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Photo by Darren Price DP7 Photos |
30 th November 2010
Jarno and Heikki confirmed as Team Lotus drivers for 2011
In the official FIA entry list for 2011, the team is listed as Team Lotus, in spite of the argument over the name, and Jarno and Heikki are the drivers. Only 6 teams have listed 2 drivers. The rest seem to be hedging their bets. Force India, Toro Rosso, HRT and Virgin haven’t listed any.
20 th November 2010
Abu Dhabi Tyre Test
Lotus Racing Press ReleaseAbu Dhabi, U.A.E - 20th November 2010
The final day of on-track action of the 2010 season saw Lotus Racing’s Jarno Trulli enjoy his first taste of the new Pirelli tyres at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. As the whole paddock was busy packing up to head home for the winter break Jarno completed a total of 83 laps, recording a quickest time of 1.44.521.
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-02):“It’s been a very positive day. It was good to try the Pirelli tyres for the first time and while we have obviously got a lot of work ahead of us I think this was a good start. We will need to focus on the driveability of the tyres – on performance they were good, but we will need to work together in a clear direction to maximise the handling of the car. The hard compounds were pretty consistent, a little less so with the softs, but we have gathered a lot of data that will play an important part in the development of next year’s car. Now the season is over I want to thank the whole team for their work this year – we have finished where we wanted to be and everyone in the team has played their part in helping us reach our goals, so thank you to them and the fans for everything this year.”
Mike Gascoyne, Lotus Racing Chief Technical Officer: “Another successful day for us and a successful conclusion to both the test with Pirelli and the year in general. My thanks to Jarno for his work today – he gave us some excellent feedback which will give us valuable data for the development of the 2011 car. As this is the last run for the T127 I also want to thank the whole team for all their efforts in what has been a fantastic year and thank all our fans for giving us such great support throughout the season. Now we look ahead to 2011 and we are all excited about taking the next step forward with the new package in what is certain to be another very exciting chapter in our story.”
Lotus Racing now head home to take some well earned rest after an incredible season in Formula One™ in which the Anglo-Malaysian squad achieved its primary goal of finishing as best of the new teams. A busy winter beckons preparing for the 2011 season, but for now it is goodbye to the FIA Formula One™ World Championship 2010.
16 th November 2010
Lotus: we must give Jarno a better car (http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/88325)
14 th November 2010
Abu Dhabi GP – Race
Vettel is the WDC! Yes, we predicted it at the start of the year and looked pretty stupid 5 months ago! But coming from behind, he took the championship by just 4 points. He had to win the race today to make that dream come true, and did it in style from pole to win. Poor Mark Webber was doomed since qualifying yesterday and had to settle for a lowly (by his standards!) 8 th place in this race. Hamilton came close to winning the race and finishing second, but needing a win to have a chance of the WDC. Jenson was third. Alonso only needed to finish 4 th to win the WDC but we are glad to say Ferrari strategy failed and he got stuck behind the two Renaults, especially Petrov, on whom he vented his anger on the slowing down lap! The Russian had driven superbly well and had held back the Ferrari for some time. So, in Alonsoworld it’s Petrov who lost him the WDC! There was an early safety car when Schumacher spun on the first lap, and Liuzzi’s Force India speared into him, unable to avoid the Mercedes. Glock retired on lap 44 with a gearbox issue. Jarno’s gearbox was fine, but his front and rear wing had a bad day. First he had to pit with a front wing that was dragging on the floor and 3 laps from the end, his rear wing dropped off so he was classified 21 st. Heikki had a much easier time, finishing 17 th. It’s the end of the season so Lotus’ 10 th place is confirmed. Sadly neither driver got a point though. Top 10: Vettel, Hamilton, Button, Rosberg, Kubica, Petrov, Alonso, Webber, Alguersuari, Massa.
Press Release - MISSION ACCOMPLISHEDLotus Racing secured its primary goal of tenth place in the 2010 FIA Formula One™ World Championship when Heikki Kovalainen finished the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 17th place. Jarno Trulli’s race came to an unfortunate end on lap 51 and finished in the garage after his car suffered a rear wing failure with just three laps left.
Heikki Kovalainen (Chassis T127-03) 17th, fastest lap 1.45.378:“What a fantastic end to our season. The race itself was just great, right from when the lights went out. I got the best start of the season, made up places immediately and from that point on I just got my head down and got on with it. Everything went perfectly according to plan. The tyres weren’t really degarding and as the car got lighter and the fuel burnt away I was able to keep putting in what felt like qualifying laps throughout the whole race. I was able to pull away a gap to the cars behind me and we managed the traffic really well all race. After I came out of the pits I had to let a few cars past which cost me several seconds, but that wasn’t a problem as I could keep pulling away from my direct rivals. This is the perfect way to end our first season, and gives us a huge boost for next year. We finished on a high, achieved all our goals and we have a very exciting future ahead of us. Thank you to the whole team for a fantastic season – I can’t wait for next year.”
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-02) DNF, fastest lap 1.45.979:“First of all congratulations to the whole team. Everyone has done an amazing job this year and while it’s been long and tough, for a brand new team it’s been special. My race was one of the ones I’ll want to forget. I had a problem with the front wing to begin with, and then a rear wing failure finished the race so I’m pretty glad it’s over! This year I’ve had all sorts of bad luck but I’m very confident about next year as the package that’s been put together is very good and it gives everyone in the team a chance to take the next step forward.”
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer:“Job done. When we started out on this project the first target was to be best of the new teams. When you think how late our entry was confirmed that was always going to be a good challenge, but we have done it. We gave Tony, Din and Nasa tenth place and that makes me very proud of the whole team. On a personal level I’d like to thank my partner Silvi. We did this together and I could not have done it without her or the whole team. However, this is just the beginning. Next year what is important is the steps we take forward, but for tonight we will enjoy the achievement. We have earned it.”
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: “I am completely relieved, completely ecstatic, completely happy and completely vindicated in making the decision to go into F1™. What we have achieved today is what dreams are made of. To complete 19 races after having just five months to build a car and finish in tenth in style is something that is truly magical. It shows you that even in the modern age where money and power counts for so much, there is a chance for ambition and dreams to shine. 2010 is a year that we can be proud of. We brought Lotus back into F1™™ (no need for 2 TM’s guys!) after many had talked about it, but we did it. I can confidently say that everyone associated with the Lotus history can be very proud of what we have done this year. This is the first chapter of a long career ahead and we will create our own future, destiny and history from here. I am thankful to all the incredibly special staff we have in Hingham, Malaysia and here in Abu Dhabi for what they have done this year and my abiding memory of 2010 comes from one of our engineers, who told me he had achieved higher grid positions with other teams, but never with a team that feels as special as this. To all the Lotus fans thank you so much for your support – we could not have done it without you. I am thrilled that Lotus Racing has opened up F1™™ to everyone out there, and we cannot wait to see you next year.”
13 th November 2010
Abu Dhabi GP – Saturday Practice & Qualifying
Practice: Another fairly boring practice with the Red Bulls fastest. Heikki was 19 th and Jarno 20 th. Top 6: Vettel, Webber, Hamilton, Alonso, Button, Petrov.
Qualifying:The good news is that Jarno has outqualified Heikki 10-9 over the season. Phew! That was close! They are 19 th and 20 th with Buemi the unlucky driver joining them stuck in Q1. Both Saubers, both Force Indias, Hulkenberg and Kubica were left behind in Q2. Vettel took pole from Hamilton. Top 6: Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso, Button, Webber, Massa, Barrichello, Schumacher, Rosberg, Petrov.
Press Release - ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX - FP3 & QUALIFYINGThe perfect end to Lotus Racing’s final qualifying session of the season saw the battle of the new teams culminate in a dominant display by the Anglo-Malaysian squad, with Jarno Trulli finishing in 19th place, over half a second ahead of Timo Glock, and Heikki Kovalainen very close behind Jarno in 20th.
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-02) FP3: 23 laps, best time 1.45.048, 20th / QUALIFYING: 19th, 1.43.516, 11 laps: “That was great and I’m delighted we finished the last qualifying session of the season as best of the new teams. The car was really good this afternoon which is a little surprising as I had quite a bit of rear-locking under braking which we didn’t have in FP3. Nevertheless, the track was improving throughout the session, so it was important to get a good lap in at the end which I managed to do. I think I could have found another tenth but I just wanted to make sure we were in front, and the fact we are, with a decent gap to Timo, is a sign of how well we are finishing the season.”
Heikki Kovalainen (Chassis T127-03) FP3: 15 laps, best time 1.44.876, 19th / QUALIFYING: 20th, 1.43.712, 11 laps:“I thought the session was ok for me but congratulations to Jarno for putting in a great qualifying lap. I think I put in as good a performance as I could, and as both cars are ahead of our direct rivals it’s where we want to be. We’ll look to carry over today’s performance into the race tomorrow and the main aim is to end the season as best of the new teams.”
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer:“I don’t think we could have asked for any more today. Both cars were strong, well balanced and dominated the other new teams which was the number one goal. We have worked hard all weekend to get the best out of the tyres, and both Jarno and Heikki did that in qualifying, putting us in a very strong position for tomorrow’s race.”
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: “That was a fantastic display from the whole team. To end the final qualifying session of 2010 so far ahead of our main rivals is a great effort, and is just reward for the extremely hard work everyone has put in throughout the whole season. I have enjoyed every second of this weekend so far. On top of the strong performances on track yesterday and today, we have been able to take a few more important steps forward for 2011 and next year is looking more exciting than ever. However, for now it is all about this weekend. Richard Branson and I were measured up for our flight attendant uniforms today and that adds an extra bit of excitement to tomorrow’s battle, but now it is all about making sure we keep our concentration and focus and finish the season as well as we did today.”
12 th November 2010
Abu Dhabi GP – Friday Practice
Session 1: We’re in the desert so the weather is going to be….. that’s right, it’s F1 so it’s RAINING. Only does it once every 6 months so it must have been saving itself. Luckily the rain stopped before practice so the track was only damp. It was pretty boring apart from a few off track excursions and Fairuz Fauzy’s harmless spin. He was using Heikki’s car for this session and set it up so well, HK was quickest of the new teams in session 2. But FF was 24 th in the time sheets with Jarno 20 th . Vettel was quickest from Hamilton and Button. Top 6: Vettel, Hamilton, Button, Webber, Kubica, Alonso.
Session 2: There was the same amount of drama in the second session, this time it was Alguersuari who spun. Hamilton was quickest from Vettel and Alonso. Heikki was 19 th and Jarno 21 st. Top 6: Hamilton, Vettel, Alonso, Webber, Kubica, Massa.
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-02) FP1: 17 laps, best time 1.48.472, 20th / FP2: 35 laps, best time 1.45.612, 21 st:“It was a pretty smooth Friday for me, with no problems in either session. We did some good work evaluating the tyres and saw pretty high degradation so I think we’ll need to keep an eye on that for the race. The balance of the car was good – we still have to improve it but all in all it was a positive day.”
10 th November 2010
Abu Dhabi GP – Jarno’s Preview
Jarno Trulli:“It’s the last race but for me it’s still all about getting my car across the finish line with Heikki so we can tie up tenth place. The track isn’t a huge challenge – it’s not as rewarding to drive on as somewhere like Brazil, but we’ll be ok there as our car should be pretty much as far ahead of those around us as we have been in the last few races.”
7 th November 2010
Brazilian GP – Race
The WDC goes on to the final race of the season, but Red Bull are Constructors Champs after today’s race, where Vettel won and Webber came second. Unfortunately Alonso was third, which still leaves him in the lead, thanks to Red Bull keeping their integrity and allowing their drivers to race each other. Vettel took the lead at the start as Hulkenberg did his best to stem the tide of Red Bulls, McLarens and Ferraris overtaking him. Hulkenberg finished 8 th in the end. The only retirements were Liuzzi, who took himself out, crashing at turn 2 with 20 laps remaining, bringing out a safety car, and Di Grassi on lap 63 with mechanical problems. Massa had a problem with a wheel nut needing an extra pit stop to solve. And Barrichello had a puncture, finishing 14 th. Heikki was 18 th and Jarno just behind him in 19 th, after a problematic start. Top 10: Vettel, webber, Alonso, Hamilton, Button, Rosberg, Schumacher, Hulkenberg, Kubica, Kobayashi.
Press Release - BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIXAn excellent end to the Brazilian Grand Prix saw Lotus Racing take one more step closer to tenth place in the 2010 Championship after Heikki Kovalainen finished 18th, just ahead of Jarno Trulli in 19th.
Heikki Kovalainen (Chassis T127-03) 18th, fastest lap 1.17.161 - lap 69, 1 stop:“It was a good race, probably the best we could have hoped for in the conditions today. I made a good start and passed Timo straight away which put me in a good position for the rest of the afternoon. I enjoyed it out there – I had a good battle with Jarno and Timo for quite a lot of the race, and as we neared the end Jarno was very close so I had to make sure I didn’t make any mistakes and we could get both cars home. The important thing today is that we are now one race away from tenth and that will be the goal next weekend in Abu Dhabi.”
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-02) 19th, fastest lap 1.17.316 - lap 69, 1 stop:“Another very positive result for the team and I’m really happy I got to the end of the race! I had yet another small hydraulic issue, but good work from the guys in the garage managed that, and towards the end of the race I was able to push Heikki and end up just behind him. I didn’t have a great start, I had a lot of wheelspin but pretty soon I was able to attack Timo and just as I was shaping up to pass him he pitted and I came out ahead of him after the stops. After that I caught up with Heikki and we then had a pretty comfortable run to the end of the race.”
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer:“An excellent race for us after what has been a very good weekend. Congratulations to Red Bull for winning their first constructors’ championship today, and for us it was a textbook race today. Heikki made a great start and went straight past Timo, and Jarno followed him past a few laps later. After that we were able to open a gap to our nearest rivals and maintain track position right to the end. It was a very professional race from the whole team and pushes us another step closer to tenth so we will be aiming to take that performance to Abu Dhabi and repeat it at the final race.”
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: “Firstly my sincere congratulations to Red Bull Racing on securing the constructors’ title today. They are a superb team, full of honest, professional people and we are very excited about working with them next year. They have set the standards Mike and his aero team must reach and that is an excellent challenge for him and our whole team. From our point of view I am very happy with the performance today. We looked a class team out there and the two car finish is just reward for the hard work this weekend and all year. Two flawless pitstops from the team in the garage showed that we have talent everywhere, and for a team that is still only a year old that is very impressive. What pleased me most is the fact that we kept pace with most of the cars in the middle of the pack, right up to the fifth place car who we were only just over a second away from in race pace. With all the steps we have taken to build such a solid foundation for our team next year we will be right in the mix with the established teams in 2011, but for today I want to say congratulations to the whole team. Now we focus on Abu Dhabi, the last race of the season and the one where I hope we secure tenth place.”
6 th November 2010
Brazilian GP – Saturday Practice & Qualifying
Practice: Oh dear, it’s wet. Everyone started on full wets, moving on to inters lately as the track dried a bit. Kubica was quickest from Vettel and Hamilton. Webber and the Ferraris did only 6 and 9 laps respectively through choice. Jarno was 19 th and Heikki 21 st. Top 6: Kubica, Vettel, Hamilton, Massa, Alonso, Petrov.
Qualifying: Brilliant! Brilliant! Brilliant! Nico Hulkenberg on pole, who’d have thought it? And deservedly so, not just a quirk of the conditions. The track was drying throughout the session and Williams called it right at the end. And thank goodness it wasn’t Barrichello or we’d not have heard the end of it. Instead a breath of fresh air, in a season dominated by the usual strong teams. It’s the first time in 5 years a Williams has been on pole. Behind Nico are the 2 Red Bulls, quick as expected. Hamilton could only manage 4 th and Alonso 5 th. Glock beat Jarno to 19 th, so Jarno starts 20 th and Heikki 21 st. Klien beat Senna at the bottom by 7 tenths, what happened there? Sutil joined those teams eliminated in Q1: his lap was ruined by his team mate re-joining the track in front of him after a spin, and later said Liuzzi has done that loads of times this year! To make it worse, Sutil has a 5 place penalty from Korea! Liuzzi, the Toro Rossos and the Saubers were eliminated from Q2 along with Rosberg and Button. Top 6: HULKENBERG, Vettel, Webber, Hamilton, Alonso, barrichello, Kubica, Schumacher, Massa, Petrov.
Press Release - BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX - FP3 & QUALIFYING
Traffic played a big part in Lotus Racing’s Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying session with both Jarno Trulli and, in particular, Heikki Kovalainen being unable to extract the maximum times out of their cars in the damp conditions. Jarno Trulli starts tomorrow’s race in 20th place with Heikki Kovalainen just behind in 21st.
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-02) FP3: 18 laps, best time 1.22.326, 19th / QUALIFYING: 20th, 1.22.250, 14 laps:“There was a lot of traffic out there because of the weather which meant I couldn’t really put together my best lap. At the end I managed to get a decent time in but it felt like it was wetter than at the start of the session and obviously that meant I couldn’t get ahead of Timo. Despite that the car has felt good all weekend in the wet and the dry conditions, and I think tomorrow we’ll be strong. We kept a dry setup on the car today and that should put us in a good position for the race.”
Heikki Kovalainen (Chassis T127-03) FP3: 20 laps, best time 1.22.874, 21st / QUALIFYING: 21st, 1.22.378, 14 laps: “That was a disappointing session for me. I was held up by traffic each time I went for a quick run and definitely didn’t get the most out of the car, but I think we’ll be ok tomorrow. It’s a short track here and it’s pretty normal that traffic plays its part in qualifying but yesterday we worked hard on making sure we have a good setup for the race and it will be good to get back in the car tomorrow and show what we can do.”
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: “A fascinating qualifying session but slightly disappointing for us. Both drivers lost their quickest laps to traffic and Heikki in particular was held up by Heidfeld on a couple of occasions. However, with the dry forecast for tomorrow and the performance of our car in dry conditions we will look to have a strong race and get both cars home across the finish line.”
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal:“Firstly I want to say congratulations to Nico for such an outstanding performance today. That is the first Williams pole since 2005 and the very first time AirAsia can celebrate a pole position - the whole team deserves every plaudit coming their way today and I am very proud to be part of the Williams dream. For Lotus Racing it was a decent job today from both Jarno and Heikki who were obviously held up by the traffic. It is still very pleasing that we keep taking the fight to our direct competitors even though we have been focusing on next year's car since back in July. It is also satisfying to see that all of the off-track attention that is being paid to the team has not distracted any of us from what is important. I will be making an official statement about the off-track situation in due course but for now we are focusing on being a professional race team that is gaining more experience with every lap and turning that into long-term success.”
5 th November 2010
Brazilian GP – Friday Practice
Session 1: Is it going to be another Red Bull weekend? Vettel was fastest from Webber in first practice, followed by both McLarens, Ferrari are worried about Alonso’s engine, as he parked his car out on track in the final minutes before an engine change before FP2. Both Kobayashi and Petrov ended their sessions in the wall. Jarno was quickest of the new teams in 19 th with Heikki 21 st. D’Ambrosio was in the second Virgin and Klien took Yamamoto/Chandhok’s seat for HRT. Top 6: Vettel, Webber, Hamilton, Button, Kubica, Rosberg.
Session 2: Vettel and Webber kept their positions at the top of the times in session 2 with Alonso next. Massa finished early with a clutch problem. Jarno was 19 th again, with Heikki 20 th this time. Top 6: Vettel, Webber, Alonso, Hanilton, Massa, Kubica.
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-04) FP1: 25 laps, best time 1.15.603, 19th / FP2:47 laps, best time 1.14.984, 19 th: “That was a pretty good day. It’s good to complete so many laps and have no problems at all. When the car feels well balanced, like it did today, you can push around the whole lap and end up where we did, ahead of the other new guys. I have to say this is one of my favourite tracks. It’s very technical and I think it suits my style well. We’ve made a few changes to the setup for this weekend and that’s given me more confidence in the car – I think you can see the results of that in my laptimes, and I think there’s more to come tomorrow.”
2 nd November 2010
Brazilian GP – Jarno’s Preview
Jarno Trulli: “I’m heading to the USA for a few days to try and acclimatise to the time change, relax and do a bit of training in preparation for the last two races. Brazil is a good circuit to drive on, it’s one of my favourite tracks. I’ve always enjoyed myself there and the atmosphere is great, but it’s not a place where I’ve had a great deal of luck in the races, so hopefully that will change this year. The start is crucial, but if you can get through that without any problems, the rest of the lap is pretty rewarding. There’s none of the long straight / first gear hairpins that you have on quite a few of the modern tracks, so you can get into a good rhythm and really lean on the car into the corners. My best result there was fourth in 2000, and while I know repeating that is obviously unlikely, our goal will be to get both cars across the finish line and go to Abu Dhabi still as the best of the new teams.”
24 th October 2010
South Korean GP – Race
Really difficult wet conditions spoiled the GP today and skewed the WDC in favour of Alonso, who is the last person who should win it, if there is any justice. Vettel had an engine failure while in the lead on lap 45, while Webber had a spin on lap 18, sliding helplessly across the track and collecting Rosberg’s Mercedes on lap 18. This enabled Alonso to win, Hamilton to take second place with Massa third. The race was delayed because of the heavy rain, then when it eventually started under the safety car, only 4 laps were completed before the race was red-flagged for another hour. Another 13 laps under the safety car followed before the race proper began. Webber’s incident brought out the safety car again, and it returned again when Buemi speared Glock’s Virgin, having already tipped Heikki into a spin on lap 30. For some reason there seems to be a lack of cranes in Korea, particularly in the far reaches of the circuit. Jarno had already retired on lap 25 with, surprise, surprise, an hydraulic problem, but he had already had a spin early on relating to that and a clash with Senna broke his front wing. Heikki drove on to 13 th, despite a pit lane speeding penalty, one place behind Button who had a bad afternoon. Di Grassi spun into the wall while trying to pass Yamamoto’s HRT on lap 25, and Petrov had a massive crash on lap 39 at the final corner. Sutil left the race on lap 46, the final retiree. Top 10: Alonso, Hamilton, Massa, Schumacher, Kubica, Liuzzi, Barrichello, Kobayashi, Heidfeld, Hulkenberg.
Press Release - KOREAN GRAND PRIXAn historic race in Korea came to an end in the dark with Lotus Racing’s Heikki Kovalainen taking advantage of an incident packed race to finish in 13th place. Team mate Jarno Trulli’s race again came to an early conclusion with hydraulic issues on lap 25, but the team now head to Brazil still at the head of the new teams after some excellent work on and off track all weekend.
Heikki Kovalainen (Chassis T127-03) 13th, fastest lap 1.55.018 - lap 43:“It was another excellent result for the team today. In tricky conditions like that with people making mistakes, we could have seen our tenth position under threat, but we were there at the end and that is what counts. I really enjoyed the race, and didn’t really have any problems that we couldn’t deal with – the team made the right calls throughout and that put us in a strong position at the end of the race. It was obviously pretty dark when we finished, but that was the same for everyone. Now we head to Brazil and we have two more races to secure our place as the best of the new teams this year.”
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-02) DNF, fastest lap 2.05.161 - lap 20:“It was a disappointing day but I’m pleased that the team has taken another step towards tenth. I felt that there was a possible hydraulics problem when we were behind the safety car as the power steering was starting to feel very heavy. I really struggled to turn in at the first corner and had a spin, and despite the team trying to get me back out it was all over.”
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer:“First of all it was great that we could go racing and give all the Korean fans and everyone who has put so much effort into making this race happen the show they wanted to see. They were rewarded with an historic event, with the race finishing in the dark and some excellent action up and down the field. For us it was a day of mixed fortunes – a great finish once again as best of the new teams and Heikki drove a great race in the very tricky conditions, but disappointing for Jarno that he suffered another hydraulic issue that brought his race to an early end. But overall a great weekend for us. We qualified and finished as best of the new teams and maintained our tenth place, which was always our main goal.”
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: “That was extremely tense for me. Of all the 17 races we have had this season, that was by far the most nerve wracking, and I feel like I was put through the ringer throughout the whole afternoon. Today shows the true mettle of this team. Heikki drove a fantastic race, and even though he also had a possible hydraulic issue with about 20 laps to go, he battled through that, and a superb performance from the race team kept him out there to make sure he was on track at the end of the race to take 13th. We are edging ever closer to that tenth place, and even though Jarno suffered more hydraulic problems, we have taken steps to change that for next year, and it is experiences like today that will stand us in good stead for next season and beyond.”
23 rd October 2010
South Korean GP – Saturday Practice & Qualifying
Practice: The track is still dusty and it’s still affecting grip levels. It’s graining the tyres, even the hard version. Kubica was quickest, from Hamilton. Jarno was 19 th, Heikki 21 st. Top 6: Kubica, Hamilton, Alonso, Webber, Rosberg, Massa.
Qualifying: Red Bull lock out the front row once more, beating Alonso into third. At the other end, Jarno was 19 th, with Heikki 21 st. Liuzzi was the extra drop out from Q1. Those who did not make it into Q3 were the Saubers, the Toro Rossos, Hulkenberg and Petrov, who also has a five place penalty from the last race, so will be 20 th. Top 10: Vettel, Webber, Alonso, Hamilton, Rosberg, Massa, Button, Kubica, Schumacher, Barrichello.
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-02) FP3: 15 laps, best time 1.41.623, 19th / QUALIFYING: 19th, 1.40.521, 10 laps: “I’m happy with how it has gone today and I think my final lap was pretty good. The track was very dusty again in both sessions today, and that obviously affects the tyres, but I think we did as well as we could have hoped for this afternoon. I want to say thank you to my mechanics again because they have been working really hard all weekend – it has been a bit of a tough couple of days so far, because the bad luck I had yesterday limited my track time, and it’s thanks to the guys in the garage that I’ve managed to get in enough running time to set me up for that quick lap today.”
22 nd October 2010
South Korean GP – Friday Practice
Session 1: The drivers seem to like most of the new track, the main moan being the ‘blind’ pitlane entry. Heikki was first on track. It could have been Jarno if he didn’t have yet another gear box problem. About time they gave that one to Heikki. In the end Jarno did only 11 laps and was 24 th to Heikki’s 21 st. At the other end, Hamilton was quickest, with Kubica next. Most of the drama was near misses, the only casualty being Senna’s HRT with a damaged suspension but even he didn’t hit anything. Top 6: Hamilton, Kubica, Rosberg, Vettel, Button, Schumacher.
Session 2: Jarno managed a few more laps and was 20 th to Heikki’s 19 th. HRT had another bad session with Senna only completing 3 laps after his morning issues, and Yamamoto spinning and stalling in the final corners. Webber was quickest from Alonso. Top 6: Webber, Alonso, Hamilton, Kubica, Button, Massa.
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-04) FP1: 11 laps, best time 1.51.701, 24th / FP2: 19 laps, best time 1.42.801, 20 th: “That was a pretty hard day for me – it does feel like quite a few of the things that could have gone wrong did go wrong, but the mechanics did a great job to repair the gearbox twice and make sure I could get a relatively decent number of laps completed. I learnt the circuit pretty quickly, and on the options the car felt good as the track surface developed, which helped me to improve my times lap after lap. Overall I think this is a good circuit. I need to do some more running to really find where I can push, and we’ll do some more work tonight to look at the setup for tomorrow and Sunday, so I think we’ll be ok.”
15 th October 2010
South Korean GP – Jarno’s Preview
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127 – 04):“I really enjoyed Japan but it was good to get home! The whole team performed really well over the weekend, and we took a big step towards the end goal of tenth, so everyone left happy. Korea looks pretty good – Some drivers use simulators or even games to take a look at the lines, but I usually find my way around a new venue by running a few laps of the track on the Thursday. It’s a good way to work out the stresses of the plane journey, and you get a view of where the braking and turn-in points are. Whatever happens, after a couple of laps I’ll know my way around and where I can push, so it doesn’t take long to acclimatise.”
10 th October 2010
Japanese GP – Race
Lotus were quite excited as Heikki and Jarno came in 12 th and 13 th respectively for Lotus’ best race result so far. This was helped by 5 cars crashing on the first lap. Di Grassi even managed his bizarre crash on the drive to the grid! And the team found no mechanical failure… On the run down to the first corner, Petrov clipped Hulkenberg’s Williams: the Renault headed straight for the wall and the damaged Williams was also finished. Immediately after that, Massa took to the grass and speared back across track into the unfortunate Liuzzi’s Force India. Later Petrov was penalised 5 places for the next race but Massa wasn’t. During tbe safety car period, one of Kubica’s Renault’s wheels parted company with the car and his race was finished, which was a shame as he was running second at the time! Strangely, the wheel thing also happened to Rosberg 5 laps from the end of the race, causing him to crash at the S curves. Sutil spun on his own oil as his engine let go at 130R on lap 45, although he insisted on taking the car back down the pitlane. Kobayashi entertained late in the race, overtaking Sutil and Alguersuari who broke his front wing trying to retaliate. Vettel drove according to plan, from pole to victory, with Webber not far behind. Top 10: Vettel, Webber, Alonso, Button, Hamilton, Schumacher, Kobayashi, Heidfeld, Barrichello, Buemi.
Press Release - LOTUS RACING'S GREATEST DAY SO FAR
12th and 13th places for Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli respectively are Lotus Racing’s best race finishes of the 2010 season so far. Both drivers put in very strong performances throughout an action packed race, and the whole team is absolutely delighted to have taken such a significant step towards the ultimate goal of securing tenth place in the FIA Formula One™ World Championship. The morning’s qualifying session had also gone very well, with Jarno lining up 19th and Heikki 20th, nearly a second ahead of the Virgin cars, and the double race finish is an excellent reward for the team’s hard work, on and off track.
Heikki Kovalainen (Chassis T127-03) 12th:“It was a wicked race, really absolutely fantastic for me, Jarno and the whole team. We decided to start with the soft tyre, which was a little bit of a gamble, and then stayed out during the safety car. The target was to build up enough of a gap to allow me to pit without losing places to the guys behind and we did that, though it was very close with Jarno when I came out. On the harder tyre the car just felt brilliant - I had a huge amount of grip from the second set and it was a lot of fun to push for the rest of the race. Our pace was amazing – we were only lapped once and at this kind of circuit, where we needed to perform, we could not have done any more. An amazing day for the whole team, and now we’re another big step closer to that tenth place, which is obviously the main aim of the whole season.”
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-04) 13th:“What a great day for the whole team, just fantastic. I’m really pleased for everyone with the result, and congratulations to Heikki as well on a great race. I had a really good start and came in under the safety car to switch to the primes. I came out behind Yamamoto and immediately attacked him – I got past him pretty quick and then went after Heikki. We both had a strong run to the end, and even though I had another hydraulics issue in the last couple of laps, I managed to get the car home which was obviously the main objective.”
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer:“A really fantastic result for the team today. 12th and 13th places are our best positions of the season so far, and I’m delighted for everyone that we had such strong performances from both cars today. Qualifying went very well this morning – we were just under a second ahead of the other new teams, and we carried that through to the afternoon. We had always planned to stop just one car if there was an early safety car, and that was the car ahead. When the safety car came out Jarno was in front so we pulled him in and put him on the primes. Unfortunately it took him a few laps to pass Yamamoto, and that really hurt his race strategy, and that, combined with the blue flags, meant Heikki stayed ahead of him on track. Despite that, it was a great race from both drivers. We had a small hydraulics issue on Jarno’s car at the end, but it didn’t slow him down and he was able to maintain 13th place. I want to say congratulations to the whole team for such a strong performance all weekend – this really was a job well done.”
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal (from Sepang, Malaysia): “I am absolutely delighted, just so pleased for the whole team. The result today is a tremendous response to the negativity that we have been dealing with off-track over the last week or so. This is the best ever result in the as yet very short life of Lotus Racing, and 12th and 13th far exceeds any of the expectations I had at the start of the season. The future for our team is so bright, and the decisions we have been making recently are giving us an incredible platform from which to build on days like this. Thank you Mike, Heikki, Jarno, Riad and everyone – it was an amazing feeling watching them all on TV and keeping up with the race on my iPad – I actually watched the end of the race whilst doing a press conference with Fahmi, another star in the making, from Sepang in Malaysia, and it was a very special feeling to be able to share the end of the race with everyone in our other home. This is a big, big day for us – we let our actions speak louder than our words, and that is what makes us who we are. We are a team with passion and integrity, and we conduct our business in the right way. As I always say - ‘believe the unbelievable’ – we did that today and look at what we have achieved.”
10 th October 2010
Japanese GP – Qualifying
Red Bull took the honours on Sunday morning, with Vettel on pole sharing the front row with Webber. Hamilton was third but will start 8 th because of his gearbox penalty. Lotus were 19 th (Jarno) and 20 th, with Buemi the unlucky ‘other’ left behind in Q1. The Saubers, Force Indias, the other Toro Rosso, Petrov’s Renault and a surprise Felipe Massa, were eliminated in Q2. Top 10: Vettel, Webber, Hamilton, Kubica, Alonso, Button, Rosberg, Barricehllo, Hulkenberg, Schumacher.9 th October 2010
Japanese GP – Saturday Practice
Final practice was completely washed out due to torrential rain. Only Alguersuari and Glock managed any kind of a timed lap, Hamilton describing conditions as ‘unbelievable’ with ‘massive rivers’ across the track. As conditions didn’t improve and were not forecast to improve, qualifying was postponed till Sunday morning.
8 th October 2010
Japanese GP – Friday Practice
Session 1: Vettel led the way from team mate Webber. Lewis is not lucky at the moment, crashing at Degner halfway through the session. Button almost did it as well, but didn’t reach the wall. Heikki was 19 th, Jarno 21 st. Glock lost an hour but still split the Lotuses. Top 6: Vettel, Webber, Kubica, Sutil, Hamilton, Barrichello.
Session 2: The Red Bulls were quicker again, from Kubica, with the Renaults looking quick here. Hamilton only managed 8 laps after repairs following this morning’s crash. This session it was Schumacher who almost repeated the Hamilton crash but managed to keep the car out of the wall. Heikki was 19 th again, Jarno 20 th. Top 6: Vettel, Webber, Kubica, Alonso, Massa, Button.
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-04)
FP1: 23 laps, 21st place, best time 1.37.388; best sector times S1 35.045 (21st), S2 43.732 (20th), S3 18.363 (19th)
FP2: 33 laps, 20th place, best time 1.36.333; best sector times S1 34.556 (19th), S2 43.257 (20th), S3 18.520 (23rd)
“It’s always good being in Japan. I have some fantastic support here, and it’s great to be here for the first time with Lotus Racing. It’s easy to see what we mean to the fans, and next year will be even better for them, in so many ways for the whole team. Today we completed a good number of laps but I haven’t been particularly happy with the grip levels and balance, in either session. I think there’s a lot more to come from the car tomorrow, and with some more work tonight we should be able to find more time and more performance tomorrow.”
8 th October 2010
Trulli set for second season at Lotus
2 nd October 2010
Japanese GP – Team Preview
Next stop Japan and the world famous Suzuka circuit. Loved by drivers, fans and racing gamers around the world, Suzuka is one of the classic Grand Prix venues. Over the years the track has played host to some of the most famous races in Formula One™ history, and is home to the legendary Spoon Curve and 130R, two of the most challenging corners in the race calendar today. Lotus Racing heads to Japan looking to consolidate its position as the best of the new teams at a track that rewards experience, endeavour and guts – three attributes that team drivers Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli have demonstrated all season.Heikki Kovalainen, who will be in Chassis T127-03 after T127-01 went back to the UK to be checked and cleaned up:“First I want to thank the boys at Williams for their help with the little incident that brought my Singapore GP to an end. I’ve had an amazing response to putting out the fire, and while it was clearly the best way to stop what would have been a very dangerous situation, if I’d come into the pits, it was a pretty spectacular end to a great race. We were racing Michael and Sebastien for position, and made the right call to fight them as hard as we could. It didn’t pay off this time, but not taking the easy option of just getting the car home shows what we’re made of, and that’s a very good feeling.
“After the race the whole team flew into Kuala Lumpur in a team-branded AirAsia plane. That was pretty cool – getting on board an aircraft with my race number at the back, and all the seats in green and yellow - it shows just how dedicated AirAsia are to our team, and it was an awesome feeling taking off and landing back at the team’s other home in KL. I had a couple of days staying with our Chief Exec and managed to get some golf in, and then went for a few days of relaxation before making the trip to Japan. I love Japan – it’s a bit mad, but in a really good way. The fans are pretty hardcore – they know more about the drivers than we do, and the track itself is obviously great to race on. I think we’ll do pretty well there. It’s quick, and you need a good rhythm to get the best lap times, but experience and concentration play a big part, and I can’t wait to get back in the car.”
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-04):“After what had been a very busy Singapore race I joined the team for the flight to KL before heading back to Europe. Seeing how everyone responded to ‘our’ plane was really cool. It’s the sort of thing that makes the guys in the team very proud and seeing how excited all the AirAsia staff were about seeing us on board was very special.
“Coming back to Japan is something I’m looking forward to. I really like the track and last year was on the podium in second place. I know we won’t be repeating that this year, but I think we’ll be ok. Everyone in the team is pumped up for the final few races, and we want to focus on beating our nearest rivals. We’re in a good fight, and the fans are being given some great action to keep an eye on further down the grid, so we’ll do our best to reward them.”
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer:“Suzuka is a classic race venue, one that really brings out the best in the car and the drivers. The team have had a bit of time off to recharge their batteries since Singapore, and I think they’ll get to Japan ready to get straight back to work and help us secure tenth place. As most of the efforts back at the factory have now been focused on the 2011 car for several months, we won’t be bringing any new updates to Japan, but it’s obviously good to see that even though our direct rivals are continuing to update their cars, we can still take the fight to them. Singapore was a great battle, and had Heikki not had to do his fireman act, we would have finished comfortably ahead of Virgin. We want to continue that next weekend and we’re aiming to put on as strong a performance at Suzuka as we did in Singapore.”
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: “I’m just about over the excitement of the Singapore race! Seeing Heikki stay so cool under pressure really drove it home to me just how tough the drivers are – first making the decision to fight Michael and Buemi, and not let them pass just to bring the car home, lifted the spirits of everyone in the team after what had been a very long, hot weekend. Then having the clarity of thought to pull over in the right place, get out and sort out the problem - I think that gained him a whole new level of respect and it’s that fighting spirit that we love. Maybe less of the fire fighting in future, but not one bit less of the aggression.
"This has already been an incredible season, and it is a credit to everyone in our team that there is so much interest around the world in our future. We have achieved so much in one year, and, while nothing in life worth having is easy, when we savour victory the taste will be that much sweeter. For every single person who has given us support, praise and encouragement we thank you. We will leave no stone unturned to be the best."
26 th September 2010
Singapore GP – Race
It was another one of those unlucky races for Jarno: despite a good start, he picked up a puncture from debris and after that was fixed, he had to retire on lap 26 with yet another hydraulics issue. Heikki almost finished but his race ended dramatically on the penultimate lap when suffering an airbox fire which he extinguished himself. The only new teamer to finish was Di Grassi. There was an early safety car to rescue Liuzzi’s broken Force India, which saw a few early strategic pitstops. Kobayashi retired on lap 29 following what Mark Webber described as an ‘entertaining’ performance, which ended in the barriers where Senna drove into him, ending his own race. Lewis Hamilton made another race-ending mistake, failing to give Webber enough room in an overtaking manoeuvre, but the Red Bull continued to 3 rd place. Heidfeld also retired on lap 35 after contact with Michael Schumacher. Alonso won. Vettel was close behind him at the finish but didn’t have a chance to pass. Top 10: Alonso, Vettel, Webber, Button, Rosberg, Barrichello. Kubica, Sutil, Hulkenberg, Massa. Sutil picked up a 20 second penalty after the race for cutting a corner on the first lap. Why did it take so long? Sutil is now 10 th with Massa and Hulkenberg moving up.
Press Release - SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX
Heikki Kovalainen - DNF:"That was not quite how I thought my race would end! Until the fire, I was having a really strong run and the car had felt good throughout. We were looking good for 15th, but then I had a coming together with Buemi towards the end of the race. I spun the car to get back onto the track which I think cracked the fuel tank pressure release valve and it looks like that caused an airbox fire. I didn't want to come into the pits as it definitely wasn't safe enough to do so, and pulled over on the main straight. A couple of guys from Williams gave me an extinguisher, so I put the fire out on my own - I told Tony and Mike that they maybe need to pay me more as I'm now a fireman as well..."
Jarno Trulli - DNF:"I had a very good start and was running well with Heikki but then the problems started. I had a puncture just after the first safety car which brought me back in early, and then the hydraulic problems that have affected me quite a few times this season struck again. It's been a difficult weekend to be honest, but now we go to Suzuka which is a track I really look forward to, so hopefully I'll have some better luck there."
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: "The race tonight marks a major step forward for us. On the pitwall we were talking about beating Michael and Buemi in a straight fight on track, and we told Heikki to take the fight to them - not to take the conservative approach. If we'd taken the safer option maybe Heikki wouldn't have hit Buemi, but we're here to race, and that's what I mean about a big step forward. This is all part of our learning curve, but coming here and racing the Toro Rossos and Mercedes at the end of a pretty hardcore race is a sign of how far we've come. We'll take all these lessons into next year, and it can only help us be an even more potent force in 2011."
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer:"It was a very eventful race and a real shame at the end to see Heikki's race brought to an end with the fire. Both cars made a great start and got themselves in front of the Virgins which is obviously what we wanted to do. We stopped them both during the first safety car lap, which seemed to be the right call, and the pitcrew did a great job to get them both turned around as quickly as they did. Unfortunately Jarno then picked up a puncture from some debris on track and then a hydraulics problem brought his race to an end. We tried to get him back out, but after having done so the problems started again straight away so he had to come back in.
"Heikki clearly had a pretty dramatic race. When the fire started he made the decision not to come into the pitlane for safety reasons, and did very well to put the fire out himself. Until that point he was having a fantastic race and we were looking forward to fighting with Michael and Buemi right to the end, but unfortunately the fire put paid to that. The main thing really is to say thanks to him for being brave enough to put it out, and be thankful that he's fine after what was a pretty spectacular end to his race. After such a good race performance from him and the whole team, we will take some real positives from this weekend, and look forward to the last four races."
25 th September 2010
Singapore GP – Saturday Practice & Qualifying
Practice: Vettel was quickest from Alonso. Heikki was 20 th and Jarno 22 nd. No dramas. Top 6: Vettel, Alonso, Hamilton, Massa, Rosberg, Webber.
Qualifying: It all went wrong for Felipe Massa early in Q1 when his car stopped with mechanical problems. This left him stranded in P24, alongside Lotus, Virgin and HRT who were all unable to progress into Q2, as usual. Jarno was 21 st and Heikki 19 th. Petrov was a casualty of Q2 when he spun and crashed against the barriers. The Force Indias, the Toro Rossos, Hulkenberg and Heidfeld were also eliminated at this stage. Alonso took pole from Vettel and Hamilton. Top 10: Alonso, Vettel, Hamilton, Button, Webber, Barrichello, Rosberg, Kubica, Schumacher, Kobayashi.
Press Release - SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX QUALIFYINGQualifying under the lights at the Singapore Grand Prix saw traffic play a big part in Q1, which ended with Lotus Racing drivers Heikki Kovalainen in 19th and Jarno Trulli 21st.
Heikki Kovalainen (Chassis T127-01) FP3: 15 laps, best time 1.53.146, 20th / QUALIFYING: 19th, 1.50.915, 9 laps:“Qualifying today was quite difficult to be honest. The traffic made it really tricky as there were cars on slow laps when I was on a quick one, and I think I missed my best opportunity on the second set of tyres which were brand new. I gave it my best shot, and I think the last lap was about as good as I could have done today, so at least I split the Virgins and got pretty close to Timo. It’s still game on for tomorrow, and I think we’re in good shape for the race, so we’ll see what happens.”
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-04) FP3: 17 laps, best time 1.53.681, 22nd / QUALIFYING: 21st, 1.51.641, 10 laps:“I’m pretty disappointed with how it went tonight. This morning’s practice was pretty good but on the first run in qualifying on the options I couldn’t find any real grip so I switched to the primes. I think I got the most out of the car I could by the end of Q1 - braking obviously plays a big role here, and I’ve been struggling with the rear end locking all weekend, so I hope it improves tomorrow.”
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: “A pretty disappointing qualifying session today. Jarno has not been happy with the balance on the tyres all weekend and that carried through to qualifying. Heikki was generally happier on the option tyre but unfortunately he was held up on what would have been his quickest lap. Despite that I think the race pace of the car is strong and we look forward to a better performance in the race tomorrow.”
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: “I don’t think we got the best out the car today, but it is what it is. Honestly, I’m reasonably happy, as I thought we might not have been quite as close to Timo as we ended up – he goes very well here and I think that if the traffic hadn’t played its part Heikki might have been able to get past him. As development on this year’s car stopped back in July and we put our resources into the 2011 car, we always knew the competition would become closer as the season drew to an end, with our closest rivals continuing to bring upgrades to each race. With that in mind, the fact that Heikki is as close as he is to Timo means we can not be too disappointed. Jarno also did a good job today, after a tricky weekend for him on a track he does not favour, and they are both pumped up to fight tomorrow, so there’s all to play for in the race.”
24 th September 2010
Singapore GP – Friday Practice
Session 1: First the driver changes: Fauzy took Jarno’s car, D’Ambrosio took Di Grassi’s Virgin, Klien stepped into Yamamoto’s HRT (why not Chandhok?) as he has food poisoning, and Heidfeld is back in a Sauber. The session was wet to start with, even though it wasn’t raining and only dried out with 15 minutes to go. Webber was quickest from Schumacher. Hamilton branded the changes to the Turn 10 chicane as ‘ridiculous’ but there were no major dramas this session. Heikki was 15 th and Fauzy 24 th and last. Top 6: Webber, Schumacher, Sutil, Vettel, Alguersuari, Button.
Session 2: The track was dry for this session and Vettel was quickest from his team mate Webber. Jarno was 22 nd, Heikki 19 th. Alonso had a moment at turn 17 and took to the escape road, then stalled coming back out backwards, and that was the end of HIS session. Sutil also had a drama on the ‘ridiculous’ Turn 10 chicane kerbs, launching the car and smashing its left front suspension on the next kerb. Top 6: Vettel, Webber, Button, Alonso, Hamilton, Barrichello.
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-04) FP2:27 laps, best time 1.53.526, 22nd “We did a good number of laps in the second session, but I had a few problems with the engine driveability and with braking – it’s really difficult to feel the car when you have these kinds of problems, but let’s wait and see what tomorrow brings.”
16 th September 2010
Singapore GP – Jarno’s Preview
Jarno Trulli:“I’m staying in Italy after the race and will be doing a bit of cycling with some friends in Tuscany – it’s good to relax a bit between races and catch up with friends, and combining that with a bit of training is a good way to prepare for the next race. I really like the challenge of racing in Singapore – as a driver it’s good to push yourself and while the track itself isn’t hugely different from a couple of others on the calendar, the fact that it’s a night race makes it a unique event. It’ll be good to give the fans in Singapore, so close to Malaysia, their first chance to see the car on track, so we’re all looking forward to it. In terms of preparation for the race, there isn’t a huge amount you can do – we use a clear visor to maximise visibility in the twilight conditions, but apart from making sure your body stays on European time, it’s pretty much the same as any other race – train hard for the heat and make sure you’re ready.”
12 th September 2010
Italian GP – Race
Button took the lead at the start, banging wheels with Alonso. Hamilton tried to go past Massa but didn’t leave enough room and the clash with the Ferrari broke his steering, the McLaren finishing in the gravel. Button changed tyres first on lap 35, and was passed by the Ferrari after Alonso stopped a lap later. Alonso went on to win, with Button second and Massa third. Webber finished 6 th, in damage limitation with regard to the championship. Vettel, who was 4th, didn't stop for his obligatory pit stop until the final lap! Jarno retired on lap 47 with a smoky gearbox problem but Heikki finished in 18 th. Senna also retired on lap 12 with more reliability problems. Top 10: Alonso, Button, Massa, Vettel, Rosberg, Webber, Hulkenberg, Kubica, Schumacher, Barrichello.
Press Release - ITALIAN GRAND PRIX
Lotus Racing will move on to the Singapore Grand Prix having had a strong weekend that unfortunately did not repay the team with the race result they had hoped for. Heikki Kovalainen finished the race in 18th and Jarno Trulli recorded a DNF. Jarno had made a good start and was comfortably leading the other new teams until a gearbox failure on the 46th lap forced him to pull over.
Heikki Kovalainen (Chassis T127-01) 18th, fastest lap 1.27.822 - lap 50, 1 stop – lap 23:“I lost a few positions at the start, managed to get in front of di Grassi but then was stuck behind Timo. I didn’t have the straight line speed to get past him so didn’t have the chance to make a move. It’s a shame because I couldn’t get the true potential out of the car after a good weekend, but that’s life. We haven’t lost anything in terms of the Championship so all in all it’s not too disappointing.”
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-04) DNF, fastest lap 1.29.017 - lap 30, 1 stop – lap 25:“It was a very good race until the gearbox problem meant I had to stop. I lost second gear and even though I continued running without second, it gave up completely which ended the race. But I must say that the race had been very satisfying until that point. I was pulling away from Timo and the guys behind and was increasing the lead with every lap, and the car felt great right from the start. But this seems to be the story of the season – we’ll go to Singapore and hope my luck improves there.”
Dieter Gass, Sporting Director:“A bit of an unfortunate race today after a strong weekend. Heikki lost position at the start - he managed to pass di Grassi but couldn’t get past Timo after a good fight. Jarno had a strong race until we ran into gearbox trouble. He lost second, then the whole gearbox, which brought his race to an end. Now we move on to Singapore and we’ll fight back there.”
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: “One has to be philosophical after today’s race, and focus on the fact we had a very good weekend. It’s obviously disappointing that we had yet another gearbox failure on Jarno’s car as he was comfortably pulling away from his nearest rivals until he had to pull over. Heikki had an unfortunate start, and that meant his whole race was compromised as he was stuck behind Timo and couldn’t pass. Despite that, it’s been a good weekend for the team. We’ve made some important decisions about next year, and we’ll build on what we’ve learnt here and come back fighting.”
11 th September 2010
Italian GP – Saturday Practice & Qualifying
Practice: Hamilton is quickest in final practice, from Vettel and Alonso. The McLaren drivers are using different configurations, Button with the F-duct and Hamilton not. Webber’s car stopped on track after only 9 laps. Jarno was 19 th, Heikki 20 th. Top 6: Hamilton, Vettel, Alonso, Massa, Button, Rosberg.
Qualifying: Alonso took pole ahead of Button and team mate Massa. Does Ferrari make their car based on Monza? Liuzzi had an engine problem in Q1, ending up 20 th, behind Jarno in 18 th and Heikki in 19 th. The Virgins and the HRTs were also eliminated. Q2 said goodbye to the Saubers, Toro Rossos, Petrov, Schumacher and Sutil. Top 10: Alonso, Button, Massa, Webber, Hamilton, Vettel, Rosberg, Hulkenberg, Kubica, Barrichello.Press Release - A BIG STEP FORWARD FOR LOTUS RACING
Best of the new boys and both cars ahead of Liuzzi’s Force India means the Italian Grand Prix qualifying session will go down as a good day’s work for the Lotus Racing team. Both Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen’s times kept coming down throughout the session and it ended with Jarno starting tomorrow’s race in 18th and Heikki 19th.
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-04) FP3: 14 laps, best time 1.25.788, 19th / QUALIFYING: 18th, 1.25.540, 10 laps:“It was a great qualifying session for the whole team today because both cars are in front of a Force India and it’s looking good for tomorrow. The mechanics sorted out a little problem on the car just before the session, and they’ve been working really well all weekend so it’s good to repay that with the result. It’s always good to be able to perform like this at your home race and being best of the new guys means it’s been a good day.”
Heikki Kovalainen (Chassis T127-01) FP3: 16 laps, best time 1.25.925, 20th / QUALIFYING: 19th, 1.25.742, 11 laps: “I’m very happy with the performance today. It’s been a really good qualifying for both me and Jarno and we’re both in a good position for the race tomorrow. I had a great long run in yesterday’s practice and I’m looking forward to the race, perhaps more than most of the races this season. We’ve had a few races this season where we haven’t got the most out of the Friday sessions, but we did so yesterday, and that, combined with the promise of a dry race tomorrow and a very good race car, means I think we’ll put in a strong performance.”
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer:“It was an excellent qualifying session. I think we managed to get the most out of both cars today so well done to both drivers and the whole team. Overall I’m happy that we have the right level of wing for the race and after a trouble free session today we’re now looking forward to a solid two car finish tomorrow, ahead of our closest rivals.”
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: “What an awesome qualifying session! I’m so happy today – what a great way to bring up our first year anniversary! I always felt this would be Jarno’s day, but that’s taking nothing away from Heikki who also did an immense job out there. We are 1.1 seconds off Pedro’s Sauber, and on a power track like Monza that is incredible. I’m so proud of the whole team – they have worked brilliantly all weekend, and it has paid off today with a great performance from everyone. Tomorrow is going to be special, but the goal remains the same – get both cars home and make sure we stay ahead of the other new teams.”
10 th September 2010
Italian GP – Friday Practice
Session 1: Button was fastest from Vettel and Hamilton. Heikki had an hydraulic problem which lost him some time and was 21 st to Jarno’s 19 th. Senna did only 8 laps after a brake fluid loss delayed his participation and then he stopped out on track. Barrichello did only 4 laps suffering a lack of drive. Top 6: Button, Vettel, Hamilton, Kubica, Rosberg, Webber.
Session 2: Vettel was quickest from the 2 Ferraris. Jarno was 19 th, Heikki 20 th. HRT had an awful session with their drivers doing 8 laps between them due to reliability issues. Top 6: Vettel, Alonso, Massa, Hamilton, Button, Webber.
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-04) FP1: 12 laps, best time 1.26.898, 19th / FP2: 38 laps, best time 1.26.204, 19 th:“First of all it’s great to be back home for the first time with Lotus Racing. We’ve had a fantastic reception here, and even though Monza hasn’t been particularly lucky for me, it felt great to be out on track today. We started with a problem early on in FP1, but the guys did a great job in a very short time to change the parts which weren’t working properly. They put the car back together fast enough to give me some track time in the first session, so thanks to them for that. In FP2 we got through the whole programme – we were mainly looking at tyre evaluation and setup work, so having completed that it’s been a positive day. Obviously we’d like to pull away a bit more from the guys behind us, and I think with some more work tonight we’ll be looking good for tomorrow and Sunday.”
9 th September 2010
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/86502 Trulli knew he would ‘suffer’ in 2010
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/86510 Thursday Press Conference
29 th August 2010
Belgian GP - Race
The unpredictable weather continued for the race as is customary in Spa. The two Lotuses bogged down a bit at the start but after that Jarno drove a strong race. Unfortunately after the safety car in the final laps he had a high-speed spin but luckily didn’t hit anything! It did drop him back to last to begin with, but he still beat Yamamoto! Heikki’s race went the other way round. He pitted early on with a dmamaged front wing and made a tyre gamble that failed but managed to finish 16 th, almost swapping places with Jarno. The Lotuses weren’t the only bad starters… pole sitter Webber also bogged down at the start allowing Lucky Lewis to take the lead and basically stay there till the end. In his 300 th GP, Barrichello hit Alonso at the bus stop on the first lap (which was a good celebration), putting himself out of the race, although the Ferrari continued. Well, it did until Alonso crashed out himself in the rain on lap 38. Vettel had an eventful trace, from running third to finishing 15 th: trying to pass Button’s McLaren which had already suffered front wing damage on the first lap, Vettel lost control of his Red Bull and crashed into the side of Button’s car, putting the McLaren out of the race and earning the Red Bull driver a drive through penalty. Plus Vettel had to pit for a new front wing, and later got a puncture after Liuzzi’s Force India collided with the back of the Red Bull. Bit of a disastrous race really. The rain came down hard on lap 35 but after much changing of tyres with a few choosing full wets but most inters, everyone else finished the race intact. Apart from Senna who retired on lap 6, cause unknown. Top 10: Hamilton, Webber, Kubica, Massa, Sutil, Rosberg, Schumacher, Kobayashi, Petrov, Alguersuari.
Press Release - BELGIAN GRAND PRIX
The Belgian Grand Prix at Spa lived up to all expectations and produced an incident packed race that saw Lotus Racing again finish ahead of their nearest rivals. Heikki Kovalainen recovered from a slow start to finish 16th, and Jarno Trulli crossed the line in 19th, a spin late on dropping him back a few places after he had put in a very strong performance in the constantly changing weather conditions.
Heikki Kovalainen (Chassis T127-01) 16th, fastest lap 1.55.797 - lap 23, 3 stops – laps 1, 3, 33:“I had a bit of a problem at the start when the engine bogged down, and I activated the anti-stall, but I was already being passed by the time I could get up to speed. The rain had started and unfortunately I damaged my front wing in the last turn so I had to pit. We took a gamble with the inters but the rain stopped, so I had to come back in and I lost out to the group ahead of me. After that it was a question of doing the best job I could, and keeping us in with a chance of taking advantage of the rain at the end, and as it turned out we managed to pick up a few places at the end and finish 16th.”
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-04) 19th, fastest lap 1.55.103 – lap 24, 1 stop – lap 33:“It was pretty exciting out there, an eventful race where lots of things happened, but that’s normal for Spa! At the start I went wide to avoid Heikki and unfortunately was overtaken by a couple of other cars. After that I was struggling a bit in the early stages with my rear tyres overheating – fortunately they came back so I could started pushing and managed to pull away from the guys behind, so that was a good stint until the rain came. I had quite a big margin over my nearest competitor so I was looking pretty good, but then the safety car came out. At the restart I was following the other cars but obviously the visibility was very poor and I made a bit of an error on a high speed corner, touched the white line with the rear end of the car and it just slipped away from me, which meant I lost places. I continued, but then the race was over from there. I’m glad we got both cars home, and it’s good to see we’ve still got an advantage over our nearest rivals, so bring on Monza!”
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer:“An exciting race and a typically eventful one here in Spa. Neither driver had a great start which meant we lost a few places, and Heikki had a problem when the rain started. We changed him onto intermediates, but were then a little slow in changing him back, but he drove a great race, and was quick at the end in the wet conditions, and he again brought us home best of the new teams. Jarno drove a strong race. He struggled initially with the tyres, but in the middle part of the race his pace was very strong, and it’s just a shame that he had a spin in the difficult wet conditions as it would have been nice to have had both cars finish ahead of the other new guys. But despite that, both cars finished and overall this has been a good weekend for the whole team.”
Riad Asmat, Chief Executive Officer: “I feel great. I think we achieved what we wanted to do – we got both cars home and we’re still ahead of the other new teams. It’s a bit unfortunate that Jarno spun out, but it’s all part of racing. He recovered well and I think we’ll all move on from this point and feel confident we can put in a good performance in Monza, and the remaining races. I think the team did great today and there was maximum effort involved, so well done to everyone. The rain of course threw everything out of sync, but we survived it today and we’re really happy.”
28 th August 2010
Belgian GP – Saturday Practice & Qualifying
Practice: Conditions were good when Webber set the fastest time, as a damp track dried out until the deluge of rain 15 minutes from the end. Vettel had a car problem when his car cut out stuck in gear at the end of the pitlane but his best time was good enough for third. Jarno was 19 th and Heikki 21 st. Top 6: Webber, Hamilton, Vettel, Button, Kubica, Alonso.
Qualifying: It just goes to show that you can be top of the times in practice but get nowhere near pole in qualifying. Alonso could only manage 10 th on the grid. Webber was fastest from Hamilton and Kubica. The session started dry but that didn’t stop Petrov dropping it at turn 9, spinning into the inside barrier. This caused a red flag, then it rained heavily on the next first flying lap. Jarno had a problem with Di Grassi (see news item below), who managed to spin and beach his Virgin. He and Petrov were out of it, then the two Saubers had incidents and also stopped. This caused a yellow flag at the end of Q1 preventing Jarno improving his time to progress to Q2 along with Heikki and Glock from the new teams. Kobayashi and the HRTs were also eliminated. Jarno was 18 th and Heikki finished 16 th, ahead of Glock. Also dropping out of Q2 were the two Mercedes, both Toro Rossos and Liuzzi. It rained again lightly at the end of the session but only after Webber had posted the best time ahead of his rivals. Afterwards Glock was given a 5 place penalty for blocking Yamamoto in qualifying, and along with Rosberg’s gearbox penalty and Schumacher’s 10 place drop from the last race, Jarno and Heikki will start 15 th and 14 th. Nice one. Top 10: Webber, Hamilton, Kubica, Vettel, Button, Massa, Barrichello, Sutil, Hulkenberg, Alonso.
Trulli angry after qualifying dramas
Press Release - SPA BRINGS OUT THE BEST IN LOTUS RACINGLotus Racing CEO Riad Asmat and the Malaysian flag brought a touch of luck to the team today at the Belgian Grand Prix Qualifying session as Heikki Kovalainen made it through to his second appearance of the season in Q2, and finished the session 16th. Jarno Trulli just missed out on Q2 after yellow flags at the end of an action packed Q1 forced him to back off, robbing him of the chance of joining his team-mate in the afternoon’s second session. With the Mercedes cars of both Schumacher and Rosberg having to take grid penalties, and Timo Glock’s Virgin being dropped five places after the session, the Lotus Racing cars will provisionally line up 14th and 15th, and with the T127s carrying the Malaysian flag on the engine covers at Spa to celebrate Malaysian Independence Day on 31st August, the team are looking forward to putting in a performance tomorrow to give all their fans in Malaysia and around the world something to cheer for in the unpredictable Belgian conditions.
Heikki Kovalainen (Chassis T127-01) FP3: 14 laps, best time 1.51.384, 21st / QUALIFYING: 16th, 1.50.980, 12 laps:“It was a great qualifying for us today, the second time we made it into Q2 like we did in Malaysia. It’s a shame Jarno didn’t make it through as well, and I was just ahead of him, but the team did a great job today and they should all be very pleased. We made the right calls on tyres in both sessions and in the second session it was really about fighting with Timo, and we nailed him so we achieved what we set out to do today. I think we should be in pretty good shape tomorrow against our direct competitors, and those just ahead, as it looks like the lower downforce circuits suit us, so I hope we have mixed conditions tomorrow and can give it our best shot.”
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-04) FP3: 14 laps, best time 1.50.600, 19th / QUALIFYING: 18th, 2.01.491, 9 laps: “I’m obviously disappointed that I didn’t make it into Q2, but congratulations to Heikki and the team for putting in such a good performance. It was a pretty crazy session, and it started badly for me when di Grassi lost his car - I was quicker than him, and I couldn’t avoid going over him. If he had let me by in the first place when I was much quicker, then it wouldn’t have happened. It’s difficult in changeable conditions, everyone gets surprised, but we’re still in a pretty good position tomorrow, so we’ll do our best to reward the fans.”
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer:“In the end it was a very good session for us today. It’s disappointing we didn’t get Jarno into Q2 as well, but the yellow flags at the end of his final run held him up, otherwise I’m sure he’d have joined Heikki in Q2. Heikki did a great job in spite of the conditions, and he managed to get the best out the car. We’ll be in our best starting positions tomorrow and we’re all looking forward to a good strong race. We’re clearly the quickest of the new boys, and tomorrow will be all about getting Jarno up with Heikki, getting both cars across the finish line, and making good on the performance we’ve put in today.”
Riad Asmat, Chief Executive Officer: “I’m absolutely delighted, for the whole team, and for everyone who supports us around the world. We managed to get into Q2 for the second time in our first season which is pretty fantastic by any measure. It’s a shame Jarno didn’t get in as well, but that’s what happens in racing, and this is a really good start after the summer break. It’s important to remember that we’re a small team, with limited resources, and I think that what we have achieved today, and will continue to achieve, is the stuff dreams are made of….
28 th August 2010
Belgian GP – Friday Practice
Session 1: As is often the case in Spa, the weather took a hand in the practice session, although no one actually crashed in the rain, which was a miracle in itself. Alonso was quickest, setting a fast time shortly before the heavens opened, and then going quicker even on a very wet track after the rain had stopped. Hamilton was second quickest with Kubica third. Jarno was 21 st and Heikki 23 rd, behind the Virgins for a change. Top 6: Alonso, Hamilton, Kubica, Vettel, Sutil, Button.
Session 2: Apart from a shower at the start of the session when Liuzzi went off at Rivage and needed a new front wing, and Glock put his Virgin into the barriers at turn 9, the track slowly dried out as the session progressed. The session had to be stopped 15 minutes from the end while secutiry removed some spectators who decided to climb onto the track at turn 8, and then the red light at the end of the pitlane got stuck. Alonso was quickest again from Sutil. Jarno was 20 th and Heikki 19 th. Top 6: Alonso, Sutil, Hamilton, Kubica, Massa, Vettel.
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-04) FP1: 15 laps, best time 2.07.189, 21st / FP2: 21 laps, best time 1.53.639, 20 th: “It feels good to be back. It’s always nice to be back on track, especially in Spa as it’s such a good track. Practice today went very well for me and I’m pleased with where we ended up. Unfortunately on the last run this afternoon I was blocked by another car which prevented me from going quicker with the same set of tyres as everyone else, but before that I was looking pretty good, so I feel confident for tomorrow.”
1 st August 2010
Hungarian GP – Race
Yet again Seb Vettel failed to convert a pole into a race win! A strange elementary mistake too, so he has no one to blame but himself. His team mate Webber DID win again though, thankfully preventing an Alonso win. Don’t think we could stomach that again after last week. Massa was 4 th. Hamilton had to retire with a transmission problem on lap 25, and Button could only manage 8 th, so Red Bull go into the break leading both championships. The speed of the Red Bulls gives the team more strategy options and when the safety car came out on lap 15 to recover unidentified debris on track, the team left Webber out there, gambling he would recover from a later pit stop using his superior car. Vettel did pit and came out behind Webber. His downfall came when he wasn’t paying attention at the restart and allowed himself to drop more than 10 car lengths behind the leader, Webber, which sparked a drive through penalty. He did still finish third though. The safety car period was eventful in the pitlane. On lap 17, Rosberg’s Mercedes shed its right rear wheel on leaving the pitbox, which bounced through the neighbouring mechanics and ended up injuring a Williams mechanic. Immediately after this, Kubica’s Renault was released into the path of Sutil’s Force India as it was about to enter its own pit box. The resulting collision caused the Force India to retire immediately, once it had been extricated from the Renault. Surprised it hasn’t happened before, although this seems a genuine mistake rather than a risky manoeuvre. Kubica continued but received a stop/go penalty for the incident, and retired anyway on lap 25. The only other retiree was Alguersuari on lap 2, with smoke pouring from his engine. Jarno and Heikki both finished the race, as did all the new teams’ cars. Heikki (14 th) got switched with Jarno (15 th) in the pitstops. Michael Schumacher did his best to put Barrichello in the pitwall towards the end of the race as they fought over 10 th place. Old habits die hard but this time Schumacher is penalised 10 grid place in the next GP. Top 10: Webber, Alonso, Vettel, Massa, Petrov, Hulkenberg, De la Rosa, Button, Kobayashi, Barrichello.
Press Release - A DAY IN THE SUN AT THE HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIXLotus Racing enjoyed an excellent day in the heat of the Hungarian Grand Prix with Heikki Kovalainen finishing 14th and Jarno Trulli just behind in 15th. A very exciting race, full of incidents throughout the grid, saw the Anglo / Malaysian squad firmly consolidate their position at the top of the new team chart, sending the team into the summer break full of confidence for the challenges that lay ahead when the Championship reconvenes in late August.
Heikki Kovalainen (Chassis T127-01) 14th, fastest lap 1.27.457 - lap 64, 1 stop - lap 15:“A great day for the team, and a great job from everyone to get us home in 14th and 15th. I think that was the maximum we could have hoped for, so we’re all really pleased. Despite starting behind Timo we were confident we could overtake him, and that’s how it panned out. My own race was fairly straightforward. I dropped a few places at the start but when the safety car came in I was brought straight in to pit and it worked out well as I jumped a couple of guys ahead. From then I was controlling my pace to the end, and making sure I didn’t make any mistakes. We head into the break very satisfied with how we performed today, and that’s great for the whole team.”
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-04) 15th, fastest lap 1.27.429 – lap 58, 1 stop – lap 20:“It’s a great day for the team. All weekend I’ve been strong, and today’s two car finish shows how hard the team’s been working. I made a very good start and managed to gain three places, and once I got ahead of Timo it was pretty comfortable staying in front. I lost out to Heikki in the strategy call during the safety car period, but that was in the best interests of the team, and as we are again ahead of our nearest rivals, we’ve achieved what we set out to today.”
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer:“An excellent two car finish and once again we’re the best of the new teams. Both drivers drove strong races and Jarno had a particularly good start. Once the safety car came out we made a strategy call to keep Jarno out as we knew it would be a short period behind the safety car and this was the right strategy for the team. Unfortunately this meant Jarno lost a place to his teammate, so apologies to him, but we got the call right for the team. Heikki drove a good strong race to the end. He was bottled up behind Di Grassi at the start, but once he’d got past he was very comfortable running to the flag. All in all a really good result, and a very good day for the team.”
Kamarudin Meranun, Deputy Team Principal: “It was a very exciting race and moments like this are the ones you want to cherish. We made a very good decision with Heikki when the safety car came out, and both he and Jarno drove really well to keep their positions to the end. It’s a great day for the team, and I’ve just given Tony a challenge – let’s see you beat that next time you’re on the pitwall!”
31 st July 2010
Hungarian GP – Saturday Practice & Qualifying
Practice: It’s the Red Bulls again heading the pack in final practice. Di Grassi jumps Jarno and Heikki out of their usual positions, dropping them to 20 th (JT) and 21 st. Top 6: Webber, Vettel, Alonso, Kubica, Massa, Hamilton.
Qualifying: Vettel flew to an amazingly quick pole, with his team mate Webber second but 7 tenths away. The Ferraris came next. At the other end, Di Grassi was top of the new teams, with Heikki 20 th and Jarno 21 st. Kobayashi was the unlucky driver to get stuck in Q1 with them. Button was the high profiler to languish in Q2. Oh, and Schumacher if you can count him these days. The Force Indias, the Toro Rossos and Barrichello were the others left behind in Q2. Top 10: Vettel, Webber, Alonso, Massa, Hamilton, Rosberg, Petrov, Kubica, De la Rosa, Hulkenberg.
Press Release - HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX QUALIFYINGLotus Racing will start the Hungarian Grand Prix in 20th and 21st positions, with Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli qualifying within 1/10th of a second of each other at the Hungaroring in today’s official qualifying session.
Heikki Kovalainen (Chassis T127-01) FP3: 22 laps, best time 1.24.623, 21st / QUALIFYING: 20th, 1.24.120, 9 laps: “I think we got as much out of the car as we could today. Considering the time I lost yesterday it felt like the maximum this afternoon. The car felt ok, and it’s a bit of a relief we got to where we are as I wasn’t sure about the balance today, bearing in mind I’d missed most of FP2. We’re still in a decent position for tomorrow and we’ll focus on the start and the strategy, and make sure we stay ahead of the other new teams in the race itself.”
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-04) FP3: 22 laps, best time 1.24.576, 20th / QUALIFYING: 21st, 1.24.199 9 laps: “It’s a bit disappointing today. I was going well on the first run but I was held by the traffic in the last sector and lost about 4/10ths, so we had to abort that lap – it’s a shame as that was looking like pretty good. On the second run the tyres didn’t work as well as we’d hoped and that cost me a lot of time. Despite that we’ll do our best tomorrow, and want to see both cars across the finish line.”
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer:“Little bit of a disappointing qualifying session today. After the first run both drivers were relatively happy, but neither of them got a clean run on the second set of tyres – Jarno in particular said he had very little grip with the second set. However, we are where we are, and we’re looking for a strong two car finish tomorrow.”
Kamarudin Meranun, Deputy Team Principal: “After the issues we had on Friday with Heikki we’ve got to be relatively pleased with where we are. Jarno’s lap was obviously affected by traffic, and I think Heikki got as much out of his runs as he could with the time he lost yesterday, so we’re still hopeful about getting ahead of the Virgin tomorrow, and getting both cars home.”
30 th July 2010
Hungarian GP – Friday Practice
No dramas, little incident in the first session and the Red Bulls were quickest. Jarno was 19 th, Heikki 20 th. Top 6: Vettel, Webber, Kubica, Button, Barrichello, De la Rosa.
The Red Bulls were still at the top in session 2, sandwiching Alonso. Jarno was 19 th but Heikki was last after a mechanical problem kept him in the garage most of the time. Top 6: Vettel, Alonso, Webber, Massa, Petrov, Hamilton.
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-04) FP1: 22 laps, best time 1.25.032, 19th / FP2: 37 laps, 1.24.553, 19 th:“It was a good, trouble free Friday session, so I’m very happy with how it went. We did a lot of work on the setup so generally the car balance hasn’t been too bad. Obviously it’s a bumpy circuit which evolves all the time, so it’s important to follow up the evolution. We’ve also been able to evaluate the tyres, which is important for both qualifying tomorrow and for the race on Sunday.”
26 th July 2010
Hungarian GP – Jarno’s Preview
Jarno Trulli, Car No. 18:“It’ll be good to get back in the car straight away after a frustrating end to the German Grand Prix. After what had been a really strong weekend, it was obviously not the way we wanted the race to go, so hopefully Hungary will be better luck for us! The Hungaroring is a very twisty track, bumpy and hard to pass on, and not one you can get a great rhythm on. We’ll be running the full downforce package, and as it’s normally very tough – hot and very long, it’s a real physical challenge. But I’m feeling good, and we keep progressing, so I’m looking forward to the weekend.”
25 th July 2010
German GP – Race
Good ol’ Ferrari! They don’t learn, do they? Or is it they are so arrogant they don’t think the rules apply to them? Or are they so thick they can’t even see that what they did falls into the category of team orders? More likely they thought they could get away with getting Massa to let Alonso through to win the race and no one would have anything to say! Big mistake! Media furore, an uncomfortable long press conference for the Ferrari boys who were first and second, the wrong way round, in front of a bemused Seb Vettel in third place who wasn’t aware of the controversy at the time. No doubt Ferrari feel the $100,000 fine imposed on the team by the stewards who did NOT have the wool pulled over their eyes, is cheap for what it was worth, even though it still has to go to the WMSC. But aren’t Ferrari and Alonso well suited? Felipe Massa is far too nice for that team. He made such a fab getaway, that while Alonso and Vettel were fighting for position, he shot away in the lead. He should have finished there but the Alonso-centred team had other ideas. No doubt Alonso was moaning and carrying on in the cockpit until the team organised the switch. The prima donna act isn’t a requirement of being a champion…. look at Jenson. The McLarens were 4 th and 5 th, having been off the pace all weekend. Lotus had a bad day: Jarno’s gearbox lasted a couple of laps before he retired on lap 4, after the team had tried and failed to reset the box. Heikki had to retire on lap 58, after colliding with De la Rosa’s Sauber which was part of a convoy passing him under blue flags, Heikki got reprimanded for it afterwards but had already apologised. Buemi was the first retirement, on lap 2, after his team mate crashed into him at the hairpin. Oops. Other retirees were Yamamoto on lap 20 and di Grassi on lap 51. Force India had a terrible day: The drivers collided on the first lap, with Liuzzi’s returning to the pits for front wing repairs, with Sutil also turning up at the same time as they had decided to bring him in for a tyre change due to strategy if he had a bad start. Unfortunately the team mixed up the tyres and they both had to go back to rectify the situation. They eventually finished 16 th and 17 th. Top 10: Alonso, Massa, Vettel, Hamilton, Button, Webber, Kubica, Rosberg, Schumacher, Petrov.
Press Release - GERMAN GRAND PRIXRace day in Germany began with Lotus Racing Chief Mechanic Phil Spencer, Deputy Team Principal Kamarudin Meranun and Chief Executive Officer Riad Asmat paying their respects to Team Lotus legend Jim Clark at his Hockenheim memorial, but it was a disappointing Sunday for the team after both Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen recorded DNFs. Jarno Trulli had a strong start and was running 15th, but retired on lap four after a gearbox problem brought his race to an end. Heikki Kovalainen was running well in the race but was forced to retire on lap 60 after a coming together with de la Rosa’s Sauber.
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-04):“I made a very good start and then suddenly I lost the gearbox and unfortunately that was it. We tried to reset it in the pit and I went out again but it didn’t work, so I think it was a mechanical issue with the box that brought the race to an early end. It’s very frustrating because I was having a very good weekend, probably the best of the whole season so far, and it’s like the luck just isn’t with me. We’ve got another chance next weekend so I hope the luck changes there.”
Heikki Kovalainen (Chassis T127-01):“A disappointing end but it was just one of those things that can happen when you’re having to let cars past. It was my mistake but I didn’t see the Sauber coming. I thought I was letting the Williams past, and didn’t see the Sauber so I closed the door and that was the end of the race. It’s a shame because I was running pretty well until then.”
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer:“Ultimately a very disappointing day. Jarno lost second gear and had to retire and Heikki had to retire after contact with de la Rosa. Both cars made good starts – we started Jarno on the harder tyre and Heikki on the options to split the strategies, but Jarno’s race was over before he’d really started. Heikki drove a strong race and was comfortably leading the battle of the new teams before contact forced him to retire. Despite this it was still a strong showing from us, and now we move on to Hungary.”
Kamarudin Meranun, Deputy Team Principal: “It’s frustrating because we’d had a good weekend, in practice and qualifying. Very unfortunate for Jarno, and Heikki was doing well so it’s disappointing to see he couldn’t finish the race, not due to a mechanical issue, but because of an incident that was out of our control. So, even though it’s sad, we’ll pull through, and we’ll do a better job in Hungary.”
24 th July 2 010
German GP – Saturday Practice & Qualifying
Vettel was quickest in final practice, with Alonso second. Again the sessionw as wet, drting out by halfway. Sutil ended with a broken driveshaft, enabling Heikki and Jarno to be 18 th and 19 th respectively. Top 6: Vettel, Alonso, Webber, Massa, Rosberg, Hamilton.
In qualifying, Vettel took pole, pushed all the way by Alonso. Force India had a bad time, first Sutil has a 5 place penalty for a gearbox change, then Liuzzi caused a red flag a couple of laps into Q1 when he spun out of the last corner and crashed into the pit wall. He’ll still be 22 nd though, ahead of HRT’s Yamamoto, in for Chandhok this weekend, and Di Grassi whose gearbox problems meant he didn’t go out at all. Jarno was quickest of the new teamers, being 18 th and Heikki just beat Glock to 19 th. Both Toro Rossos, both Saubers, Sutil, Petrov, Hulkenberg and Schumacher all failed to make it into Q3. Top 10: Vettel, Alonso, Massa, Webber, Button, Hamilton, Kubica, Barrichello, Rosberg, Hulkenberg.
Press Release - GERMAN GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING
Qualifying at the German Grand Prix saw Lotus Racing confirm the progress the Anglo / Malaysian team has been making all season, Jarno Trulli finishing 18th, less than a second behind Buemi’s Toro Rosso and closer to the established teams than in any race in the 2010 World Championship. Team mate Heikki Kovalainen was just behind in 19th after beating Glock’s Virgin into 20th place, keeping both Lotus Racing cars at the head of the new team pack and looking strong for tomorrow’s race.
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-04) FP3: 10 laps, best time 1.19.607, 19th / QUALIFYING: 18th, 12 laps, 1.17.583:“I’ve had a great weekend so far. I’ve had no troubles with the car and I’ve been able to work on getting the right balance, and being comfortable with how the car feels in all the sessions. You can see from the lap time today just how good it’s been, so I’m really happy, but obviously we always have work to do, and the satisfaction comes from putting in the work and seeing results like the lap today. Tomorrow it’s all about pushing the guys ahead and getting both cars home again, so that’s where the focus is now.”
Heikki Kovalainen (Chassis T127-01) FP3: 11 laps, best time 1.19.193, 18th / QUALIFYING: 19th, 11 laps, 1.18.300:“It’s been quite a difficult weekend for me so far - it seems to be a bit harder than normal and I’m not sure why. The balance was ok today but the grip levels felt poor and I wasn’t able to get the best out of the tyres on either run. It felt like I was getting more out of them on the third lap each time, so we need to analyse that and see what’s behind it. Despite this we’re still in a good position. Jarno did a great lap and I got ahead of Glock pretty comfortably, so there’s everything to fight for tomorrow.”
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer:“Mixed feelings today. A very good job from Jarno who was pretty happy with the balance of his car, but disappointing for Heikki who lost 3/10ths in a straight line to Jarno and we’ll have to look at the reasons for that. Overall he hasn’t been happy with the balance all weekend and I think the team didn’t do a good enough job on his car before qualifying. However, on the positive side we finished the best of the new teams, and we’re looking to take this form into the race tomorrow with a strong double finish.”
Kamarudin Meranun, Deputy Team Principal: “It’s very exciting to see us finish 18th and 19th, and we’ll be going up another position on the grid due to Sutil’s penalty. I’m sorry for Heikki, but very happy for Jarno and I’m sure Heikki will put in a very strong performance tomorrow – we’re firmly ahead of the new teams and closer than ever to those ahead, so it’s a good day!”
23 rd July 2010
German GP – Friday Practice
The first session was wet. 8 laps into the session, a puddle caught Hamilton out and he hit the wall at turn 3. Sutil was quickest in the wet and kept his position when the track began to dry by the end. There were many spins and errors, even though one of the culprits, Massa, finished second quickest. Jarno was an impressive 15 th, ahead of such greats as Alonso, Schumacher and Hamilton. Fairuz Fauzy in the other Lotus was 21 st. Top 6: Sutil, Massa, Button, Barrichello, Petrov, Rosberg.
The second session was mostly dry so it was a different picture, with Alonso fastest from Vettel, although Massa was still 3 rd. Hamilton sat out much of the session as the team fixed his broken car but banged in 10 laps at the end for P7. Top 6: Alonso, Vettel, Massa, Webber, Rosberg, Schumacher.
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-04) FP1:17 laps, best time 1.29.280, 15th / FP2: 34 laps, 1.20.008, 20 th:“It was a positive day today. We put in a lot of laps in both sessions and I think the car is behaving pretty well here. The track’s improved throughout the day and after getting a decent amount of running in I’m confident we can deliver a good result tomorrow.”
21 st July 2010
German GP – Jarno’s Preview
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-04):“Hockenheim has some real history and in its old guise it demanded a lot from the drivers, in terms of setup, driving and in getting all the little details right. However, now it’s a more conventional circuit, and while I like it, I preferred the old layout. I was on the podium there a while back, and I won the German F3 Championship there many years ago, so it does hold a lot of good memories for me. It’s always hot when we go there, and the fans are very passionate, so I hope we can put on a good show for them, and show what Lotus Racing is all about.”Take a look at Jarno's YouTube preview of the German GP here: Jarno's Hockenheim Preview
11 th July 2010
British GP – Race
Well done Jarno, after his ‘disastrous’ weekend! The car gets to the end of the race and he finishes 16 th, ahead of Heikki in 17 th. Inevitably, a Red Bull wins the race, but it’s Webber, not pole-sitter Vettel, who ends up 7 th, following a puncture on the first lap, when he looks to have touched his rear wheel on Hamilton’s front wing end plate. Hamilton consequently runs in second for the rest of the race and finishes on the podium with Rosberg in third place. Alonso has a bad start and bangs wheels with Massa’s fellow Ferrari, giving him a puncture too. Alonso gets a penalty after cutting a corner and gaining a place from Kubica….. it has to be a drive through as the Renault has already retired with a differential problem. Alonso later gets another puncture when tussling with Liuzzi and is a bit angry when he finishes 14 th. Just one ahead of Massa. Now THAT’S poetic justice! Next car on the road is Jarno! Hooray! The safety car comes out after a clash between De La Rosa and Sutil leaves half the Sauber’s rear wing on the track. The Sauber soon retires on lap 30, joining Di Grassi who slips away on lap 10, Kubica’s Renault on lap 20 and Alguersuari on lap 45. At least the latter will be celebrating Spain’s World Cup win tonight! Maybe that’s cheered Alonso up too! Top 10: Webber, Hamilton, Rosberg, Button, Barrichello, Kobayashi, Vettel, Sutil, Schumacher, Hulkenberg.
Press release – British Grand Prix
VIP guest Hazel Chapman brought a touch of the luck that had been missing in recent races back to Lotus Racing as the team recorded a double car finish at today’s British Grand Prix. Jarno Trulli made a great start and then put in a strong race to finish 16th, Heikki crossing the line just behind him in 17th. The day began with Hazel officially opening the team’s new motorhome alongside Tony Fernandes, Kamarudin Meranun, Bette Hill and former World Champion Nigel Mansell, the official FIA Steward for the British Grand Prix.
Jarno Trulli - 16th:"I finished the Grand Prix and managed to fight with the other teams after a pretty difficult weekend, so I'm very happy. It's just great for the whole team as they worked really hard with some difficult problems, but the work paid off. My pace felt very good, especially when you consider that I didn't have a chance to work on any set up changes, and I had to get used to the new section of the track in qualifying and during the first part of the race, so I think we all did a pretty good job!"
Heikki Kovalainen - 17th:"I think my pace was good all the way through the race, but there was constant traffic in front of me. I lost my position on the first lap, which was frustrating, as I then got held up quite a bit. I don't mind being a lap down, but it's just a shame I couldn't really push. Overall I'm very pleased that we managed to finish where we did and it has been a good day for the team here at Silverstone."
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer:"Today's been good - a strong two car finish is a great return on the all the hard work that's been put in, so well done to the whole team for that, and once again we're best of the news teams. Apologies to Heikki as we had a problem in his pitstop which dropped him behind the Virgin, but he drove a great race in the second half and managed to regain his place. Jarno had a very solid race to make sure we had a two car finish and keep ourselves best of the new teams. The only negative was the safety car which came at the wrong time for us, because we'd just pitted and it meant we dropped a lap down. But other than that it was a good strong Sunday, so well done to everyone in the team."
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: "I'm absolutely delighted. This has been a great day - a two car finish is just what I've been wanting for the last few races, so I'm very very happy! Obviously the pitstops didn't go to plan, but we recovered well and everything played out for us in the end. I think Heikki's pace was very good and he raced really well, despite the unfortunate pitstop, and we got two cars home which really was the main thing. It was also a real honour for Hazel Chapman to come today and she's brought us something very special - our motorhome is a very welcoming place for everyone in the team, and all our guests, so I'd like to thank her for coming along and instilling a bit of that old-school Team Lotus spirit in our home."
10 th July 2010
British GP – Saturday Practice
Pratice: It’s a Red Bull on top again as Vettel leads the way, from his team mate and Alonso. Vettel has a problem with the Abbey bump as it dislodges his front wing which drops dowm and scrapes along the ground. Jarno does a not so massive 11 laps, due to hydraulic problems, fi nishing 21 st. Heikki is 19 th. Glock only does 6 laps, suffering form throttle problems. Top 6: Vettel, Webber, Alonso, Rosberg, Massa, Kubica.
Qualifying:And now it’s a Red Bull front row! With Vettel on pole with his new front wing (of which the team have only one since the other one dropped off at Abbey yesterday. Webber has the hump. Alonso makes it to third. In the other world occupied by the new teams, Heikki is quickest in 19 th. Jarno is 21 st, not surprising given his lack of track time, but only a tenth off Glocky in the middle. Alguersuari is the fall guy who is eliminated from Q1 with them. A mixed bunch drop out in Q2: the other Toro Rosso, both Force Indias, Petrov, Kobayashi, Hulkenberg and more surprisingly, Jenson Button. Top 10: Vettel, Webber, Alonso, Hamilton, Rosberg, Kubica, Massa, Barrichello, De la Rosa, Schumacher.
Press Release - LOTUS RACING BRITISH GRAND PRIX QUALIFYINGLotus Racing outclassed the other new teams in Saturday’s qualifying session at the British Grand Prix, Heikki Kovalainen finishing 19th and Jarno Trulli 21st, after an exciting session which showed the team’s upgrade package has kept them at the front of the pack chasing the midfield teams. The team enjoyed a royal visit just before qualifying, HRH Prince Andrew The Duke of York stopping by the Lotus Racing garage and being shown around by Team Principal Tony Fernandes and Chief Technical Officer Mike Gascoyne.
Heikki Kovalainen (Chassis T127-01) Qualified 19th, 1.34.405, 9 laps:“I’m pleased because I’m in the position I targeted for qualifying, but even though we’re the fastest of the new teams, that wasn’t my best qualifying session this year. It was pretty tricky out there today – it was windier than in FP3 and I found the balance wasn’t quite where it had been this morning. Nevertheless, we’re in a good position and good shape for tomorrow. The car feels good on the heavier fuel load, so I think we’ll be ok. I also want to say that Jarno did a great job out there – to be within half a second after the bad luck he’s had all weekend is great, and I hope we can get both cars home tomorrow. That’s the main goal, so let’s see what happens.”
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-04) Qualified 21st, 1.34.864, 10 laps:“I’m pretty happy with my result to be honest – I managed to learn the circuit very quickly, almost having to do so during qualifying as the problems I had on Friday and Saturday meant I’ve had very little time on track! Qualifying was the first time I managed to really push the car, as a hydraulics problem had cut short FP3, so, overall, I’m happy and my position is better than I expected.”
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer:“I have mixed feelings after qualifying. Again we had some mechanical problems with Jarno this morning, which meant that going into qualifying he had only completed 12 laps over the whole weekend on the new circuit layout, so he had a very difficult task in front of him and did a good job to be as close in time to his team mate as he was. Heikki had traffic on both his runs, which was a shame as he could have got a little more out of the car had he had a clear run, but he was ahead of the other new teams so that’s a positive. Overall it’s been quite a difficult weekend so far but we’re looking forward to the race tomorrow and are focusing on getting both cars to the finish.”
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: “We did as well as we could have expected with not a lot of running this weekend, but well done to Heikki who probably could have gone faster if he had not hit so much traffic. Jarno did exceptionally well, having only run a few laps all weekend, and that’s what his pace, experience and knowledge gives us. It was great to see the Lotus Racing flags in the crowd, and a lot of green and yellow shirts and caps. Tomorrow, hopefully, we can make them proud, bring two cars home and put on a show worthy of the efforts of the team.”
9 th July 2010
British GP – Friday Practice
Jarno did not have a great day…. first the test driver took his car, and then broke it. Then a gearbox problem meant Jarno could only complete 3 laps in the second session. In the first session, Heikki was 19 th and Fairuz Fauzy in Jarno’s car was 23 rd. But he was ahead of Sakon Yamamoto who mysteriously took over Bruno Senna’s HRT drive this weekend. Unfortunately Fairuz had to stop on track at the end of the session with a problem. He had had to wait for his debut while the mechanics changed the engine. The drivers were all learning the new Arena part of the Silverstone track, except for Jarno. Obviously. There’s a bump at Abbey that they are not liking. Vettel was quickest, from Hamilton and Kubica. Top 6: Vettel, Hamilton, Kubica, Webber, Sutil, Rosberg. In session 2 Webber took over at the top, pushed by Alonso and Vettel. Jarno could only do 3 laps suffering from a gearbox problem, so was at the bottom of the timesheets. Heikki was 19 th. Top 6: Webber, Alonso, Massa, Rosberg, Schumacher.
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-04) FP2: 3 laps, 1.42.901, 24 th:“I can’t say much about today really – we had a problem with the gearbox that the guys spent most of the session trying to fix, but then it was clear it couldn’t be done in time for today so we’ll just focus on tomorrow, and hope the luck changes.”
8 th July 2010
British GP – Jarno Q & A
Autosport Q&A
6 th July 2010
British GP – Jarno’s Preview
Jarno Trulli, Chassis T127–04:“Silverstone will definitely be another important weekend for us, the first time a Lotus has raced in F1™ in the UK for a long time, and our second home race. I think we’ll have a lot of support there, and I hope we’ll do well – the British fans are very knowledgeable and there’s always a lot of them, so it’ll be a great show, whatever happens. There’s a new layout, and it’ll be very interesting to see how quick that’s going to be – we’ll be looking at how it affects the tyres and what strategies and setups will be best for us, so all in all I’m looking forward to getting over there.”
27 th June 2010
European GP - Race
The most dramatic incident of the race was Webber launching his car over the rear of Heikki’s car, it taking off like a rocket, then rolling upside down before righting itself and slamming into the tyre barriers. And Webber walking away. This obviously ended both their races on lap 9. Why was Webber in that position? He had slipped back at the start and took an early pitstop, with a delay for a stubborn front wheel, coming out behind Heikki. Vettel had led away from the line, despite banging wheels with Hamilton who damaged his front wing. After the safety car was called after the accident, as Vettel was away in the distance, Hamilton managed to overtake the safety car and the medical car. Alonso complained bitterly but the stewards took so long to decide the drive through penalty that Lucky Lewis was able to rejoin the track still in second place. Other drivers had also breached safety car rules but were not dealt with till the end of the race. Then they were given a paltry 5 second penalty that was a waste of time except Alonso moved up one place to 8 th and Rosberg moved into 10 th place at the expense of De la Rosa. Those given the 5 seconds were Button (still 3 rd though), both Williams, both Force Indias, both Renaults, Buemi and De la Rosa. Pointless. Glock was also penalised 20 seconds for ignoring blue flags. Driver of the day was Kobayashi, who ran third after the SC and stayed out until the last knockings of the race, eventually finishing 7 th after passing Alonso with a lap to go and Buemi at the last corner. The only other retiree was Hulkenberg, with a delaminated tyre on lap 50. Jarno survived a first lap attack on his front wing, followed by damage from an assault on his rear wing, which led to a gearbox problem eventually solved in the pits. He resumed the race an extra 2 laps down and managed to finish. Vettel won the race followed by the 2 Mercedes. Top 10 (revised): Vettel, Hamilton, Button, Barrichello, Kubica, Sutil, Kobayashi, Alonso, Buemi, Rosberg.
Press Release - EUROPEAN GRAND PRIX
After a very promising build up to the European Grand Prix, Lotus Racing leave Valencia relieved that Heikki Kovalainen and Red Bull’s Mark Webber both came out of a potentially very dangerous crash on lap 10 unscathed, and encouraged by Jarno Trulli’s race pace after a very unfortunate start to his afternoon’s work saw him make an early stop for a new front wing, before going on to finish 21st.
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-04) Qualified 19th, finished 21 st: “I don’t know exactly what happened at the beginning as I managed to get away from the mess at the front but I was hit from the back and at the same time lost my front wing. It all happened during the first lap, so I thought it was the end of the race for me, but I managed to get back to the pits, and the mechanics did a great job to fix the car. I went out but had a gearbox problem, so more good work from the boys got me back out and I was then able to run to the end. I did the whole race with one set of tyres, and I felt that the pace throughout was very good. The handling was great, so I’m happy about the performance and when I pushed I was able to put in some really good lap times.”
Heikki Kovalainen (Chassis T127-01) Qualified 20th, DNF: “First of all it’s good news that both of us are ok. Mark had a hardcore flight, and it could have ended up much worse, so it’s good we’re both fine. It’s such a shame the race ended that early – I was going really well, pulling away from the guys behind by about half a second a lap, and with Mark we were racing for position so I was always going to defend. I didn’t do anything wrong and he just ran into me. I think he missed his braking point and he ran into me at a very bad angle – his front tyre hit my right rear and he took off. I had to make a mandatory visit to the medical centre, and shook hands with Mark there, but I’m absolutely fine, and glad Mark is too.”
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer:“Obviously it was a very disappointing end to our 500th race. Jarno got hit at the start, and we had to change the nose. He also took a hit at the back, and that caused a gearbox problem. We were able to fix that and send him out again, although he was three laps down. He was held up by some of the other slower cars, but at the end of the race he was able to push and really show the car’s pace. Heikki had an accident with Webber - he was defending his line and racing for position, and that’s what we will always do in that situation. It’s just a great shame, and we’re very glad that neither driver was hurt.”
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: “Heikki’s accident is part of racing. It’s a shame as both cars are coming on really well, but there is some good to take out of this. Despite being hit, Jarno managed to finish the race, and at the end it was great to hear him say ‘the car is bloody good!’ Overall it’s been a very positive weekend, with a good Qualifying session and lots of very positive meetings and good decisions made for next year. It’s also been a pleasure having the Chapman family here, and now we’re all looking forward to bringing Lotus Racing back to the UK and racing in front of the British fans.”
26 th June 2010
European GP - Saturday Practice & Qualifying
Practice: Vettel was fastest in final practice, ahead of Kubica and Webber. Heikki was 19 th and Jarno 20 th. Top 6: Vettel, Kubica, Webber, Sutil, Alonso, Barrichello.
Qualifying: It’s back to a Red Bull front row once again with Vettel taking pole this time from Webber. Jarno was 19 th ahead of Heikki in 20 th. Di Grassi outqualified Glock for the first time in the Virgin team. Out with all the newbies in Q1 was Kobayashi’s Sauber for the second race running. It was almost Michael Schumacher, who finally made 15 th and elimination from Q2 along with his team mate (12 th), the other Sauber, both Force Indias and both Toro Rossos. Top 10: Vettel, Webber, Hamilton, Alonso, Massa, Kubica, Button, Hulkenberg, Barrichello, Petrov.
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-04) FP3: 20 laps, best time 1.41.428, 20th / Qualifying: 19th, 1.40.658, 11 laps: “I’m feeling quite a lot happier now - things have been getting better all weekend now I have the new chassis, and as I’ve not had any real problems I’ve been able to work on the setup, which obviously helped today. I do still have a bit of an issue with the brakes, but it feels like a new start from where I’ve been and I’m pleased with the performance today. We are another step ahead of the teams behind and I think we’ll be ok tomorrow.”
25 th June 2010
European GP - Friday Practice
Jarno took out the new Lotus chassis today and it’s fair to say he started slowly, finishing 22 nd while Heikki was 19 th. Rosberg was quickest, ahead of the two Mercedes. Two test drivers got a run out today, Klien for HRT and di Resta for Force India. There was a red flag when Senna’s mirror fell off and was crushed by Buemi’s Toro Rosso, leaving a million pieces on the track. The HRT team also had driveshaft and gearbox problems, so a bad morning for them. Top 6: Rosberg, Hamilton, Button, Kubica, Massa, Vettel.
Alonso was fastest in second practice, from the two Red Bulls. Jarno picked up the pace and was 20 th to Heikki’s 19 th. There was a red flag while Massa’s Ferrari was retrieved from the middle of the track after a spin and stall. Glock’s Virgin packed up after 14 laps at the side of the track. Top 6: Alonso, Vettel, Webber, Rosberg, Hamilton, Kubica.
Jarno Trulli (Chassis T127-04) FP1: 18 laps, best time 1.47.285, 22nd / FP2: 30 laps, best time 1.42.993, 20 th:“It was a better day for me today after some of the luck I’ve been having. I had one or two gremlins, but it was a good day to shakedown the new chassis properly and make sure everything was working well. We got a good idea of where we want to be on the setup and the direction for Saturday and Sunday, so I think this was much better for me. On track there was good grip out there this afternoon, and the car felt good, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
25 th June 2010
Jarno Previews Lotus’ 500 th Race
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD9xZw0QhX0&dm_i=CJB,6U95,1MXSQL,GW75,1
24 th June 2010
Jarno on the Proposed Rear Wing Rules
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/84716
24 th June 2010
Jarno Hopes for Change of Luck
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/84707
22 nd June 2010
European GP - Jarno’s Preview
Jarno Trulli:“I’m really looking forward to Valencia. It’s a circuit I like, and I enjoy the race there - It’s always warm, and it’s a beautiful city. I’m in the new chassis (T127-04) from this race, and hopefully that will bring me some better luck over the race weekend – in Canada I was really flying until the retirement, so I hope I can carry that through to this weekend and see the chequered flag. That’s obviously important, but this weekend is also all about the 500th race for Lotus. It’ll be very special to help take that famous name to such a milestone, and I’m very honoured to be part of it. I met Hazel Chapman on Sunday at the Classic Team Lotus Festival, and that was very special for me, particularly as I had the chance to drive Elio De Angelis’ T91 in front of the crowds, and that felt great.”
20 th June 2010
Lotus Festival
Taking place at the Snetterton circuit in Norfolk, not far from the Lotus Factory, the Lotus Festival was a big success. Once we’d got in to the circuit of course. Traffic management was a shambles and most people spent an hour or so in their cars negotiating the last two thirds of a mile! This meant that many of us missed the first few F1 driver appearances. Luckily these were replicated in the afternoon. Jarno, Heikki and Fairuz were kept busy throughout the day. As well as interviews and autograph sessions they enjoyed driving (and racing!) the Lotus Evoras on the track. As well as demo drives they also took out competition winners. And in between, Jarno tried to keep up with the Italy v New Zealand match at the World Cup! Fairuz also shook down the new T127 chassis that Jarno will drive at Valencia. In between times it was amazing to see all the historic Team Lotus F1 cars on display and on the track. And at the end, the Lotus truck set off on its long drive to Southern Spain.Jarno commented at the Valencia weekend:"It is great to be part of the heritage. Lotus made history in the past and we would like to make history in the future. It is good to achieve 500 grands prix but we have responsibility and tasks ahead of us that we need to meet.
"I remember Colin Chapman throwing his cap in the air every time they won a grand prix. I remember Elio de Angelis, I remember Ayrton Senna. I remember many parts of this – even though I was a young kid.
"I've worked in many teams, but when I walked into the classic Lotus factory it was very special. There were old cars, and some cars that are being rebuilt. I was like a kid visiting Disneyland – even for me after 14 years of F1.
"But if I am honest I don't really enjoy driving these cars. I feel they like they are a piece of art and you should have respect and leave them where they are. They were supposed to race at that time, and now they are supposed to be like a piece of art – like a jewel. You have to look after them, watch them – and if I owned one I would never run it!"
18 th June 2010
Jarno to get New Chassis
(http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/84569) Jarno to get New Chassis
13 th June 2010
Canadian GP – Race
Press Release - GOOD DAY'S WORK IN CANADA
The Canadian Grand Prix made good on its promise of providing the best race of the season so far, and Lotus Racing put in a great day’s work to see Heikki Kovalainen finish the race 16th, ahead of Petrov’s Renault, after a great battle on track in what proved to be punishing conditions for the tyres for the whole field. Jarno Trulli, who had been showing quick pace right from the start, pulled over on lap 42 after a vibration at the front end led to a problem with the braking system that put paid to his race.
Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus Cosworth T127-01) 16th, best lap 1.20.654: “It’s been a great weekend, and I’m really pleased for the whole team with the result today. We finished ahead of Petrov and lapped the other new guys, and although it was hard work managing the tyres, it’s still great to show what we can do. The race itself was tough, but it’s all about the result – I didn’t have any technical problems with the car, but the rear wasn’t working quite as I’d have liked, and I think that was down to the tyre wear.”
Jarno Trulli (Lotus Cosworth T127-03) DNF best lap 1.20.791:“It’s such a shame I had to pull over - I had a great start and then I was really flying during the race. We got the strategy right on the tyres, and my pace was good - I was keeping up with the boys in front, and I was overtaking our other rivals. But then I felt a vibration that caused a problem with the braking system and I had to pull over. Still - we have to move on. It’s another learning curve for the team and I think it’s great to see that in the race I could really push and was putting in some very good lap times.”
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer:“I think overall we can be very happy with the race, and the whole weekend. The one disappointment was obviously Jarno’s problem - we will have to look at it in more detail, but it looks as though the vibration put paid to his race. Before he pulled over he was absolutely flying and the strategy would have really paid out for him, so that’s a plus. Heikki drove a fantastic race, fighting all the way with the guys in front, and kept it up right to the end to keep Petrov behind him. I think this weekend has been a massive step forward for the whole team. Rather than being just one of the new teams, we actually got stuck in and raced the teams ahead, which is what we wanted to do, so congratulations and thank you to the whole team for getting us to this position. In the end we lapped both of the other new teams, so it was a great effort, and again, well done!”
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: “I’m very happy with the result today, and the whole weekend’s work. We got 42 laps from Jarno and Heikki drove an absolute cracker - beating a Renault was great, and Heikki did really well to hold him off, but the main aim for us is to get both cars home, and we’ll keep working on that back at the factory and at the track. Now we go to Valencia where we’ll be celebrating the 500th F1™ race Lotus has competed in, and the ninth for Lotus Racing.”
12 th June 2010
Canadian GP – Saturday Practice & Qualifying
Jarno Trulli (Lotus Cosworth T127-03) - FP3: 15 laps, 19th, 1.19.013 / Qualifying: 20th, 1.18.698, 11 laps: “It’s been tricky this weekend as I haven’t managed to complete that many laps and haven’t been able to find a setup I’m really comfortable with. We went with the primes to begin with today, and I could see that I was close to the guys in front, so I took the gamble and went for the options at the end, but unfortunately it didn’t work out. The aim tomorrow is to finish the race, and I’m optimistic we can do that, so let’s see what I can do.”
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer:“It’s been a very strong qualifying for the team today. The big question was tyre choice; both drivers did their first run on the harder tyre, and Heikki decided to stay with that, while Jarno switched to the option. I think Heikki managed to get a lot out of it, and it’s a sign of how far we’ve come that we came very close to out-qualifying one of the Saubers - it would have been another great step forward for us to beat one of the established teams in a straight fight, and we’re nearly there. Jarno didn’t quite get the lap time out of the option tyre on his last run, and I think we as a team have to take responsibility for that – his lack of running yesterday really hurt his chances, especially on the options, so we have to say sorry to him for that. But overall it was a great performance from the whole team. Looking at tomorrow, this is always one of the unpredictable races, so you never know, but our aim will be to get the two cars to the finish”
11 th June 2010
Canadian GP – Friday Practice
Jarno Trulli (Lotus Cosworth T127-03 / FP1: 12 laps, 21st, 1.22.543 / FP2: 11 laps, 22nd,1.21.346):“It’s been a difficult day but I’ll move on from this and I still feel positive – after all, this is still our first season, and we’re only eight races in. I had a few laps, but not enough to get a setup I felt comfortable with. I could feel that both the hard and the soft tyres suffered bad degradation, but after today I want to thank the team for working very hard to fix the problems on my car, and we’ll see if the luck will change tomorrow.”
4 th June 2010
Canadian GP – Driver Preview
Jarno Trulli: “Canada’s a funny one for me - even though I love Canada - the track, the people and the city - the race itself has never loved me! It’s a great challenge, and I’ve always performed pretty well there, but I’ve never had much luck there, so maybe that will change this year. As it’s a temporary circuit it’s a major challenge the whole way round. There’s the constant threat of the walls and it’s critical not to make any mistakes. You have to have confidence in the car and a good setup gives you the chance to push, but you’ve got to be perfect the whole time, otherwise it will bite you. It’s also very quick, and hard on brakes, so the cooling and the stability under braking are both important, and I think we’re pretty good in both areas, so we should be ok. Our car has been performing better and better over the last few races, so we’ll see what happens when we get out there, but I think we’ll continue to move away from the other new guys, and towards those ahead.”
30 th May 2010
Turkish GP – Race
Sadly, Lotus had a double DNF. The dreaded hydraulics again. Jarno’s car stopped out on track. Heikki just made it back to the garage. Both HRTs also retired by the end but both Virgins managed to finish. In the other world of F1, the only other retiree was Vettel who took himself out tangling with Mark Webber, (yes, his team mate) on lap 41. It really did look like Vettel’s fault but both drivers blamed the other after the race. The incident enabled Hamilton and Button to drive past the Red Bull to be first and second, although Webber did continue after a new front wing to finish 3 rd. It looked like the 2 McLarens had also partaken of crazy juice when they had a close, and we mean literally close, battle for the lead soon after the Red Bull debacle. A light drizzle marred the race at times but it was so hot the drops of rain evaporated quickly and didn’t affect anything. Alonso had a tussle with Petrov which gave the Renault a puncture, and although it gave Alonso an extra place, Petrov fell out of the points. Top 10: Hamilton, Button, Webber, Schumacher, Rosberg, Kubica, Massa, Alonso, Sutil, Kobayashi.Press Release - TURKISH GRAND PRIX
Lotus Racing were having one of their best days of the season until a double hydraulics failure brought both Jarno and Heikki’s races to an end on laps 32 and 33 respectively, Jarno coming to a halt on track and Heikki retiring in the pit.
Jarno Trulli (Lotus Cosworth T127-03) Started 19th, DNF:“It was difficult at the beginning with the hard tyres, and the team were telling me Heikki was quicker on the options, and as he was on a different strategy he got past. Afterwards, I was pulling away from our competitors comfortably, but the failure put an end to the good race I was having. “
Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus Cosworth T127-01) Started 20th, DNF:“What a shame. I lost power steering in turn eight and it looks like it was a hydraulics failure. At first I thought I had a puncture as the steering suddenly felt really strange, but then I lost the gearbox, the clutch, and throttle. It’s so unfortunate as this was our strongest race so far. I was on the softer tyre and although I wasn’t sure how they would run at the beginning of the race, they did in fact hang on really well. I can’t help but feel disappointed, but as I’ve said before these things happen, and we will work through this, and come out stronger as a result. We’re only a few tenths off the other teams per kilometre, and we know the areas to work on to improve this car. I’m confident we can make a very big step for next year and for now, we’ll move on and put this behind us.”
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer:“Obviously very disappointing to have two cars go out on the same lap when we were having such a strong race, our strongest performance all year. We started the cars with Jarno on the harder tyre, and Heikki on the soft – Heikki was slightly quicker on the option to start with, but towards the end of the stint Jarno was catching him. We were hanging on for the pitstops, monitoring the rain situation, but then had sudden hydraulic failures on both cars. Heikki’s was a leak from the power steering, and with Jarno we don’t know as yet what the specific issue was. Despite that we have to keep our chins up after what was a really strong weekend from the whole team, fix these problems and move on. ”
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: “This looked like it was going to be a great weekend for us so it’s obviously very disappointing to have it all brought to an end in such a fashion, after what was probably our best race so far. Jarno and Heikki should be very proud of the times they put in, and the whole team should be pleased with how far we’ve come. This is a low but to be champions we have to deal with the lows, learn from them and move on. It all reminds me of the early days of AirAsia, but we have just been awarded the title of world’s best low cost airline for the second year running, so I know we can repeat that with this team, and one day be victorious. Onwards and upwards, and now we’ll focus on Montreal.”
29 th May 2010
Turkish GP – Saturday Practice & Qualifying
Practice: Vettel was fastest in morning practice, followed by Rosberg and Hamilton. There were some spectacular spins at Turn 8, notably from Webber and Hamilton, which didn’t do their tyres any good! Sutil did not set a time as his car had a hydraulic problem from the off. Jarno was 18 th and Heikki 19 th. Top 6: Vettel, Rosberg, Hamilton, Webber, Kubica, Alonso.
Qualifying: For the third race running, Webber is on pole, with Hamilton and Vettel behind him. Biggest loser was Alonso who couldn’t get out of Q2, qualifying 12 th behind Sutil’s Force India. Sutil’s team mate Liuzzi was the fall guy again, joining the new teams in elimination from Q1. Jarno was quickest of those, in 19 th place with Heikki 20 th. One Sauber, both Toro Rossos and both Williams also dropped out of Q2. Top 10: Webber, Hamilton, Vettel, Button, Schumacher, Rosberg, Kubica, Massa, Petrov, Kobayashi.
Press Release
Jarno Trulli (Lotus Cosworth T127-03) Qualified 19th, 13 laps, 1.30.237 / FP3 19 laps, best time 1.30.618:“I’m pretty pleased even though it was a bit of a difficult day. I had a minor problem this morning which meant I couldn’t really use all the time available to focus on setting up the car, so I just got in and got on with it. In quali I used both sets of hard tyres and it felt like the track was quite slippery, particularly in the braking zones, so I changed my driving style a bit and think I did quite a good job to be best of the new teams. I think we are catching up with the guys ahead, even though we are still a bit off. But we will have another big step when we go to Silverstone, and we’re also now working hard on next year’s car, so we’re definitely going in the right direction.”
Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus Cosworth T127-01) Qualified 20th, 11 laps, 1.30.519 / FP3 22 laps, best time 1.30.884:“It was good out there today. On our first run we went with the soft tyre which was probably the wrong choice as it wasn’t working quite as well as yesterday, but the second run on the primes was good. The car felt particularly stable around the high speed corners and the balance felt great so I’m happy. Jarno did a better time today, but I’m pushing hard - I’m always pushing to the limit and am looking forward to the race tomorrow. I feel confident, and hope we can close the gap again to the other guys ahead.”
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer:“I’m pleased with our performance in qualifying this afternoon. There was a question mark from this morning whether to run the prime or option tyres - we felt the car was more stable on the primes and that decision paid dividends with us being only 3.2seconds away from the Red Bulls who used the same tyres in Q1- that shows just how much progress we’ve made as a team from the start of the season, and that’s very satisfying. So - a good solid performance today and we’ll look forward to the race tomorrow where we want to get both our cars to the finish line.”
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: “All in all today’s been another good day and it proves to me that our future is very bright. To be honest I was starting to dream about Q2, and while we may still be a little bit off that we’re clearly getting closer and closer, and thinking back to where we started, that’s incredible. We need to work on giving Jarno more confidence in the car, and perhaps today we could have got more from Heikki’s tyres, but I think there’s still more to come from the 2010 car – maybe even another 0.5 seconds. Tomorrow will be all about getting two cars home, and I know our team has the experience and strength to do that. Today we were just 3.2 seconds off the pace of the Red Bulls in Q1 and if you cast your mind back 10 short weeks to Bahrain you can see just how far we’ve come. There we were over five seconds away from the outright Q1 pace and anyone in the sport will tell you what an achievement it is to find nearly two seconds in just seven races. We were also just 2.4 seconds off Ferrari, celebrating their 800th race in Turkey, which is pretty spectacular for a team who are only seven races old – I think that shows to all those who expressed doubts about our participation that they were wrong. We’re also now in a position to turn our attention to the 2011 car, but we’re still here and fighting hard for this season – I want, in the nicest possible way, to take this fight to my mentors Frank Williams and Patrick Head and their team, from whom I’ve learnt an awful lot over the last few years, and compete with them and the likes of Toro Rosso and Sauber, and today’s yet another example of how we really can dream of doing just that. I’m now off to order a kebab for Jarno and Heikki. Well, maybe a kebab pizza for Jarno, and a reindeer kebab for Heikki, if anyone in Istanbul can find them one.....”
28 th May 2010
Turkish GP – Friday Practice
The McLarens were fastest in the first session, Hamilton on top, followed by the Mercedes. There were a lot of off track excursions, but thanks to the wide run off areas, the only crashee was Sutil at turn 8 right at the end of the session. The Lotuses have made progress, being closer to the nearest mid field team, Toro Rosso. Heikki was 19 th and Jarno 20 th. Sakon Yamamoto took Senna’s place in the HRT car. Top 6: Hamilton, Button, Schumacher, Rosberg, Vettel, Kubica.
Button kept McLaren on top but ominously, the Red Bulls came next. But their reliability is suspect, as Webber had to stop 5 minutes from the end with wisps of smoke coming from the engine, and Vettel reported water pressure problems. Jarno also had problems, with third gear (it’s always him) so finished 21 st, while Heikki was 19 th. Top 6: Button, Webber, Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso, Rosberg.
Jarno Trulli (Lotus Cosworth T127-03 / FP1: 23 laps, 20th, 1.32.990 / FP2: 11 laps, 21st, 133.081):“A bit more bad luck for me today as this afternoon’s session was cut short by losing third gear. We’d planned to do some setup work in the second session, and didn’t get the chance to do so, but against that you can look at the times and see that we have continued to move forward overall with the car. We are moving away from the other new teams, and closer to those in front – obviously we still have a lot of work to do, but it’s pleasing to see we are going in the right direction.”Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer:“A fairly positive day, although it was a shame Jarno’s day was curtailed by a gearbox problem in P2. That meant he couldn’t run the soft tyres, or try a low fuel run, but I’m sure that if he’d done so he would have been up with Heikki. Heikki had another trouble free day, and overall we’ve taken another step forward to the midfield, so now it’s up to us to confirm that progress tomorrow.”
27 th May 2010
Turkish GP – Driver Preview
Jarno Trulli (Lotus Cosworth T127-03):‘The track in Turkey is good – turn eight is challenging but the rest of it is relatively simple, and definitely not as tricky as Monaco! I’m looking forward to getting out on track and having some better luck this weekend. My confidence in the car is growing all the time so I hope a bit of luck and the updates we’ve put on here will help me have a better race this weekend.’
Turkish GP – Press Conference
DRIVERS: Rubens BARRICHELLO (Williams), Karun CHANDHOK (HRT), Michael SCHUMACHER (Mercedes), Jarno TRULLI (Lotus), Mark WEBBER (Red Bull)
PRESS CONFERENCE (extracts)
Q. A question to you all about your Monaco experiences. Varying experiences for different people. Jarno, would you like to start?
Jarno TRULLI: My Monaco experience has not been very successful this year, probably the worst ever. I had a very bad weekend and I couldn't turn it around at all. Then in the race also I was very unlucky as I had a bad pit stop where the team was unlucky because one gun didn't work, so I found myself last after the pit stop. Then I was following Karun and for more than half the race trying to find a spot to pass him as I was quicker. A few laps to go I saw that he was struggling then I tried and obviously the move was not very successful. We collided and I was glad that no-one was injured. The accident was worse than I had expected as when you try to make a move you always try to calculate what might happen. In fact I could never have believed I would park my car on top of his car. But that was it. It was not a very successful move, but I tried. After spending more than half the race behind him I had to try. We know that in Monaco it can happen when you try to overtake someone else and that was it.
Q. (Miran Alisic – Korpmedia) For the four of you whose countries have qualified for the World Cup: before the next Grand Prix starts, the football World Cup will start in South Africa, so what do you think the prospects are for your countries and maybe you can include the prospects for the smallest country, which is my home country, Slovenia?
JT: I'm not really into football so much but yeah, I think we won the last World Championship in Germany and obviously we will want to be back again, to see what we can do. It's not going to be easy but I think it's important as everyone has said that the football World Championship is going to South Africa, it's good for the people there and I guess it's one of the most important sporting events in the World. We will all be watching and cheering them on and hope to see some very good days of sport. I want to see the players playing well, successfully and nicely. That's very important for the sport.
27 th May 2010
T127 AT CLASSIC TEAM LOTUS FESTIVAL
Hingham, 26th May 2010
Lotus Racing has confirmed that its 2010 challenger, the T127, will be running at the Classic Team Lotus Festival at Snetterton, June 20th 2010 with drivers Jarno Trulli, Heikki Kovalainen and Fairuz Fauzy all appearing and adding to an already packed bill that will see an example of every single car Lotus raced in F1™ from 1957 - 1994 on track together.
Tony Fernandes, Lotus Racing Team Principal is very proud the team he heads up has been asked to take part: “First I want to say what a fantastic job Clive Chapman and everyone at Classic Team Lotus have done, not just with the upcoming event but also to keep so many dreams alive on tracks around the world. The Festival is going to be a great event – very emotional for many of those attending, and a great way to celebrate the Lotus motorsport heritage. We are very honoured to have been invited and I know the whole team is looking forward to seeing the UK fans, and spending a bit of time with the cars and people that helped create the Lotus legend. We’re running one of our cars as well, so people can see how the story has come full circle - in the meantime I’d urge every Lotus fan, and anyone who loves motorsport, to make sure they’re at Snetterton on the 20th June.”
The Festival falls between the Canadian and Valencia races, and is especially well timed for Lotus Racing, as the team will be celebrating the 500th F1™ race Lotus has competed in at the Valencia Grand Prix. Heikki Kovalainen added to Tony’s comments, saying “I was very lucky when I joined Lotus Racing because Clive Chapman gave me a tour around the Classic Team Lotus workshops and the cars they had in there at the time. It’s impossible to go around there and not be very touched by the history and the stories, and now we’re doing our bit to keep that legend alive, so it’ll be a great privilege to see all the cars and the fans who’ve supported our predecessors since day one at the Festival, and a great way to warm up for Valencia.”Jarno Trulli is also excited about the opportunity to see so much history at one track, saying “anyone who loves motorsport would want to go to the Festival. There’s going to be so many famous cars there, legendary cars that shaped the way F1™ works now, and it’s very rare to have the chance to see so much history in one place. We’re obviously very focused on our first season, but this is exactly the sort of event we look forward to as it’s all about celebrating where Lotus Racing comes from – frankly it’s an honour to have been invited.”
16 th May 2010
Monaco GP – Race
Jarno tried an unconventional way of overtaking at the Monaco circuit today… by passing over the top of Karun Chandhok’s HRT car. He was behind the HRT because of a slow pitstop and in a passing attempt at Rascasse a touch of wheels propelled the Lotus over the top of the HRT, taking them both out and causing a 4 th safety car period which took us virtually to the end of the race which was won by Webber with Vettel second and Kubica third. The first safety car had to come out on the first lap when Hulkenberg’s Williams slammed into the wall in the tunnel. Alonso made a pitstop immediately putting him on optimum strategy to move him up through the field. The second safety car came out for the other Williams of Barrichello, who had mechanical failure on lap 28. Comedy moment of the race came when Barrichello temperamentally threw his steering wheel across the track where another car ran it over and probably still has it embedded underneath as we didn’t see it again, not even in crushed mode! Let’s hope Williams make Rubens pay for it and they don’t come cheap! By then several cars had already retired with various mechanical issues: Button on lap 1, with overheating issues possibly caused by a team mistake, both Saubers and both Virgins. Senna’s car failed on lap 59 and Heikki’s car came out in sympathy about the same time. Jarno was classified 15 th. The third SC was about a possible broken drain cover and didn’t last long. On the last lap, as the SC went in, Schumacher passed Alonso for 6 th place, the legality of which is still being debated. Top 10: Webber, Vettel, Kubica, Massa, Hamilton, Schumacher, Alonso, Rosberg, Sutil, Liuzzi. Post race, Schumacher is given a 20 second penalty for the pass on Alonso deemed to be under the safety car, which drops him out of the points so Buemi gets one and everyone else shoves up one place.
Press Release - STRONG RACE COMES TO AN EARLY ENDLotus Racing leave Monaco with mixed emotions after a very impressive display during the race came to an early end for both cars with only a few laps remaining. Despite this, the team demonstrated impressive pace throughout the race, making good on the promise shown in practice and qualifying, and will see the race as another step forward in experience and performance.
Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus Cosworth T127-01, retired lap 59): “It was a fantastic race right from the beginning. I had a bit of a struggle at the restarts to get the tyres up to temperature, but once I got everything working I was able to almost keep up with the Renault. I was pushing very hard, and the car felt fantastic – the balance was really good. Just before I retired I could feel the steering alignment was a bit uneven – on the right hand corners I had to use maximum lock, even in the tunnel, and it got the point where it didn’t feel safe anymore. In Monaco you can’t take a risk with it so I came in. It was a mechanical issue, but despite that I’m really pleased with today. We again showed we’re firmly the best of the new teams and we are nearly there with the next group, so I think we just need to keep attacking, and that’s how we’ll achieve results.”
Jarno Trulli (Lotus Cosworth T127-03: Classified 15th):“This wasn’t a great weekend for me. After we had a problem with the wheelgun in the pitstop I was stuck behind the HRTs and trying to find room to overtake – in the last lap Karun seemed slow through the second and third sector, and I’d seen he was leaving room at Rascasse, so I tried to get through but we touched and that was that – the end of the race. It was one of those things – a racing incident, but I still feel like we’re going in the right direction as a team, and I want to put the bad luck behind me when we get back on track in Turkey.”
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer:“This was our strongest performance yet compared to the midfield, so obviously mixed emotions for where we finished. Heikki had a very strong race and in the middle his performance was particularly good compared to the midfield group. It’s a shame we had a problem on his car - the steering joint failed, something we’ve not seen before - but overall it was a very positive weekend for him. For Jarno, he had a much more difficult weekend, clearly struggling with the balance of the car and I think as a team we have to take a look at everything to be able to do a better job for him. Obviously he was compromised by the slow pitstop, which dropped him down the field and affected his whole race. He was capable of going much faster and when he made the move he unfortunately fell victim to the nature of the Monaco circuit. So I leave feeling pleased we showed such good pace, and we move on to Turkey.”
Tony Fernandes: “I take a lot of positives from the race today and it was another one where we had at least one car classified. Most importantly Heikki made a great step forward and it was fantastic watching him race with Petrov. He and the whole team felt it was the best race of the season for him and that boosts confidence further for the season ahead. We’ve got some more new parts coming which will continue to take us forward, and hopefully Jarno’s luck will turn, but even with that we’re all pleased. It’s also great to see so many of our fans out around the track - hopefully we gave them some good racing today, and in years to come we’ll give them some good results as well.”
15 th May 2010
Monaco GP – Saturday Practice & Qualifying
Practice: Now that’s more like Monaco!! Among the minor incidents were Schumacher and Petrov making good use of the Mirabeau escape road and Sutil needing a new rear wing after an altercation with the Casino Square barriers. The major one was Alonso losing control into Massenet and taking off both right side wheels, which cracked the chassis. Glock missed most of the hour after stopping in the chicane escape road with a mechanical problem. Kubica was fastest from Massa, who himself almost crashed a couple of times. Jarno was 20 th to Heikki’s 19 th. Top 6: Kubica, Massa, Webber, Hamilton, Vettel, Schumacher.
Qualifying: Ferrari were not able to repair Alonso’s wrecked car in time so he didn’t take part in qualifying and will start the race from the pitlane. It looked like Heikki and Jarno had a fleeting chance of squeezing into Q2 but it was not to be and Heikki is 18 th and Jarno 19 th on the grid. The other new teams joined the grid behind them. The Saubers, Toro Rossos, Petrov (who hits the barriers at Ste Devote), Sutil and Hulkenberg were eliminated from Q2. Webber took pole from Kubica with Vettel third. Top 10: Webber, Kubica, Vettel, Massa, Hamilton, Rosberg, Schumacher, Button, Barrichello, Liuzzi.
Jarno Trulli - 19th:"It was a bit difficult out there today as I'd lost quite a lot of track time yesterday, which meant my last setup change was right before qualifying. Despite that, I did my best out there and we are much closer than a lot of people expected to the cars ahead. We have also shown a good improvement from where we started the season, so I'm reasonably happy with where we are."
13 th May 2010
Monaco GP – Thursday Practice
Alonso was quickest round the streets of Monaco , narrowly beati ng Seb Vettel. Jarno was 21 st and Heikki 20 th. There were only 2 crashes: Chandhook at Massenet and Kobayashi at the entrance to the Swimming Pool. Top 6: Alonso, Vettel, Kubica, Webber, Massa, Schumacher,
Jarbo lost time in the second session while Lotus sorted out his engine, leaving him in P21, with Heikki in P19. Alonso was quickest again, from Rosberg this time, with Vettel P3. Top 6: Alonso, Rosberg, vettel, massa, Schumacher, Kubica.
Jarno Trulli (Lotus Cosworth T127-03:30 laps, 21st, 1.19.902 / FP2: 13 laps, 21st, 1.18.667): “It was a bit frustrating today as I lost time in the garage this afternoon, and didn’t really get the chance to push as I’d have liked on track. The times were coming down but unfortunately in Monaco every single minute you lose being on track is going to cost you a little bit throughout the weekend. Obviously I'm experienced, so on the driver's side it won't affect me but with the car we still need to find the right setup and the right balance. Despite this it's good to be here and to see Lotus Racing on track, as I know how much that means to a lot of the fans, and also to see that we continue to improve the car every time we get out on track.”
12 th May 2010
Monaco GP – Jarno’s Preview
Jarno Trulli: “It’s something very special in Monaco. Whether you’re driving or just walking around, you can almost breathe in how exciting it is. Every driver in the world wants to win here, and I was lucky enough to do so in ’04, but the whole experience can be tough – it’s important for us to concentrate on the race, and here you’re under so much pressure it can be difficult to get the time to think, and concentrate on the actual race, but that’s how it is, so we deal with it.“Getting in a good lap is also a challenge, but if you can manage the traffic it’s very satisfying. One of the most important parts of the circuit is through the swimming pool – you change direction at high speed, then brake for the next chicane, which is slow but you still need to get through it quickly. You jump over the kerbs there, not too much or you launch yourself into the wall, but just enough to carry the speed through. That’s why concentration levels are important – get that right every time and you’re ok – if not, you’re out.”
7 th May 2010
Spanish GP – Friday Practice
McLaren topped the times in first practice with Hamilton in P1. Jarno was 19 th quickest, with Heikki one place higher. Paul di Resta took the place of Adrian Sutil in the first session for Force India, and newly appointed Christian Klien for Hispania replaced Chandhok for this session. Hulkenberg had an apparent engine failure 10 minutes from the end. De la Rosa only managed 3 installation laps before a gearbox problem ruined his session. Jarno was 19 th and Heikki 20 th. Top 6: Hamilton, Button, Schumacher, Webber, Vettel, Rosberg.
In the second session, Red Bull rose to the top, with Vettel just faster than Webber. Hulkenberg crashed his Williams early on, and Alguersuari’s car stopped on track with only a few minutes to go. Top 6: Vettel, Webber, Schumacher, Alonso, Hamilton, Kubica.
Jarno Trulli (Lotus Cosworth T127-03: 20 laps, 19th, 1.26.244 / FP2: 26 laps, 19th, 1.24.209)
“First day back in the car in Europe and I’m really happy with how we have progressed with the car. Obviously it’s still too early to assess it properly, but as soon as I got out on track I could feel that we had taken a major step forward. We have solved a number of the issues we had and we’re definitely in the right direction, so I’m really pleased for everyone in the team as they’ve put in a great effort to get us here.
“This afternoon we continued with the program and everything went really smoothly, on both the hard and the soft tyres. I must admit that I’ve been really pleased with the speed gain we’ve seen in the car and, again, that’s down to the work the team have put in with the car - all I need now is a little bit of luck, and a trouble free weekend!”
7 th May 2010
Drivers want qualifying split for Monaco
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/83341
7 th May 2010
Trulli says season starts now for Lotus
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/833421 st May 2010
Spanish GP – Jarno’s Preview
Jarno Trulli is excited about returning to Spain, and Monaco, the circuit where he wrote himself into the history books by winning in 2004. “I made it back home from China with a number of the other drivers, but we got back safely and I’ve been home with my family since then. I’ve managed to fit in a number of good training sessions, and am looking forward to getting back in the car. I think I’ve had a fair bit of bad luck so far, but I’m looking to put that behind me and see how much further forward we can go with the updates. I’ve kept in close touch with the team about the tests they’ve put the car through, and am encouraged by the results they’ve had. I think we’ll take a good step forward in Spain.“I like Barcelona - we all know every bit of it very well as we test there a lot, and have raced there for years. Monaco is obviously a very special place for me – a lot of my fans will be out in force, and I love going back to where I’ve won, so that’ll be a busy, but good week.”
ABRUZZO IN THE HEART Following the Italian earthquake in L’Aquila on 6th April 2009, Jarno has set up a charity to help those affected. If you would like to help with a donation to Abruzzo nel Cuore, Jarno has now set up a website http://www.abruzzonelcuore.org/ You can donate directly through Paypal, or the bank details are on the site for a bank to bank transfer. Thank you. |
Jarno Forum and Fan Page Remember the Jarno Forum? Well, there is a now a website to go with it! Visit at http://www.frozen-dreams.sk/jarno/ There is also a link to the original forum from the site or go straight to http://s15.invisionfree.com/trulli/ to talk about our driver. Registration is required but is quick and easy. Happy talking! Now also on http://s15.zetaboards.com/trulli/index/ |
Jarno’s Wine Jarno’s wine from his Alanno vineyard, Podere Castorani, is available in the UK. For info on the wine itself, visit http://www.poderecastorani.it/. The UK importer is now HallgartenDruitt, who are importing nine of the different vintages from Podere Castorani and it is being sold to the public through http://www.wineman.co.uk/ (Kevin O’Rourke Wines) with a delivery price of £11.50 for one or two bottles or any size order. Visit their website, call them on 01908 337975 or Kevin on 07738 195225. You can also buy one, two or more bottles from http://www.averys.com/ for just £6.99 delivery charge on any order. (If the wines are not showing right now, Averys are in the process of restocking and the wines should show within the next week.) American fans should now contact U.S. importer Marco Vivona at marcovivona@marcoandsonwine.com or call 813 621 5304. The Wine Tasting Club also has Jarno’s wine in stock in the US: call 863 605 0804 or email finevineclub@gmail.com |
Boxer Welfare Scotland Jarno supports Boxer Welfare Scotland!!! This is a charity that rescues and rehomes unwanted Boxer dogs and is desperate for funds. Jarno’s family keeps Boxers and Jarno loves them, so has given a statement of support, which you can see here,or going through the link under Celebrity Auctions. They do have an online shop for original gifts or would welcome any donation however small. |
YourRacingCar.com Motorsport fan? Want to be involved in a racing team? Your Racing Car was s a new idea to run a team in the Ginetta Cup, support race to the British Touring Cars. Now Fulvio Mussi drives in the Renault Clio Cup, sponsored by fans. You can visit the team at the race tracks! And have your name on the car! For just £25!! Visit http://www.yourracingcar.com/ for more info. If you want to be part of history in the making of the fan-funded car go to http://www.joinyrc.com/ |
Jarno on You Tube Have you looked for Jarno on You Tube? There are a couple of nice snapshot video on there at the moment. Search for “Audemars Piguet – Jarno Trulli”, a sponsor commercial, and “Jarno Trulli through the years”, a Toyota video. www.youtube.com
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