Sunday in Spa: “It was a really tough weekend”

Source: lotusf1team.com

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A hard-earned podium for Kimi at Spa this afternoon – his sixth of the season – with a battling performance and some daring overtaking manoeuvres carrying the Finn to a fine third place at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Q: Kimi, an enthralling race, huge support from the local fans and a fantastic performance to clinch your sixth podium of the season ; how are you feeling ?

KR: It’s nice to be back here ; there are always a lot of fans and some really good racing which I think we’ve seen today. Of course, it wasn’t the easiest day for me or the team ; the car was not exactly how we wanted it but I just kept fighting and trying to get the best out of it. P3 in a difficult race is not too bad and we managed to get some good points for myself and for the team, so that’s the main thing.

Q: Did you feel like there was potential for an even better result today ?

KR: In the last three races we had the speed to win, but this was at circuits where you cannot overtake. Here we just didn’t have the speed. My car hasn’t quite been how I’d like it throughout the weekend ; even yesterday with new tyres in qualifying it was ok but we were quite far away from the guys in front of us. I wasn’t expecting a very easy ride and it turned out to be very difficult, so I’ll take third place today.

Q: That was one hell of a battle with Michael [Schumacher] and an incredibly pass into Eau Rouge…

KR: I was struggling a bit for grip so we had to run a bit more downforce after the stop to improve it. This meant we were quite a bit slower in a straight line, so I passed Michael [Schumacher] once, he got me back and I knew my only chance was to try to stay in the DRS zone and make a pass through the corners ; I had one chance with the KERS into Eau Rouge and luckily it paid off. It was a really tough weekend, but we have another podium and we’ll work hard to be stronger next week.