Both cars retire (Lotus race review)

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Neither Lotus finished the German Grand Prix, but Heikki Kovalainen led the new teams before colliding with Pedro de la Rosa.

Jarno TrulliHeikki Kovalainen
Qualifying position1718
Qualifying time comparison (Q1)1’17.583 (-0.717)1’18.300
Race position
Average race lap3’16.052 (+111.142)1’24.909
Laps3/6756/67
Pit stops11

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Jarno Trulli

Very happy with a qualifying performance that saw him out-qualify his team mate by over seven tenths of a second:

I’ve had a great weekend so far. I’ve had no troubles with the car and I’ve been able to work on getting the right balance, and being comfortable with how the car feels in all the sessions.

You can see from the lap time today just how good it’s been, so I’m really happy, but obviously we always have work to do, and the satisfaction comes from putting in the work and seeing results like the lap today. Tomorrow it’s all about pushing the guys ahead and getting both cars home again, so that’s where the focus is now.
Jarno Trulli

But a gearbox failure early on wrecked his race.

Compare Jarno Trulli’s form against his team mate in 2010

Heikki Kovalainen

Was set for what could have been an exciting battle for new team honours when he collided with Pedro de la Rosa, putting him out of the race:

A disappointing end but it was just one of those things that can happen when you’re having to let cars past. It was my mistake but I didn’t see the Sauber coming.

I thought I was letting the Williams past, and didn’t see the Sauber so I closed the door and that was the end of the race. It’s a shame because I was running pretty well until then.
Heikki Kovalainen

The stewards gave Kovalainen a reprimand for the collision.

Compare Heikki Kovalainen’s form against his team mate in 2010

2010 German Grand Prix

    Browse all 2010 German Grand Prix articles

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    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    2 comments on “Both cars retire (Lotus race review)”

    1. It was my mistake but I didn’t see the Sauber coming.

      It’s refreshing when a driver is completely honest about a mistake and doesn’t try to place blame elsewhere. I think Kovalainen is a straight up guy, and I hope that Lotus can improve a bit more next year so he can start taking the fight to the other mid-pack teams.

    2. look at his laptimes.. that does look like quite a consistent performance from Kovi.. especially given he’s a backmarker and often has to get out of the way .. props

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