Race - Hungarian GP report: Lotus Renault

Pastor Maldonado finished in thirteenth position whilst Romain Grosjean retired from an eventful and highly entertaining 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix. Heavy rain before the start of the race meant that all competitors started on intermediate tyres. The changing level of grip provided a challenge for all, with most drivers caught out at least once by the conditions during the course of the 70 laps.

— Romain started from P14 on new intermediate tyres, changing to new soft compound tyres on lap 8. He retired from the race on lap 11.
— Pastor started from twentieth position on new intermediate tyres. He pitted on laps 8, 17 and 43 for new soft tyres, with a new front wing fitted in the middle stop.

Romain Grosjean

“We didn’t finish the race today which is very disappointing. The conditions on the circuit this afternoon were very tricky and we couldn’t get the best out of the tyres. We made the right call to move to slicks when the safety car came out – like most of the grid did – but I made a mistake when I was trying to keep the tyres warm. Unfortunately, I touched the white line and spun and that was it. I feel very sorry for everyone in the team who are giving everything they can to give me the best car possible. Hopefully these last two weeks of work and the break ahead of us will help us move forward and come back stronger for the next race in Spa.”

Pastor Maldonado

“It was a tough race for us. It was a struggle to find enough grip and the track surface was very slippery. We didn’t always have full power, which certainly added to the challenge in what was already a pretty difficult race with the changeable conditions. We weren’t able to close in on the cars ahead along the straight which made it hard to overtake, and there aren’t many places to overtake around here. The important thing is we finished all 70 laps so we have plenty of information to make further improvements to the car.”

Federico Gastaldi, Deputy Team Principal

"It was quite some race for us and for many teams too! Romain was unlucky to be caught out by the conditions as he had good potential in the race, but as we saw many drivers had moments off track today. It was good for Pastor to see the chequered flag in such an eventful Grand Prix. The team worked well together all weekend and now we have a week to apply all the lessons learnt from the last two races before the well-needed summer shutdown.”

Nick Chester, Technical Director

"That was an eventful race for everyone. It was unfortunate for Romain as the conditions were really tricky and a wheel on a wet kerb was all it took for him to spin off. It would have been interesting to see what he could have done if he’d stayed in the race. Pastor had a good Grand Prix, albeit he couldn’t find a way past Daniil Kvyat in the early laps which compromised his eventual finishing position. We have a lot of aero data from this weekend, which we will scrutinise ahead of the summer shutdown in our quest to extract more performance from the E22.”

Simon Rebreyend, Renault Sport F1 track support leader

“We did the best we could, given the situation and weather conditions. Pastor was not far from the top ten, which is a good effort from his starting position. Romain was unlucky to spin in the damp conditions – without this we could have had the pace to get some points. Although we go away without a score, the form we’ve shown in the race will give us a boost going into the summer break.”