Romain Grosjean and Lotus return to the top 10 in qualifying
The 2015 season starts on a better footing for Lotus than the previous one, as both drivers made it to Q3. Both drivers will start from the 5th row, with Romain Grosjean ahead of Pastor Maldonado.
The switch from the Renault engine to the Mercedes one seems to have been successful for Lotus, which is once again experiencing the thrill of Q3. For Romain Grosjean, it felt like an eternity since his last Q3 appearance at the 2014 Spanish Grand Prix. Satisfaction was evident in his comments: « I’m really happy to be back in Q3, especially for all the guys who have worked so hard over the past twelve months. We knew we had a good car during winter testing and today we are pretty much where we thought we would be. »
We can feel that motivation is back as the Frenchman believes he could have done a little better during his last lap: « It’s very close. If I could have gained two tenths, we could have been 7th on the grid. I think we can be happy with what we did. »
Similarly, his teammate, Pastor Maldonado, is pleased with the team’s return to form: « Entering the top 10 is a good result for us. It’s positive to think that we could have done better since we lost a bit of performance in the last part of the session. »
The two drivers believe that the good pace shown during the long stints should allow them to further improve their position at the end of tomorrow’s race. The points are therefore well within sight, which hasn’t happened for quite some time.
