engine anti-kill triggered when I came in to make my final pit stop which cost me a lot of time. It’s frustrating as we should have finished strongly. My focus is now Barcelona where I’ve delivered very strongly in the past.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: “That was an excellent, straightforward copybook race from Romain. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the pace to challenge the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo today but we were ahead of the rest of our near rivals. We were able to complete some very quick pit stops, which helped both drivers during the course of the race. For Pastor we ran with a different strategy to most of the field, with a three-stop strategy, starting on the harder medium compound Pirellis. This looked to be working very well and Pastor should have finished around the same position as Romain however a five-second pit stop penalty and the engine-kill activating when he entered the pits extinguished any opportunity of a strong result.”