Lotus F1 Team
Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen was left to rue a strategic error that cost him a shot at the podium during the British Grand Prix.
Raikkonen was running in second place but Lotus opted not to pit the Finn for fresh tyres during the second safety car period.
"I tried to hold on at the end of the race, but with tyres that were maybe twenty laps older than the others’ it was impossible to keep them behind. It’s a shame as the race went pretty well until then; we had good pace and looked set for a pretty easy P2, but this is racing sometimes," he said.
"It’s three races now where we haven’t had the result we maybe expect, but hopefully if we can have a bit more luck and also get rid of some of the mistakes we’ll be able to get back to the front."
Team mate Romain Grosjean had a challenging race and eventually retired following front wing damage.
"Towards the end of the race we lost quite a big part of the front wing meaning it became really difficult to drive, so in the end it was best to retire because of safety considerations," he said.
"We don’t know if it was caused by some debris or something to do with the fact that it was a new part; we will be working to find out the root of the problem. Before that my race wasn’t going quite to plan and we were suffering with tyre performance. This was related to the front wing issue which started earlier in the race. The safety cars didn’t really go our way either so it’s a race I’d rather forget. Let’s go to Germany and have a better weekend."
