Lotus F1 Team
Kimi Raikkonen says he was surprised to set the third fastest time during second practice for the Italian Grand Prix but reckons that Lotus is still lacking pace compared to the other front runners.
Raikkonen and team-mate Romain Grosjean set identical lap times during the second 90 minute session to finish behind only the Red Bull drivers.
"The car felt pretty normal for me today and we’re going to look at the data in order to make a decision on whether to use today’s specification or the older one," Raikkonen said when referring to the longer wheelbase Lotus E21.
"It doesn’t feel much different to me so it’ll be a decision based on what the data says. Today we were a little surprised to be third fastest, but we’re still quite far away from the fastest cars. There are still some areas for improvement so hopefully we can find more speed for tomorrow."
Grosjean - who has not raced a Formula 1 car at Monza since 2009 - described his day of running with the older specification car as 'productive'.
"We had a productive day today. The timesheets showed that Kimi and I were very close, however that doesn’t necessarily mean a lot. Kimi tested the new long wheelbase car and from today’s work we have sent data back to the factory and we will see what the outcome is when analysis comes back."
"As drivers, our feedback on the feel of the car is also key. It is hard to precisely compare the two though; it could provide more brake stability which is what we all want here in Monza, however each driver also has their own braking style."
