Lotus F1 Team
Romain Grosjean conceded that his hot lap in Q3 was not good enough after qualifying in sixth place for the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Grosjean, who finished second last weekend in Austin, will start from the third row of the grid.
"That was quite a difficult afternoon," he said. "It was tricky to decide which tyre we should use for the final qualifying session and we wanted to try for pole which is why we used the intermediates, but in the end there was probably just a little bit too much water which certainly made things interesting."
"Ultimately my lap wasn’t good enough, but the car has been strong all weekend so we’re confident for the race no matter what the weather is. Certainly, my Q2 lap in the wet today was very good and we know we have a strong baseline setup in the dry, so let’s see what happens."
Heikki Kovalainen also blamed himself for not making the top 10 as he qualified in 11th position.
"It’s disappointing not to make the top ten, but I just didn’t have enough pace in the second session; it’s as simple as that," he said.
"The conditions weren’t ideal, but it’s the same for everybody and there was nothing wrong with the car so I can’t have any complaints. It’s not the ideal starting position, but the car is performing well and anything can happen in motor racing – especially here at Interlagos – so we’ll look at where we can improve for tomorrow and try to do a better job in the race."
