FP1 & FP2 - Singapore GP report: Lotus Renault

Romain Grosjean completed the first day of practice for the Singapore Grand Prix with a solid tally of 59 laps around the Marina Bay circuit with the twelfth fastest lap time in the second session. Pastor Maldonado ended the day as the fourteenth fastest driver with 38 laps completed, despite an early end to his running after making contact with the barriers.

— The first session was predominantly dedicated to aerodynamic assessments with 51 laps completed between both cars and no issues. A new front wing was evaluated on Pastor’s car.
— The second session focused on tyre assessments as well as further cooling level and brake monitoring.
— Pirelli’s soft compound (yellow) tyre was used in the first session and the super soft (red) and soft compound in the second session.

Romain Grosjean

“The car performed well today, better than previous races which is something we expected to happen, but nevertheless is good when it goes the way that has been predicted. With more downforce on the wings the car works better. We also had a few new parts to try on the car – some worked really well and some provided us with a good idea of the direction to go for next year’s car.”

Pastor Maldonado

“For one lap on the softer tyres the car feels quite good. We’ve made a bit of a step forward here in terms of our relative pace and we’re much closer to the times in the top ten. We hope to be slightly more competitive for the race. The balance was quite snappy when the tyres were a bit older and I lost it in the middle of the corner, then the exit is quite narrow there which meant nowhere to go so that was the end of my session.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: “We’re much happier with the E22 here as we look more competitive than of late, particularly when on the lower fuel levels where we haven’t excelled recently. We had a reliable car through both sessions but Pastor’s mistake was unfortunate as we lost track time, however we completed a good number of laps with Romain. There’s a lot to monitor here with power unit temperatures, cooling levels and the brakes in particular needing close attention. We’re also evaluating tyre performance between the two compounds. We have a solid basis looking to the rest of the weekend.”