Lotus F1 Team
Pastor Maldonado says he was disappointed not to finish the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as the pace in the Lotus E22 was better than he expected.
Maldonado ran on the fringes of the top 10 but was forced to park by the side of the track when flames poured from the back of his car on lap 27.
"That was a surprising race for me," he said. "Our race pace was actually pretty good and I was able to fight with the Ferraris as well as enjoy the feel from the car. I was able to push and the car worked well on both tyre compounds.
"Unfortunately, my race had to end early. The flames showed the engine wasn’t working too well which also mean it was getting quite hot in the car! It’s a shame to finish a season like we did."
Team-mate Romain Grosjean claimed 13th and was compromised due to a drive through penalty for not being able to serve much of his 20 place grid penalty for an engine change.
"We did the best we could today.," he said. "My race wasn’t that eventful and unfortunately it came to an early end for Pastor, so I think that we are all glad that the season is now over. We thought about doing a three stop strategy early in the race but then we swapped back to two stops. I’m already looking forward to being in the simulator to test the E23."
