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.

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.”