Grosjean and Maldonado lock out row three of Montreal grid
Saturday 6 June 2015 23:09, UK
Romain Grosjean believes Lotus’s impressive form at the Canadian GP will transfer to forthcoming races after the Frenchman headlined the team’s best qualifying result for two seasons.
Following the arrival of a supply of the class-leading Mercedes engine over the winter, and wholesale improvements to their aerodynamic package for 2015, Lotus have re-established themselves as a consistent points-scoring force this year and been vying with Red Bull to be the fourth-fastest team.
At a Montreal circuit which was expected to suit the E23, Lotus left Red Bull behind in qualifying and Grosjean and team-mate Pastor Madloando even challenged the respective sole remaining Ferrari and Williams cars in Q3 before settling for fifth and sixth places on the grid – the team’s best qualifying result since the 2013 U.S. GP.
Grosjean, who even set the pace on supersoft tyres in Q1, admitted he was revelling in his car around the point-and-squirt track.
“It’s great! Since the first laps the car has been feeling good,” the Frenchman told Sky Sports F1. “Everything has been working well – tyres, engine, aerodynamics – and it’s one of those tracks where you can really enjoy the Formula 1 car, play with the walls, push hard. It’s very nice.”
With the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve representing one of the most engine-dependent circuit on the calendar, Mercedes-engined cars predictably dominated qualifying with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen the only interloper in the top seven.
However, Grosjean, whose Lotus team have simultaneously been working on car updates of their own for the summer races, is confident their form this weekend won’t prove a one-off.
“I’m truly hoping that the downforce level here is probably the one we’re going to use in Austria, in Spa and other tracks,” he said.
“So it’s good that we’re performing well here and we should have some more good chances in the next few grands prix.”
Lotus’s high starting positions mean the Enstone outfit are well placed to improve on their best results of seventh so far in 2015 and Grosjean, who finished second here in 2012, isn’t ruling anything out ahead of one of F1’s most traditionally unpredictable race days.
“You can always dream about the podium – it’s not forbidden!” he said. “I think the key of the race is going to be the brakes, the tyres and the fuel consumption. It’s going to be a busy race, a lot to do, but hopefully we get lucky.”
Lotus’s only scare, and arguably mistake, of qualifying came ahead of the decisive Q3 runs when the team, against all usual F1 convention, simultaneously released both Grosjean and Maldonado from their adjacent garages.
After just about avoiding contact as they drove down the pit-lane exit road side-by-side, Grosjean said: “I went out of my garage. I was on the right-hand side, Pastor came out, and I just was hoping we wouldn’t crash in the pitlane!”
Grosjean, Maldonado and Lotus will be hoping they now stay out of harm's way from all other potential on-track incidents across the 70 laps on Sunday.
