Lotus out of luck in Monaco

Lotus endured a race of failure and frustration in Monaco as Romain Grosjean crashed out within seconds of the start and Kimi Raikkonen struggled for pace throughout, eventually finishing ninth.

At the start Grosjean, in fourth, struggled to get away and Fernando Alonso, starting fifth, quickly moved alongside the Lotus driver. Third-placed Lewis Hamilton also started poorly and slipped back towards the Ferrari and the Lotus. As the trio headed towards the first corner, Grosjean was forced left, where Michael Schumacher was also trying to squeeze through. The pair touched and with his rear left wheel hanging off, the Frenchman was sent into a spin from which he did not recover.

“There just wasn’t enough room,” he said of his collision with the Mercedes man. “Next thing I’m facing all the traffic after just one hundred metres which wasn’t a nice feeling. It’s a disappointing end to the week after some positive early signs, but that’s racing and now we look forward to Canada and a chance to bounce back.”

The accident means that the unlucky Grosjean has failed to finish three of the opening six races. Raikkonen’s start was more positive and by the end of lap one he had moved up a position to seventh. However, the Finn was soon struggling on his Supersoft tyres and coming under pressure as a train of quicker cars formed behind him. He pitted on lap 29, lost the position and spent the remainder of the race battling to hold ninth.

“Ninth was the best we could do today,” he said afterwards. “I didn’t start in a great position and I had some difficulties during the race so it’s not been the easiest weekend, but at least we got a couple of points. It’s better than nothing but not exactly what we wanted.”

However, Raikkonen insisted he was not worried by his struggles with the Lotus this weekend. “One race doesn’t change the fact that we have been pretty strong everywhere – even here at the beginning of the weekend,” he said. “This circuit is completely different from any other and I don’t think we should worry too much about the fact that it wasn’t our best weekend. It is what it is – sometimes it doesn’t go the way you expected and now we should look to Canada for a better result.”