Lotus F1 Team Sao Paulo Free practices review 22.11.2013: Heikki Kovalainen ended a wet first day of practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix with the fourth fastest time at Interlagos.

Heikki Kovalainen ended a wet first day of practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix with the fourth fastest time at Interlagos.


Romain Grosjean was tenth fastest on a day which started wet and became wetter with rainfall over the Brazilian track in São Paulo.



Technical programme notes

•    Pirelli’s Intermediate (green) and Wet (blue) tyres were used in the morning and afternoon sessions.


•    The morning session was damp, the afternoon was considerably wetter with ongoing rain and increased standing water.



What we learned today:

•    Wet set-up was validated through a significant number of laps in anticipation of similar conditions for qualifying tomorrow.



Heikki Kovalainen, E21-05

Free practice 1: P9, 1:26.133, 31 laps
Free practice 2: P4, 1:28.129, 13 laps


Heikki: “Obviously, it was challenging conditions but it was good for me to get the experience in the wet weather. There were no big surprises and the car was behaving quite well. It was a little bit trickier than driving in the dry, but we expected this.


That said, I think the team have made good progress in this area as it wasn’t too difficult to drive. There are still a couple of areas where we can improve on, and whether we have valid information for tomorrow’s weather we don’t know yet.”



Romain Grosjean, E21-04

Free practice 1: P13, 1:26.570, 28 laps
Free practice 2: P10, 1:28.891, 12 laps

Romain: “It wasn’t perfect weather and we still have some progress to make on the wet set-up for conditions like we had today. In the morning it was a struggle for grip with too much understeer, but we made progress in this area for the afternoon and have a few ideas about how we can improve further for tomorrow.


It’s certainly a challenge with the spray and standing water, but despite this it’s still awesome to be driving around Interlagos.”




Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director:

“We’ve gained strong data using both of Pirelli’s wet tyres. Romain wasn’t happy with his set-up in the morning, but he was much happier in the afternoon. Heikki continues to get comfortable with the car and in the team and showed great pace in the wet in the afternoon with the fourth quickest time. We’re happy with today’s work.”

 
 
 
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