xpb Penalty after gear change
07/13/2012
R omain Grosjean finally got the bad luck on his feet. In Valencia, an alternator defect in the race caused the premature retirement and thus prevented the Frenchman's possible first Grand Prix victory. In England, Grosjean slipped into the gravel in qualifying and therefore only started from ninth place. The receipt was a collision in the crowd at the start, which resulted in a repair stop.
Transmission problems in the last Silverstone lap
With fifth place, the GP2 champion was just able to limit the damage. After the race, however, the engineers found that the front wing was not the only defective part. The transmission was also affected. On the very last lap, the youngster reported problems with the gearshift.
'It was lucky that it did not appear earlier in the race,' explained Technical Director James Allison. A new transmission has to be installed for the race in Hockenheim. 'Unfortunately that also means that Romain will get a starting place penalty.' If the gearbox is changed before the mandatory five races are over, it will automatically drop five ranks.
Allison hopes that Grosjean doesn't suffer too much. 'He already showed at Silverstone that he won't let falling back stop him from fighting for the top positions.' The sticking point for Lotus this season was mostly in qualifying. In the race things went up regularly, but no race to catch up has ended with a win.
Grosjean continues to hope for victory at Hockenheim
Grosjean himself does not allow himself to be beaten by this: 'The team worked hard to improve qualifying. I am sure that Hockenheim will suit us well, 'said the Frenchman, looking optimistically at his first Formula 1 appearance in the Motodrom. 'If we get into the first two rows in qualifying, I'm sure that we can win too.'
Team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, however, has not had good experiences with Germany. He has already raced 15 times in Germany, but the Finn is still waiting for a win. 'Maybe I did something bad in a previous life,' jokes the Iceman. 'Both Hockenheim and the Nürburgring weren't nice to me, although I like them both. Luck just wasn't on my side. Maybe this year everything will come together. There won't be anyReason why we shouldn't fight for the podium again. '
With places four and five for Raikkonen and Grosjean, Lotus was able to confirm its good form in England. In the constructors' championship the team from Enstone pushed their way Up to third place. The trend should continue at Hockenheim. 'With a bit of luck we can challenge Ferrari for second place in the championship and at the same time maybe bring some space between us and McLaren', hopes Allison.
Lotus with a large update package in Hockenheim
The only major updates in England were the pit stop equipment. 'We didn't have the fastest stop of the weekend, but all the tire changes were good. We are now on the same level as the top teams in this area, 'said the engineer with satisfaction.
In Germany, the cars are now also being modified.' I'm really excited, 'there is Allison too. 'We have some interesting updates. I'm looking forward to finding out how they work. 'Team principal Eric Boullier adds:' We're continuing to accelerate. We won't leave any stone unturned and want to drive a significantly better second half of the season. '
Grosjean already expressed great expectations of the technology. Despite his penalty, he still has his first Formula 1 victory In sight: 'Hopefully with the update we can take pole position, win and the fastest race lap - so the perfect weekend.' It's nice to have dreams.
