With a performance that captured the imagination of every motorsport fan around the world yesterday, the Lotus F1\u00ae Team rose to the occasion for the fifth round of the FIA 2013 Formula One\u00ae World Championship competition that played out under sunny Spanish skies at Barcelona\u2019s Circuit de Catalu\u00f1ya. The Enstone based black and gold troupe served the Lotus name proudly with Kimi delivering a P2 finish and a points haul that places him ever closer to the Championship title position, with only 4 points keeping him off the top spot. Not such a great race for Romain however, as rear suspension failure resulted in early retirement and a disappointing end for what could have been a promising race for the Frenchman. <\/p>\n
Never-the-less, despite one man down, the team displayed a winning determination that saw Kimi manage tyre degradation under difficult circumstances, executing a 3-stop strategy that again displayed his consistency and championship talent.<\/p>\n
A great finish for the team who also welcomes Nick Chester as Technical Director, following last week\u2019s announcement of James Allison\u2019s mid-season departure.<\/p>\n
Kimi R\u00e4ikk\u00f6nen<\/a>, P2, E21-03 \u201cUnfortunately it\u2019s second place again so it\u2019s not time to celebrate too much. The car felt good and we did pretty much all we could today, but we didn\u2019t have the pace to challenge Fernando [Alonso]. I drove to the maximum and it\u2019s good for the championship that Sebastian finished behind us. It\u2019s nice to be on the podium for me and the team; let\u2019s see what we can do in Monaco.\u201d<\/p>\n Romain Grosjean<\/a>, DNF, E21-02 \u201cI made a poor start but after that I was on the pace and we know we\u2019re able to produce good race strategies, so there was potential for a strong result today. The car was feeling pretty good until we had an issue with the rear suspension which meant I had to return to the pits and retire from the race, which is a great shame. It\u2019s always disappointing for everyone when something like this happens but there\u2019s no-one to blame; it\u2019s just a part of motor racing.\u201d<\/p>\n