Japanese GP post race: Lotus

29/09/2015 By Clive Couldwell in Formula One Tags: Force India, Japanese Grand Prix, Lotus F1, Maldonado, Nico Hulkenberg, Pastor Maldonado, Romain Grosjean Leave a comment

Lotus F1 completed a strong Japanese Grand Prix with both cars finishing in the top eight for the first time since the Indian Grand Prix in 2013. Grosjean took seventh, with Maldonado finishing just 1.3 seconds behind him in eighth. Grosjean started from P8 on the grid on his qualifying medium compound tyres. He changed to scrubbed mediums on lap 11 and new hards on lap 33. Maldonado started from P11 on new medium tyres, changing to new mediums on lap 12, and new hards on lap 36.

Romain Grosjean, P7, E23-04:
“We finished with both cars in the points so I’m definitely happy with that! When it came to my own race we were a little bit slow against the Force India. We tried to fight Nico Hulkenberg but couldn’t. I really struggled with the tyres at the end – it seems the new Pirelli limits hurt us more than our rivals so we’ll work around that for the next race. Overall though, we’ve had a good result as a team.”

Pastor Maldonado, P8, E23-03:
“It was a good race for us and we really deserved a happy result today after pushing hard all weekend. It’s a shame we weren’t able to keep Hulkenberg behind us so we’ll review the strategy and performance to see if there was more we could have done. The team has been united all weekend, we scored some nice points and we’re looking forward to the rest of the season.”

Federico Gastaldi, Deputy Team Principal:
“It’s a great result for all of the team after a reasonably challenging weekend. It just goes to show that you can never discount an Enstone team no matter what the circumstances. We have to say thank you to all the crew at the track for working through a slightly unusual situation as well as thank you to Bernie for his help behind the scenes. We’re looking forward to continuing to fight back in Sochi.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director:
“It’s great to get both cars solidly in the points and score more than our immediate championship rivals Force India and Toro Rosso. Force India looked stronger than us in the race and we didn’t have the pace to match Hulkenberg today. It was nevertheless a good performance from both drivers and the entire team.”

Romain Grosjean

Singapore GP post race: Lotus

29/09/2015 By Clive Couldwell in Formula One Tags: Lotus F1 Team, Maldonado, Pastor Maldonado, Romain Grosjean, virtual safety car Leave a comment

Romain Grosjean

Lotus F1 fought a tough Singapore Grand Prix with Pastor Maldonado finishing twelfth and Romain Grosjean classified thirteenth. Maldonado was able to feature strongly in the top ten for much of the race, but diminishing tyre performance late on meant a better finish was not possible. He sustained damage to his car after contact from Jenson Button’s car which blunted his late-race performance.

Grosjean started from P10 on the grid on his qualifying super soft tyres. He changed to scrubbed softs on lap 9 and new softs on lap 26.
Maldonado started from P18 on new super soft tyres, changing to new super softs on lap 10, new softs on lap 27 and new super softs on lap 54.

Romain Grosjean, P13, E23-04:
“We had an aggressive strategy planned for today, which looked good since we were as high as P8 at one point but the first virtual safety car cost us dearly. I lost a lot of places on the first lap, there was quite a lot of sliding going on and, as we knew this wouldn’t be a great track for us – like Hungary and Monaco – we knew it would be difficult. There was nothing left in the tyres towards the end of the race and as soon as we were out of the points, we chose to retire the car as we had some concerns with the gearbox and didn’t want to risk a penalty in Japan.”

Pastor Maldonado, P12, E23-03:
“It was a really difficult race. The contact from the McLaren was small but enough to break my diffuser. I was defending on the inside and I don’t know where Jenson wanted to overtake me. It’s a very narrow corner where it happened and there was no chance for him to overtake. The damage meant we lost performance at the rear at the time in the race when we wanted to preserve tyre life. Sadly it wasn’t possible to maintain the pace and the tyres so we had to make an additional, unplanned stop.”

Federico Gastaldi, Deputy Team Principal:
“We scored no points today but we certainly fought hard. It’s a long, hot and humid race so thanks to Pastor and Romain for pushing to the maximum for every lap. Everyone in the team has been working hard all week so it’s frustrating for all of us when we fall short of the points. We’re certainly focused on a better result in Japan.”

Nick Chester, Technical Director:
“That was a long tough race for us. Romain lost positions at the start so we brought forward his stops to undercut and gain track position. Unfortunately this meant we missed out on a quick pit stop under the virtual safety car at the first stop. We suffered worse tyre degradation than expected on Romain’s final stint which cost us in the last few laps. Pastor made up positions from his start but was compromised later on after the damage sustained from Jenson. We are now looking forward to Suzuka.”

Romain Grosjean (FRA) Lotus F1 E23 pulls into the pits. Singapore Grand Prix, Sunday 20th September 2015. Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore.

Romain Grosjean pulls into the pits

Pastor Maldonado

Belgian GP post race: Lotus

31/08/2015 By Clive Couldwell in Formula One Tags: car, Lotus F1, Lotus F1 Team, Pastor Maldonado, Romain Grosjean Leave a comment

Romain Grosjean celebrates his third position on the podium

Lotus F1 returned to the Formula 1 Grand Prix podium for the first time since the US Grand Prix in 2013 thanks to a superb drive from Romain Grosjean. Despite a five-place grid penalty, Grosjean delivered an exceptionally measured performance including setting a race fastest lap. Grosjean’s joy was tempered by a second lap retirement for Pastor Maldonado after his car lost drive. The cause is currently being investigated. Grosjean’s result means Lotus F1 returns to fifth position in the Constructors’ Championship.

Grosjean started from P9 on the grid on his qualifying soft tyres, changing to new soft compound tyres on lap 9 and scrubbed mediums on lap 21.
Maldonado started from P7 on the grid but was forced to retire on the second lap after his car lost drive.

Romain Grosjean, P3, E23-04:
“Today’s result is wonderful. It’s good for the team and for myself of course. Yesterday’s good qualifying result put a smile on my face but today was an unbelievable race. Everything came together when it mattered during those 43 laps. I drove with my heart today and pushed 100 per cent throughout the race. I did some great overtaking manoeuvres and was really pushing to catch up and hopefully overtake Sebastian Vettel – of course it was bad luck for him to have had the tyre issue at the end. We were really trying to go for the podium this afternoon and I felt very emotional during the last lap of the race! It’s a great feeling today.”

Pastor Maldonado, DNF, E23-03:
“We had been doing a great job this weekend, especially yesterday. The car was feeling very good, very competitive and I had a good race start. We had an issue with the drive of the car which the team is investigating. I’m disappointed about the issue we had today but that’s racing sometimes. We are keeping focused for the next race now and Romain has shown what is possible. I love Italy and Monza so I’ll be doing everything I can for a strong result there.”

Federico Gastaldi, Deputy Team Principal:
“What an amazing job from Romain today and we all thank all the hard work of everyone at Enstone and here at the circuit in Belgium. It’s no secret that it’s been a tough season for us in some ways, but we certainly know how to pick our moments to bounce back. Our joy for Romain and the team is a little bittersweet because of the retirement for Pastor, who started his race ahead of Romain so could have finished equally strongly. We will do everything we can to get both cars in strong positions in Monza.”

Nick Chester, Technical Director:
“That was quite a race from Romain and the team! We were buoyed after yesterday’s P4 qualifying performance then today he drove a fantastic measured race. He drove brilliantly and made all the correct decisions with some fabulous overtaking. He looked after the tyres when he needed to and pushed when he needed to. It was the perfect race from him. We haven’t looked at everything on Pastor’s car yet but we know there was a big excursion over the kerbs which appears to have caused some damage to the power box so a big shame as he should also have achieved a strong result here.”

Pastor Maldonado

Romain Grosjean

Belgian GP practice: Lotus

21/08/2015 By Clive Couldwell in Formula One Tags: Belgian Grand Prix weekend, Free practice, Grosjean, Jolyon Palmer, Lotus F1 Team, Pastor Maldonado, Romain Grosjean Leave a comment

Pastor Maldonado

Lotus F1 opened its Belgian Grand Prix weekend with a strong top ten time from Grosjean to underlie the team’s potential after an eventful and challenging first day back on track. Maldonado was one of three drivers to cause a red flag during the day, with an off in the second half of FP1. He returned to the track to end the day as fifteenth fastest. Jolyon Palmer completed evaluations of the team’s new front wing in the morning session.

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: “Pastor’s FP1 was curtailed mid-session after an off and contact with the barriers damaged his car and caused a brief red flag period. He was evaluating a new top rear wing today. Jolyon conducted a front wing evaluation programme as well as other set-up work. The twice interrupted second session saw tyre evaluation and longer runs, with Pastor and Romain in action. Romain continued the front wing evaluation and his car stopped on track at the end of the session, requiring recovery back to the garage. Pirelli’s medium (white) compound tyre was used in the morning session, the medium and soft (yellow) in the afternoon.

Jolyon Palmer, E23-04
Free practice 1: P17, 1:53.799, 23 laps
“It was a productive session for me and it was good to get the first taste on track of the new front wing which felt pretty promising from where I was sat. It’s always difficult at Spa to find the best balance because it’s a compromise between having aero and having straight line speed with the nature of the track. We tried something different across the two cars and we had a new front wing to try as well, which was good to test.”

Romain Grosjean, E23-04
Free practice 2: P7, 1:50.489, 21 laps
“That was a good session for me. My first runs weren’t great and it was clear we had to make some changes to the car’s set-up. Once we did that the car felt a lot better and I felt that the car was a lot more how I wanted it with the soft tyres. We have a few other niggles to rectify but it’s lovely to drive Spa with wonderful warm weather. If we can find a little more pace from the car I think we can have a pretty good weekend here.”

Pastor Maldonado, E23-03
Free practice 1: P11, 1:52.539, 15 laps
Free practice 2: P15, 1:51.317, 16 laps
“Today wasn’t the start to the Grand Prix weekend that we wanted. I lost the rear end in FP1 and unfortunately I wasn’t able to keep the car off the barriers. My crew did a great job to get everything back together for FP2, but then there were a couple of red flags to interrupt that session too. I think we can have a good weekend from now, there’s good potential in the car and we know what we need for a strong result.”

Nick Chester, Technical Director: “This wasn’t the most straight-forward first day back on track for us after the summer shutdown. Pastor unfortunately had an off in FP1 in which his car sustained a reasonable amount of damage. The repair work continued into FP2 meaning his day was pretty compromised. On the other side of the garage, Jolyon completed a good tally of laps in the morning to assist with our assessment of our latest front wing, whilst Romain was able to continue with set-up work in the afternoon and made good progress and looked competitive finishing FP2 in P7.”

Romain Grosjean

British GP post race: Lotus

06/07/2015 By Clive Couldwell in Formula One Tags: Daniel Riccardo’s Red Bull, Lotus F1 Team, Maldonado, Pastor Maldonado, Romain Grosjean Leave a comment

Romain Grosjean.

Pastor Maldonado.

Lotus F1 Team’s hopes for the British Grand Prix evaporated before the completion of the first lap after an incident instigated retirement for both Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado. Contact between Daniel Riccardo’s Red Bull and Maldonado’s E23 led to contact with and damage to the latter’s car; Grosjean retired almost immediately whereas Maldonado was able to complete more of his lap before being told to park and retire.

Grosjean started from P12 on the grid on fresh medium compound tyres.
Maldonado started from P14 on the grid on new medium compound tyres.

Romain Grosjean, DNF, E23-04:
“That was a very short race for the team and I feel for everyone here at Silverstone and at Enstone. Daniel must have thought his brakes and tyres would be able to slow him better than they did and the result was the end of both my and Pastor’s race. No-one likes to end a Grand Prix like that as so much effort goes into making and preparing the cars. I know we have many fans who want to see us race so I feel for them too. Budapest is next, and we’ve gone well there in the past. I’m pumped-up to fight for every single point available.”

Pastor Maldonado, DNF, E23-03:
“At first I thought I had a puncture and would be able to return to the pits and re-join the race but unfortunately the damage to the car was more serious than that and I had to retire. There is nothing you can do in situations like these as it’s all part of racing. Now my focus is on the next race where we’ll be trying our very best as always.”

Federico Gastaldi, Deputy Team Principal:
“Motorsport is sometimes a cruel sport and we saw that today. There was nothing either of our drivers could have done to avoid the first lap incident and that was our race over. It’s been a frustrating home weekend for us. We weren’t able to show the pace we have in the car, we’ve suffered from a few niggles, then it was a very early bath for both our guys. Our focus is now very much on Budapest and doing everything we can to ensure we perform at the best of our ability there.”

Nick Chester, Technical Director:
“Both Romain and Pastor were the victims of over-exuberance at the start of the race meaning that both returned to the garage for a very short debrief after only a lap on track. It’s now a rapid return to Enstone to put everything we can into preparing the cars for Hungary and our next opportunity for a points haul.”

(L to R): Julien Simon-Chautemps (FRA) Lotus F1 Team Race Engineer with Romain Grosjean (FRA) Lotus F1 Team on the grid. British Grand Prix, Sunday 5th July 2015. Silverstone, England.

(L to R): Julien Simon-Chautemps, Team Race Engineer with Romain Grosjean.

Pastor Maldonado (VEN) Lotus F1 Team with Mark Slade (GBR) Lotus F1 Team Race Engineer on the grid. British Grand Prix, Sunday 5th July 2015. Silverstone, England.

Pastor Maldonado with Mark Slade, Team Race Engineer on the grid.

Monaco post race: Lotus

24/05/2015 By Clive Couldwell in Formula One Tags: Lotus F1 Team, Pastor Maldonado, Pharrell Williams, Romain Grosjean Leave a comment

Romain Grosjean

Romain Grosjean with Pharrell Williams

Pastor Maldonado

Romain Grosjean

Grosjean started from P15 on the grid on fresh super soft compound tyres, changing to new soft tyres on lap 17. Maldonado started from P8 on the grid on his qualifying super soft tyres before retiring with five laps completed. Grosjean drove a distinguished Monaco Grand Prix to fight back into a point scoring position from his P15 start, but ultimately finished 12th after an overambitious move from a rival driver, whilst Pastor Maldonado suffered from a suspected hydraulic leak meaning he had to retire from the race.
(Lotus F1 ran with branding for the creative force that is Pharrell Williams in today’s race to highlight the start of a new global collaborative marketing partnership between Lotus F1 Team and Pharrell Williams).

Romain Grosjean, P12, E23-04: “I didn’t see much of the accident with Verstappen, just his car flying past me in the air! Overtaking in Monaco is difficult and I think he gained that bit of experience today. It’s good to know he’s okay, as it was a bit dangerous for both of us, and it cost us what would have been a hard-earned point. Until then my race had been going pretty well when you consider where we started. The car felt good and the strategy was working well. After the accident, I turned around which established all four wheels were there, then looked in the mirrors to see if the rear wing was still there too, then got on with my race.”

Pastor Maldonado, DNF, E23-03: “I had a problem with the brakes and I could feel the pedal pressure wasn’t right from very early on and that compromised our race from the off. It got worse and worse so we had to retire the car. It’s a shame for the team, we had a good car here, very good pace for the race and I think a strong strategy. There’s potential in the car, we just need to carry on, work hard, and look forward in the championship.”

Federico Gastaldi, Deputy Team Principal: “What a frustrating day for both our drivers. Pastor was in a great position to score well but a technical issue meant he had to retire. Romain was also looking like getting a point after his penalty-place start but was robbed of that by an incident. The positives are that both drivers remain optimistic and full of praise for the car. Monaco is always a unique event and for us. We started something special with our new relationship with Pharrell Williams. We’re looking forward to Canada for many reasons.”

Nick Chester, Technical Director: “With Romain we did all we could with strategy to assist him to move up the order, and he was in 10th position after starting 15th, but he was taken off by Max Verstappen. For Pastor it was a real shame as he was in a strong position with a quick car with seventh position looking like a strong probability. Unfortunately he suffered from what looks like was a hydraulic leak which meant we had to retire him. Despite less than positive results here, we could see good pace from the E23, meaning we’re quietly confident heading to the next races.”

Pharrell Williams (USA) Singer-Songwriter with the Lotus F1 Team team. Monaco Grand Prix, Sunday 24th May 2015. Monte Carlo, Monaco.

Pharrell Williams, the American singer-songwriter with the Lotus F1 team – as if the man needs any introduction. But you may not know..

Pharrell Williams (USA) Singer-Songwriter with Romain Grosjean (FRA) Lotus F1 Team and the Lotus F1 Team team. Monaco Grand Prix, Sunday 24th May 2015. Monte Carlo, Monaco.

Pharrell with Romain Grosjean.

Monaco qualifying: Lotus

23/05/2015 By Clive Couldwell in Formula One Tags: Lotus F1 Team, Monaco Grand Prix, Mr Grosjean, Pastor Maldonado, Romain Grosjean Leave a comment

Romain Grosjean

Pastor Maldonado

Mr Grosjean again

Pastor Maldonado placed ninth and Romain Grosjean 11th in today’s qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix. Clouds rolled in over the hills ahead of the session, but the track remained dry, save for a gentle smattering of spots during the course of the top 10-deciding Q3 as Maldonado out-qualified Grosjean for the first time in 2015.

Maldonado’s time of 1min 16.946secs was just 0.015secs away from the P8 position ahead. Grosjean was due to start from P16 as he has a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change, which now becomes P15 following a penalty for Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz, with Maldonado promoted to eighth place.

Romain Grosjean, E23-04. Q: P11, 1:17.007. FP3: P10, 1:17.806
“I made a mistake on what should have been my fastest lap in Q2 and I was aiming for a much better lap time which would have put me in the top ten. Basically I locked a wheel heading into turn fifteen and went straight on which lost me about four tenths. The car is looking good for the race, even if I have it all to do with my penalty meaning I start from P15 on the grid.”

Pastor Maldonado, E23-03. Q: P9, 1:16.946. FP3: P12, 1:17.956
“That was not too bad. The car felt better from this morning as we made some beneficial changes. I think we could have done better, but we had to hold the car a while to get some track space for the final lap and that meant that everything cooled a little. P8 is a strong position to start from and I have a feeling that tomorrow will be a good race for us.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director:
How was qualifying for the team? “We’re reasonably happy, although we always want a bit more and it would have been good to be ahead of both of the Toro Rossos and Force Indias for the race tomorrow. Pastor did a great job to get into the top ten whilst Romain will have a tough race through qualifying in eleventh position then getting a gearbox penalty which drops him five places.”

What are the considerations for tomorrow’s race? “Ensuring clean laps, avoiding any contact with the barriers and other cars is particularly relevant here. With Pastor, it’s a case of trying to make positions whenever possible against similarly paced cars. Romain on the other hand will be around much slower cars at the start so we will look at what we can do strategically to assist him to move forwards as soon as possible.”

Barcelona post race: Lotus

10/05/2015 By Clive Couldwell in Formula One Tags: Lotus F1 Team, Pastor Maldonado, Romain Grosjean Leave a comment

Great shot of Pastor Maldonado in the pit garage.

Romain Grosjean drove a measured and accomplished Spanish Grand Prix to finish eighth despite a mid-race loss of fourth gear, whilst a strong run from Pastor Maldonado was compromised by an additional pit stop to modify damaged bodywork, after which he subsequently retired.

Grosjean started from P11 on the grid on fresh medium compound tyres, changing to new mediums on lap 15 and new hard tyres on lap 40. Maldonado started from P12 on the grid on new medium compound tyres, changing to new mediums on lap 14 then new hards on lap 43. He made an additional pit stop for damaged bodywork to be modified on lap 15 and retired at the end of lap 45.

Romain Grosjean, P8, E23-04:
“It was a tough and eventful race. Firstly, I’m glad to say that no-one was seriously injured in the pit stop. The rear tyres were experiencing a lot of degradation and I just couldn’t stop in time. It was a really scary moment for me, but probably more scary for the crew. I checked everyone was okay and I certainly owe them some beers! In the race, I lost fourth gear during the race which made things a bit of a challenge. It was a tough race but it’s good to be in the points for the third race in a row and we can be proud for what we’ve achieved today.”

Pastor Maldonado, DNF, E23-03:
“We were having a pretty great race at the start and our strategy was working well but then the damage to my car meant that I had to make an extra stop and my race was completely compromised. For sure, we have the pace in the car and in every race we have shown the potential to be in the points so it’s only a matter of time before we get a good result; I’m looking forward to Monaco.”

Federico Gastaldi, Deputy Team Principal:
“Both our drivers put in really strong performances today, with Romain finishing in eighth despite a gearbox issue and Pastor driving relentlessly before we retired him, but the real heroes today were the pit crew. Our pit box proved slippery causing Romain to stop long, resulting in three of the crew being slightly worse for wear, but nevertheless they were back in action for the subsequent stops. This is another endorsement of Enstone’s never give up spirit and we know the guys will be fighting fit for Monaco.”

Nick Chester, Technical Director:
“That was an eventful race for us. It was a good result for Romain with another four points in the bag despite an issue with the gearbox which he managed well. Pastor was looking quick but we had to pit him to remove some damaged bodywork. The extra stop proved too much of a penalty as despite him setting strong lap times, we weren’t able to work back up the order so we retired the car to avoid any additional damage.”

Romain Grosjean.

China post race: Lotus

12/04/2015 By Clive Couldwell in Formula One Tags: car race, Jenson Button, Lotus F1 Team, Pastor Maldonado, Romain Grosjean Leave a comment

Romain Grosjean in the E23.

Lotus F1 Team scored its first points of the season after Romain Grosjean came home in a strong seventh position in the Chinese Grand Prix. It wasn’t so plain sailing for Pastor Maldonado who, despite a very strong start, suffered from braking issues and late race contact from Jenson Button, eventually retiring from the race with seven laps to go.

Grosjean started from P8 on the grid on his qualifying soft tyres, changing to new medium tyres on laps 12 and 32. Maldonado started from P11 on the grid on his new soft compound tyres, changing to new medium tyres on laps 11 and 33. He retired from the race on lap 49.

Romain Grosjean, P7, E23-02: “It’s the best we could do today and it’s satisfying to have achieved the team’s first points of the season. It wasn’t an easy circuit for us, with a lot of front limited corners that we don’t particularly like, but we had a strong start, and most of the stints were good too. We’ve made a good job improving the car race after race and it’s great to finally score points.”

Pastor Maldonado, DNF, E23-03: “I made a great start and we were running strongly early on. However later I had a braking issue which made it harder to battle. We also have to understand why the brakes locked up so easily coming into the pits. We lost a lot of time here and it compromised the rest of my race. It was a fantastic battle with Jenson and we were passing each other very cleanly; a good, fun, exciting battle. Unfortunately, it looks like he got his braking point wrong and went into the back of me. This can easily happen when you’re fighting for position, braking offline and using DRS, so it’s just one of those things. Certainly our race pace is good, if we qualify a little higher we should be set for a very good time in Bahrain.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: “That was a solid race from us which illustrates where we expected to be fighting from the start of the year. Both cars were looking in very good shape for a seventh and eighth finish, and it was a great result from Romain meaning our first points on the board. We achieved our target of overtaking the Red Bull and both of the Saubers with Romain, who delivered everything required. Pastor had a much more difficult race despite a strong start and clearly had potential to finish comfortably in the top ten too.”

Melbourne post race: Lotus

15/03/2015 By Clive Couldwell in Formula One Tags: Lotus F1 Team, Pastor Maldonado, Romain Grosjean Leave a comment

Pastor Maldonado in the E23 on the grid.

The cruel hand of fate dealt a bitter blow for Lotus F1 at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix with both cars out of the race by the end of the first lap. Pastor Maldonado was pitched into a spin from behind, resulting in his car hitting the barriers, whilst Romain Grosjean suffered from a loss of power, and retired at the end of the first lap.

Grosjean started from P8 on the grid on his qualifying soft tyres, but suffered from an immediate loss of power, retiring at the end of the first lap. Maldonado started from P9 on the grid on his qualifying soft tyres, before being pitched into a spin and ending his race in the tyre barriers after the exit of turn 1.

Romain Grosjean, DNF, E23-02: “We had a loss of power on the formation lap; there was a technical issue which we are investigating. It’s not how you want to end your race, but we know the car is good and we’re miles ahead of where we were last season. We have a good baseline with the E23 and a good engine. We also have new pieces that we are bringing over for the next races, so more performance coming. The first race is always a bit of a tricky one, you never know what might happen and, unfortunately it was bad luck for us today but it doesn’t matter: I’m still very hopeful for the year.”

Pastor Maldonado, DNF, E23-03: “Racing is like this. It was quite a busy start, going into a narrow corner. I just felt a big hit on the back and didn’t see what happened. It’s disappointing because it was a great chance for us to have a great race. The pace of the car was looking much better than in qualifying, so looking forward we can learn from this race. It was a good weekend until today – it’s looking quite promising. In two weeks we will be again fighting for points and again doing our best to be even more competitive.”

Federico Gastaldi, Deputy Team Principal: “What a frustrating day! Pastor’s race ended through no fault of his own and Romain’s race was over at the end of the first lap too. This is not the way any team wants to start the season and there were a few choice words in the garage when we realised our race was over so soon. It was particularly frustrating as we had great potential to deliver very strong results today. The team is not downcast, however, and we have a lot of enthusiasm for the races ahead as we’ve seen what is possible from the season ahead. The whole vibe of the team is tremendously positive.”

Nick Chester, Technical Director: “A very short race for us to end a weekend full of promise. Pastor was an innocent victim whilst Romain suffered from a loss of power which we are investigating. We ran very reliably in pre-season testing, but sometimes certain issues don’t manifest themselves until the season starts. Everyone back in Enstone will get to the root of the issue and we’ll come back fighting in Malaysia. Fortunately today was one race in twenty and we’ve demonstrated over the course of the weekend that the E23 hybrid has tremendous potential. We can’t wait to exploit this potential once we get to Sepang.”

Second pre-season test: final day

01/03/2015 By Clive Couldwell in Formula One Tags: Lotus F1 Team, Maldonado, Melbourne, Pastor Maldonado, Sahara Force India F1, Williams F1 Leave a comment

Lotus F1 ended the final day of pre-season testing early after a systems issue compromised Pastor Maldonado’s braking into turn four resulting in him making contact with the barriers. Maldonado had previously completed 36 laps, mainly aero and comparison work. With the E23 hybrid requiring a reasonable amount of rectification work for the damage sustained to the front wing and front suspension, the team opted to end the day’s running early. Maldonado’s best time from the morning assessment was 1min 28.272secs.

Track: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Spain, 4.7km
Chassis: E23-02
Weather: Cloudy, early spots of rain, then sunny. Ambient 10°C – 22°C Track 12°C – 31°C

Programme: Aero assessments including back to back aero component evaluations
Laps Completed: 36
Classification: P8, 1:28.272
Interruptions: Barrier

Pastor Maldonado: “It was a shame to end the day early, but that was the only issue we’ve had like this during testing so we can look to the positive that we have a lot of information to take the car in the right direction. My braking was compromised coming into turn four, meaning I went off the track and hit the barriers. I was able to brake and slow, just not as much as the maximum otherwise possible. The car was not too badly damaged and I am fine, but it’s a shame we had this issue as we would have been looking at running the softer tyres in the afternoon and putting in some fast laps. I’m looking forward to getting back in the car in Melbourne as I think we have good potential this season.”

Nick Chester, Technical Director: “Certainly ending the final pre-season test in the barriers was not part of our game plan, but overall we’ve had a productive two weeks here in Barcelona following on from our initial outing in Jerez. Pastor was unfortunate to have a braking-related issue which meant he wasn’t able to slow sufficiently into turn four and the car was damaged. There was nothing Pastor or any driver could have done to avoid this accident which was systems related and we’re investigating thoroughly to ensure it doesn’t happen again. We now have a quick turn-around to get the car back to Enstone, then shipped out to Australia at the end of the week. It was a pity we weren’t able to run any low fuel laps later in the day. We are looking forward to Melbourne where we will get a full picture of the relative pace of the E23.”

Williams

Driver: Valtteri Bottas
Chassis/Engine: FW37-01/PU106B Hybrid
Location: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, 4.655km
Objectives: Performance and Aero work
Weather: Warm and Dry
Air and track temps: 10 – 21ºC / 12 – 32ºC

Rod Nelson, Chief Test and Support Engineer: “Today’s programme was similar to yesterday, as we try to get the drivers in the best position before heading to Australia. Due to this the focus was more on performance with a mixture of long and short runs rather than just reliability work. Both drivers have worked extremely hard throughout the test and the entire team have worked very well together. We are really looking forward to Melbourne.”

Valtteri Bottas: “It was a really good day and a great way to finish the test. One of the main points we have learnt is that the FW37 is very reliable. The car we are taking to Melbourne is very competitive and should make for an interesting start to the season. We have made the most out of our time testing and I need to say a really big thanks to the team, not only trackside but also everyone back at the factory as they have produced a really quick and reliable car.”

Winter testing came to an end with another productive day for Sahara Force India. Sergio Perez completed his first miles in the VJM08, clocking 130 laps at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona.

Sergio Perez #11
Chassis: VJM08-01
Laps: 130 laps
Mileage: 605km
Fastest lap: 1:25.113
Classification: P6 of 9

Sergio Perez: “My first day in the car has been a good one, with a very high number of laps and a good atmosphere in the team. It’s no secret that we have some catch-up to do but I am optimistic: the team has a clear direction to work towards and we have been able to collect a large amount of data in such a short time which will help all those working back at base. Every run we do, here or at the races, teaches us a lot and moves us closer to where we want to be. Now we must focus on Melbourne: I am really excited about going racing again, the first race of the season is always a special one and one to which you really look forward since the end of the previous season.”

Tom McCullough, Chief Race Engineer: “Our pre-season testing comes to an end with a solid 130 laps. Today was Sergio’s first day in the VJM08 and, as he got accustomed to the new car, we continued our work of understanding its behaviour, trying various set-ups in both performance and long runs. All we have done in these tests in Barcelona will help us prepare for Melbourne, and even though we may arrive with less mileage than others, we have gathered lots of valuable data. We are making rapid progress with the car and we have a lot of material to analyse back at the factory ahead of the first flyaways. This last week’s work highlights the spirit of this team: credit must go to everyone involved with the design, manufacturing and assembly of the car. It has been a massive effort from everyone in the team and to get so many laps is testament to the great work done by all.”

Pre-season test: Day 2

28/02/2015 By Clive Couldwell in Formula One Tags: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Lotus F1 Team, Nico Hulkenberg, Pastor Maldonado, Sahara Force India F1, Valtteri Bottas, Williams F1 Leave a comment

The new Sahara Force India VJM08 made its bow at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with Nico Hülkenberg completing a total of 77 laps.

Nico Hülkenberg #27
Chassis: VJM08-01
Laps: 77 laps
Mileage: 358km
Fastest lap: 1:28.412
Classification: P9 of 9

Nico Hülkenberg: “It was a very good day, at least in terms of the running we managed to do. We were able to run reliably straight out of the box and that is very encouraging. The boys and girls at the factory and here at the track have been pushing really hard in the last couple of weeks and to do 77 laps in little more than one afternoon is a remarkable job by the team. Obviously we still have a big task ahead of us and we are playing catch-up in certain aspects, but I am quite satisfied so far. The car feels pretty good, although making a direct comparison with our 2014 car is not easy as the conditions in winter testing are always very particular. One of our team’s strengths is to learn about the car quickly, so we will need to get as much data as possible to get in a good position for Melbourne.”

Tom McCullough, Chief Race Engineer: “It has been a real big effort from all the staff back at the factory to get the car ready and out here for this test. Managing to run our installation laps before the lunch break was very useful and helped us achieve a solid first day with the VJM08. These are the very early stages of the VJM08’s running and it is encouraging to get 77 laps on the board: we could have got even more mileage had it not been for the red flags at the end of the day. Today was all about achieving a first understanding of the new car and to run this long allowed us to collect a sizeable amount of very valuable data.”

Williams

Driver: Valtteri Bottas
Chassis/Engine: FW37-01/PU106B hybrid
Location: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, 4.655km
Objectives: Aero work and race procedure
Weather: Warm and Dry
Air and track temps: 8 – 17ºC / 11 – 26ºC

Rod Nelson, Chief Test and Support Engineer: “We started the day doing some aero work comparing data and driver feel. We then moved on to a few performance based runs. Later in the day we worked on race procedure including some longer runs and grid simulations. We have had some new components that have performed as expected which has been productive. We have a busy final two days of the test as we optimise the time left until the first race.”

Valtteri Bottas: “It was nice to focus on performance today and work to get the lap times lower. We are working hard and still have two days left of the test so there is more still to do. The day was busy and we know there is still more to come, I feel positive and the balance was good. We still need to make sure we look at the longer runs and not just the one lap qualifying pace.”

Lotus

Pastor Maldonado completed a tally of 140 laps – more than 650km or the distance of two Grand Prix – as he resumed test duties in the E23 hybrid at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya today. Pastor ran an extensive programme including a race simulation, clocking a best lap time of 1min 26.705secs.

Track: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Spain, 4.7km
Chassis: E23-02
Weather: Blue skies with picturesque clouds. Ambient 9°C – 17°C Track 13°C – 24°C
Programme: Front suspension geometry evaluation, race simulation, aero assessments
Laps Completed: 140
Classification: P6, 1:26.705
Interruptions: None

Pastor Maldonado: “We ran the car for a long time today which has been a good endorsement of my winter training programme as I still feel fresh after 140 laps. We did a lot of different assessments so I had plenty to think about and it was good to do the race simulation as we’ll soon be heading to Melbourne. There’s a lot of information to digest from today and I can’t wait to get back in the car on Sunday.”

Nick Chester, Technical Director: “We’ve completed a high tally of laps today and the E23 has run reliably throughout. This is great for us as we’ve been able to try a number of different set-up and aero configurations to enable us to get as much data as possible to make further progress in our understanding of our new car. Pastor did a great job despite driving the equivalent distance of more than two Grand Prix and we’re looking forward to Romain jumping back into the car tomorrow.”

Barcelona tests: Day 3

21/02/2015 By Clive Couldwell in Formula One Tags: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Lotus F1 Team, Pascal Wehrlein, Pastor Maldonado, performance simulations, Sahara Force India F1, Williams F1 Leave a comment

Pastor Maldonado returned to the wheel of the Lotus F1 E23 for the third day of testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, setting the day’s fastest lap whilst he accomplished an extensive programme. Pastor’s quickest lap was a 1min 24.348secs, completed during the course of his 104 laps, comprising of various aero, tyre and performance simulations.

Track: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Spain, 4.7km
Chassis: E23-02
Weather: Cold and cloudy with sporadic rain. Ambient 8°C – 14°C Track 10°C – 20°C
Programme: Tyre and aero assessments, performance simulations
Laps Completed: 104
Classification: P1, 1:24.348
Interruptions: Aero evaluation equipment fitting and removal

Pastor Maldonado: “We achieved a lot today and it was great to complete so many laps and end the day as the fastest car. Certainly, I feel much more confident in the E23 and we’re learning a lot about it with all the laps we’re completing. I’m able to push when needed and everything about the whole package feels a lot more together than last year, especially if you remember where we were in terms of performance and reliability during the pre-season in 2014. We still have a lot of work to do, but we’re making very good progress so we’re all very positive about the work being done.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: “It was a productive day for us today. We chose to stay in the garage when it was damp outside yet we still managed to complete over a hundred laps. We’ve worked through a long checklist including aero and tyre assessments in the morning, then various performance assessments in the afternoons. Our aero work has been particularly productive and we’re showing good correlation with our wind tunnel and simulations.”

Pascal Wehrlein was back in the driving seat as Sahara Force India completed another successful day of testing in Barcelona, the young German completing 81 laps in a session affected by unpredictable weather. Race driver Nico Hulkenberg will make his 2015 debut in the final day of testing tomorrow.

Pascal Wehrlein #34
Chassis: VJM07-02
Laps: 81 laps
Mileage: 377 km
Fastest lap: 1:27.333
Classification: P8 of 10

Pascal Wehrlein: “It was great to be back in the car after a surprising Thursday and this turned out to be another great day. When you get into a completely different car to what you are used to, everything is new, from how the car feels to the buttons and dials on the steering wheel. Having had the experience on Thursday really helped me with this, I learnt a lot in these two days and that made a difference for me. The team did really help me settle in my role: everyone welcomed me from the start and made it really easy to work. The atmosphere is great. Today’s work was very focussed on set-up and we even managed to include a longer run: it was a good day’s work and I am looking forward for more opportunities in the future.”

Pascal Wehrlein (and below)

Tom McCullough, Chief Race Engineer “It’s never ideal to have rain showers disrupting the day, but in the end everyone is under the same sky and facing the same challenges. Today it was a matter of adapting to the conditions and making the most of the time we had and I feel we achieved that. Pascal settled within the team really well in his first full day, getting to know the engineers and the mechanics; he did a very mature and solid job without putting a single foot wrong. He handled the changing conditions well and did not let the very low track temperatures affect him. We managed to include both set-up and long run evaluations in our programme and, despite the poor weather, it was still a productive day. Our final day of testing tomorrow will be similar to what we did yesterday, allowing Nico Hulkenberg to do his first running on the 2015 tyres and to get his first mileage of the season.”

Williams

Driver: Felipe Massa/Valtteri Bottas
Chassis/Engine: FW37-02/PU106B hybrid
Location: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, 4.655km
Objectives: Pitstop practice
Weather: Cold with a few showers
Air and track temps: 4 – 14ºC / 10 – 18 ºC

Rod Nelson, Chief Test and Support Engineer: “We were expecting rain today so we changed the plan slightly. The day was dedicated to pitstop practice and we ran through various scenarios, issues and problems we may encounter in a race situation. I am happy with the way the team has managed themselves and worked with the issues thrown at them. We have a busy programme planned for Valtteri tomorrow so hopefully the conditions are good.”

Felipe Massa: “I did a few laps at the start of the day, but it was hard to gain anything from my perspective. The programme for the day was to practice the pitstop procedure which come a Grand Prix are always important. It is positive to have the team ready and it’s always good for the driver to practice so the team know what to expect. The whole procedure has to be quick and we can only do that by practicing.”

Valtteri Bottas: “The programme for the whole day was pitstop practice. It was difficult to get a feel for the car on the rest of the lap as I was on old tyres and my only proper run was when the track was very cold at the end of the day. It was good for the team to practice the pitstop procedure, but also for me to practice too. Australia is just a few weeks away and we need to be ready for all elements of the race. Every stop is important and it’s good to be well prepared.”

Jerez tests: Day 3

07/02/2015 By Clive Couldwell in Formula One Tags: Circuito de Jerez, Felipe Massa, Jerez de la Frontera, Lotus F1 Team, Pastor Maldonado, Romain Grosjean, Williams F1 Leave a comment

Lotus enjoyed a productive day of testing at the Circuito de Jerez with Pastor Maldonado completing 96 laps, setting a best time of 1min 22.713secs. The team continued with installation and functionality checks with the E23 hybrid as well as initial performance assessments. Romain Grosjean got his first taste of the E23 on day 4.

Track: Circuito de Jerez, Spain, 4.4km
Chassis: E23-02
Weather: Cold and cloudy. Ambient 11°C – 15°C Track 12°C – 16°C
Programme: Installation and functionality checks, initial performance assessment
Laps Completed: 96
Classification: P5, 1:22.713
Interruptions: Telemetry power issue delayed first run in the morning.

What’s next?

Pastor Maldonado:
“It was a good day and we’ve learnt a lot more about the E23. The car feels strong and we know there’s more to come. We’re still checking all the systems and learning how everything works, but I’m very happy with progress over the last two days. We were able to run with different tyre compounds today so there’s a good basis for knowing where we need to look in terms of set-up. I’m really looking forward to getting back into the car in Barcelona.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director:
“We’ve completed a solid programme today and been able to log a lot of data as we begin our initial understanding of the E23. Yesterday’s issues were quickly diagnosed and rectified and today we’ve run very reliably with only a connection issue to delay our first run this morning. Pastor’s jumped straight back into the car after the winter break and has given us everything we’ve needed over the last two days, now we’re looking forward to Romain getting his first taste of the car tomorrow.”

Williams

Driver: Felipe Massa

Chassis/Engine: FW37-01/PU106B hybrid
Location: Jerez de la Frontera 4.428km
Objectives: Aero work, systems and reliability checks
Weather: Damp in the morning, overcast and mild
Air and track temps: 11 – 15ºC / 11 – 16ºC

Rod Nelson, Chief Test and Support Engineer:

“It’s been another good day and good to have Felipe get his first drive of the FW37 today. We have started to do a little more chassis work as we continue to work through our plan. Felipe gave us very much the same feedback as Valtteri did, so it’s pleasing that they share the same views and characteristics as each other on the FW37. Overall it’s been a positive day.”

Felipe Massa:

“I am happy after a good first day in the car. The FW37 is another step forward from where we left the FW36, which is promising. I am also confident in the car set-up. The feeling in the car was good even for a first impression and it’s well balanced. We lost a bit of time in the morning due to the wet weather so hopefully tomorrow we can continue to get the miles in and head to Barcelona well prepared.”

Jerez test – Day 2: Lotus

02/02/2015 By Clive Couldwell in Formula One Tags: Circuito de Jerez, Lotus F1 Team, Pastor Maldonado Leave a comment

Lotus F1’s E23 hybrid took to the track for the first time today, completing its first shakedown lap followed by installation and functionality checks. Pastor Maldonado completed the car’s first day of running and will remain in the car for tomorrow’s programme.

Track: Circuito de Jerez, Spain, 4.4km
Chassis: E23-02
Weather: Cold and cloudy with mid-afternoon rain, air 4-14°C, track: 5-15°C
Programme: Initial shakedown, installation and functionality checks
Laps Completed: 41
Classification: P6, 1:25.802
Interruptions: Day’s running stopped early due to drivetrain issue.

Nick Chester, Technical Director:

“Seeing the E23 hybrid on track for the first time was very satisfying and we owe a great deal of thanks to everyone at Enstone and everyone here at the circuit for the long hours which have been put in recently. We also say thank you to our partners and suppliers for assisting us with what has been a very ambitious build programme. We had predicted that we’d probably just be able to complete a couple of shakedown laps today, but thanks to some fantastic work overnight we were able to run the car from this morning. The feedback from Pastor has been positive at what is a very early stage in the car’s test programme. We had a drivetrain issue this afternoon, but didn’t lose out on too much running as it started raining shortly afterwards. We can’t wait to get back out on track tomorrow.”

Pastor Maldonado:

“It was fantastic to get behind the wheel for the first ever lap of this exciting new car. Even though it’s early days we achieved a lot today. It was already exciting to feel the potential of the car and I can’t wait to get back in the car tomorrow. We did stop running early, but then it started to rain so everyone else came in too so it was not a big drama. The car certainly looks fantastic and I know we have a lot of potential for the season ahead.”

CLIVE COULDWELL: Formula One as it is…

A slightly different take on the sport

Tag Archives: Pastor Maldonado

Japanese GP post race: Lotus

Singapore GP post race: Lotus

Belgian GP post race: Lotus

Belgian GP practice: Lotus

British GP post race: Lotus

Monaco post race: Lotus

Monaco qualifying: Lotus

Barcelona post race: Lotus

China post race: Lotus

Melbourne post race: Lotus

Second pre-season test: final day

Pre-season test: Day 2

Barcelona tests: Day 3

Jerez tests: Day 3

Jerez test – Day 2: Lotus

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