Lotus not at ease in the Principality

Invigorated by its first points scored in Spain, the Lotus team certainly arrived in the Principality with confidence, while knowing the very specific character of the Monaco circuit. And for the first outing of an E22 in urban terrain, the result does not live up to the expectations of Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado. “Unfortunately we weren’t fast enough, explains the Frenchman. We were hoping that the warmer conditions might help a little today, but that wasn't the case. It was a tough qualifying session despite decent car balance, but I think the E22 struggled a bit in the slow corners, which is something we knew was possible. We're going to have to work on that. The E22 is much better in the high speed areas. It is very difficult to predict what will happen in the race here, but we will fight until the end. »

Maldonado also points out the Pirelli tires, which are much more conservative this year, notably the super-soft which makes its first appearance in 2014. “This track doesn’t suit us this weekend. The tires are very hard for a circuit like Monaco. I also suffered a lot from the traffic which didn't help with tire temperature or a fast lap. »

14th and 15th on the grid, Grosjean and Maldonado want to rely on strategy to move up the hierarchy tomorrow in the race. The start of the Monaco Grand Prix will be at 14 p.m.