For Lotus more could have been achieved

November 18th, 2012, AUSTIN, TEXAS (F1plus / Gustavo A Roche).- There’s no doubt that a 6th and 7th place finish is something to be happy about it, but it seems that inside the Austin headquarters of the Lotus team, that was not enough.

Certainly, the E20 looked very fast at times, but it took the whole weekend to put it to that level. The team had work hard on the car to improve its performance as during the practice session was barely giving times for Q2, but then they manage for a 4th and 5th in qualifying for which there were hopes a even a podium.

From the very beginning with Kimi’s not so great of a start and prompt recovery the podium goal seemed possible. The Finn even reached second at some point (he had no pitted) but then a small error on pits and the low tire temperature got the best of him so he could not fight for more.

"It was an okay day, but not a very easy one for us. I got a bad start and then I touched with a Force India at the second corner so I lost a few more places. After that the car was okay and I could get past some of the others.

“Unfortunately, when it got cloudy it got too cold so the tyres stopped working and that’s where we saw Jenson [Button] get past. Basically, it was a race where we were just depending on the tyres to be in their window. I’m still 3rd in the championship and we’ll do everything we can to maintain this position until the end." The 2007 champion said.

On the other hand, we saw a fast passing Grosjean showing what the E20 had to offer, only to succumb to his own eagerness while pursuing Hulkenberg.

The Frenchman spun and created a spot on his tires that ended of costing him performance. Regardless he fought back and made it up to his team with a 7th place finish.

"Not a bad race but the spin on lap seven was frustrating. The start was good, the first lap was good and the pace was definitely there. I recovered pretty well from where I was to finish P7 and was fighting Kimi at the end, which is a positive sign.

“I pushed as hard as I could, so I was happy to bring home some more points for the team." Grosjean said.