Source: autosport.com | lotusf1team.com | twitter
Lotus F1 Team will return to Enstone with a very useful haul of points after Kimi and Romain crossed the line to take P5 / P7 respectively in a hotly contested Korean Grand Prix
Kimi Räikkönen, E20-05
Grid: P5
Race: P5
Fastest Lap: 1:42.822 [Lap 51]
Pit Stops: 2 [Lap 13 / Lap 35]
Key Moments:
Lap 01: Defends position into T1, gains a spot on HAM into T2 then loses two positions to HAM and MAS through T4 / T5
Lap 10: Sets the fastest first sector of the race as pace increases
Lap 14: Pits for soft tyres; brand new set
Lap 18: Re-passes PER into T3; the Sauber yet to make a stop
Lap 23: Makes a move on HAM around the outside into T3; run wide by the Brit on exit
Lap 24: Takes HAM at the same turn but this time down the inside; immediately loses place again heading into T4
Lap 26: Attempts the same pass again; can’t match the McLaren for straight line speed
Lap 27: HAM pits; immediately faster in clean air, setting the fastest middle sector of the race on the following lap
Lap 35: Final stop; another set of softs
Lap 55: Chequered flag; retains starting position; P5
Summary:
- Both drivers started on scrubbed sets of red marked, super soft compound Pirelli tyres; switching to fresh sets of yellow marked softs on two occasions apiece
- Continued yellow flags as marshals cleared away the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg prevented Kimi from challenging Felipe Massa in the early stages
- The Finn also lost a lot of time behind Lewis Hamilton; lack of straight line speed owing to the inherent loss of power from the Coandă exhaust system hampering his attempts to overtake and remain in front
Pos Driver Team Time 1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h36:28.651 2. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 8.200 3. Alonso Ferrari + 13.900 4. Massa Ferrari + 20.100 5. Raikkonen Lotus-Renault + 36.700 6. Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes + 45.300 7. Grosjean Lotus-Renault + 54.800 8. Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:09.500 9. Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:11.700 10. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 1:19.600 11. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 1:20.000 12. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1:24.400 13. Schumacher Mercedes + 1:29.200 14. Maldonado Williams-Renault + 1:34.900 15. Senna Williams-Renault + 1:36.900 16. Petrov Caterham-Renault + 1 lap 17. Kovalainen Caterham-Renault + 1 lap 18. Glock Marussia-Cosworth + 1 lap 19. Pic Marussia-Cosworth + 2 lap2 20. Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps Fastest lap: Webber, 1:42.037 Not classified/retirements: Driver Team On lap De la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 17 Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 17 Rosberg Mercedes 2 Button McLaren-Mercedes 1 World Championship standings, round 16: Drivers: Constructors: 1. Vettel 215 1. Red Bull-Renault 367 2. Alonso 209 2. Ferrari 290 3. Raikkonen 167 3. McLaren-Mercedes 284 4. Hamilton 153 4. Lotus-Renault 255 5. Webber 152 5. Mercedes 136 6. Button 131 6. Sauber-Ferrari 116 7. Rosberg 93 7. Force India-Mercedes 89 8. Grosjean 88 8. Williams-Renault 58 9. Massa 81 9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 21 10. Perez 66 11. Kobayashi 50 12. Hulkenberg 45 13. Di Resta 44 14. Schumacher 43 15. Maldonado 33 16. Senna 25 17. Vergne 12 18. Ricciardo 9
Kimi Räikkönen – 5th: “I think this was about where we should have been today. The yellow flags at the start didn’t help when we were fighting with Felipe [Massa] but even so we didn’t quite have the speed to match the Red Bulls and Ferraris. We also lost quite a bit of time behind Lewis [Hamilton] – mainly because the new exhaust system means you lose a little bit of power so it was hard to get past – but with a few more practice sessions I’m sure we’ll learn a lot more to be able to improve it. I was pretty much on my own at the end but we had to keep pushing to maintain position and it wasn’t so easy. The gap to Sebastian [Vettel] in the Championship is quite big now so it will be very difficult to catch him, but we’ll keep pushing all the way.”
Romain Grosjean – 7th: “For sure I was a bit nervous starting the race today, but we did a lot of work this week trying to understand a few things and it’s certainly helped. It wasn’t the easiest start; there was contact behind me at turn three and I took evasive action but after that it was quite straight forward. I struggled on the last set of tyres as I had graining straight away meaning the performance was not great during the final stint. Maybe we could have achieved one place better – I think I now know every detail of Force India’s car after spending so much time battling with Nico [Hulkenberg] – but I’m happy to make it to the chequered flag after a good, clean race.”
Eric Boullier, Team Principal: “We knew we would not be fighting for the win here, and fifth for Kimi was the maximum we could have achieved today. We scored a good tally of points in the Constructors’ Championship and although third position is slowly edging away from us with just four races left now we’re not ready to give up. It was good to see Romain drive very sensibly despite all the pressure that is on his shoulders; I think he is learning from this experience and it will only make him a stronger driver. Kimi’s racecraft was impressive as usual; his battle with Lewis [Hamilton] showed real class and he was maybe unlucky not to have been closer to the leading pack after being held up for so long. We will have the Coanda exhausts on both cars in India which should help us in our fight.”
James Allison, Technical Director: “We’ve finished in our starting positions which is solid if ultimately unspectacular. In the first stint Kimi was able to live with the pace of the front runners and had it not been for a costly period spent tucked up behind Lewis [Hamilton] I think he could probably have stayed in touch with the leading group. We were also pleased with Romain’s performance; he achieved what we had asked of him by keeping his nose clean and bringing the car home to score valuable points for the team. We didn’t exactly set the world on fire today, but we can take some comfort from the fact we were more on the pace here than we have been since Hungary.”
KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN SPACE 