The disaster day at Lotus

Pastor Maldonado and Romain Grosjean try as best they can to keep smiling. But it is clear that Lotus is not there at the start of the season. First of all, it was the MGU-H hybrid system of Romain Grosjean's car which malfunctioned in FP1, causing battery recharging problems on the Frenchman's E22. Then, still during the first test session, the turbo of the car of Pastor Maldonado has given up the ghost. Worse, the Venezuelan, who already has to draw on his quota of five turbos authorized per season (the use of a sixth leading to penalties), was not even able to take to the track in FP2. At the end of FP1, Lotus had totaled... six laps. (2 for Grosjean, 4 for Maldonado)

And the problems continued for Romain Grosjean in EL2. First to leave the pit lane to make up for his morning delay, the Frenchman was quickly slowed down by a gearbox stuck in second gear. Return to the pits and a long repair period later, here he is back on track... only to stop again after a few loops, gearbox still at half mast. In the end, only 14 laps for Grosjean. “We have to work and try to solve all our problems, simply, explains the latter. We focus on every problem we encounter. This morning we couldn't do any laps, and this afternoon we burned a cable which stopped the gearbox from working. Of course, I don't get out of the car with a smile when my car is parked on the track and not running, and I swear a little in my head! But as I said before, this is only the second race of the season and we always knew we would be late. We're going to get to where we want to be. »

What will Lotus do tomorrow for EL3 and especially qualifying? The question must make the skulls of the stable boilenstone.