Lotus Racing Finds Mixed Fortunes In Monaco

Lotus Racing had a weekend of mixed emotions at the Monaco Grand Prix, where both T127 cars showed ample promise in practice and qualifying and excellent pace throughout the race—only to drop out towards the end of the race.

Heikki Kovalainen retired on lap 59 due to a steering joint problem, while Jarno Trulli crashed out on lap 71 after an unsuccessful overtaking maneuver, which prompted the final safety car.

“It was a fantastic race right from the beginning”, Kovalainen said. “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 to the point where it didn't feel safe anymore”, Kovalainen said of the steering problem that made him retire. “It was a mechanical issue, but despite that I'm really pleased with today”.

“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”, Trulli said, describing the events leading up to the crash.

“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”.

Despite neither cars managing to cross the finishing line, Mike Gascoyne, Lotus Racing's Chief Technical Officer, was reasonably pleased: “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”.

“He (Trulli) 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”.