Lotus Drivers Aiming for Good Qualifying to Be on Top in Valencia

The LotusLotus E20United Kingdom, 2012 > 201213 photos
drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean are both hoping for strong qualifying performances to have a winning result at the European Grand Prix in Valencia. Raikkonen says that is disappointed that he has not won yet this year, but he says that he will know how the whole weekend will go after he has driven the car on Friday. Grosjean on the other hand feels confident that LotusLotusUnited Kingdom, 1952 > present68 models
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has made changes to the car that will lead to better qualifying performance. 

"If you had asked before the season if they had been happy with these results they would definitely have been. They probably wouldn't expect that they are so high up," said Raikkonen.

He believes that the team has performed well in races but struggled in qualifying. 

"We always try to win, but it's not easy. We don't know how well we are going to do. We will see tomorrow [Friday] and bit and then Saturday. Hopefully we can be up there on Sunday," he said. 

His teammate Grosjean is slightly more optimistic. 

"It's always difficult to make predictions before you've done free practice or even qualifying," he said. "Things can change quite quickly but on paper we are looking good here. The car is good, it's hot and that's a good point for us," said Grosjean.

Grosjean believes that the team has a good understanding of the tires, and Lotus has worked on the car to perform better in qualifying. 

"It's possible to have a good car in qualy and then a good car in the race. I hope I'm not wrong and that on Saturday we can show that we are working towards getting a podium in the race. We need to still carry race pace and be better in qualifying," he said. 

Source: Autosport (1,2)