Lotus: Kovalainen joins in midfield battle
2011 Chinese GP team review
Lotus became the first ‘second year’ team to beat an established team in a straight fight.
| Heikki Kovalainen | Jarno Trulli | |
| Qualifying position | 19 | 20 |
| Qualifying time comparison (Q1) | 1’37.894 (-0.424) | 1’38.318 |
| Race position | 16 | 19 |
| Laps | 55/56 | 55/56 |
| Pit stops | 2 | 2 |
Lotus drivers’ lap times throughout the race:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | |
| Heikki Kovalainen | 116.493 | 108.117 | 107.549 | 106.457 | 106.802 | 106.184 | 105.893 | 107.248 | 107.219 | 106.702 | 106.117 | 106.744 | 106.661 | 106.456 | 106.115 | 107.934 | 107.139 | 107.053 | 111.202 | 123.719 | 105.5 | 105.207 | 104.48 | 104.685 | 104.858 | 104.133 | 104.271 | 103.826 | 104.035 | 104.113 | 104.197 | 103.718 | 104.232 | 104.619 | 103.979 | 104.321 | 104.437 | 104.837 | 104.716 | 108.564 | 121.812 | 103.654 | 103.065 | 102.71 | 102.672 | 102.917 | 105.099 | 104.629 | 103.2 | 103.456 | 103.31 | 105.169 | 103.297 | 102.817 | 103.685 | |
| Jarno Trulli | 116.772 | 108.569 | 107.305 | 107.046 | 106.578 | 106.457 | 105.987 | 107.159 | 108.318 | 107.207 | 107.241 | 106.692 | 106.394 | 106.409 | 106.868 | 107.178 | 106.711 | 107.742 | 107.29 | 113.515 | 124.368 | 104.704 | 104.407 | 104.532 | 104.407 | 105.69 | 104.251 | 104.008 | 104.135 | 104.141 | 104.082 | 104.118 | 104.255 | 104.28 | 104.799 | 104.815 | 104.868 | 105.594 | 105.649 | 105.273 | 105.47 | 111.61 | 123.764 | 104.164 | 104.889 | 104.384 | 102.636 | 105.721 | 103.358 | 102.857 | 105.234 | 102.311 | 102.052 | 102.776 | 103.134 |
Heikki Kovalainen, Lotus, Shanghai, 2011
Heikki Kovalainen
In the cool conditions of qualifying Kovalainen was over a second and a half slower than the Williamses.
But in warmer temperatures on race day Lotus proved able to compete with other established teams on merit for the first time ever.
Kovalainen’s two-stop strategy got him ahead of Pastor Maldonado and he finished the race in front of the Williams and the delayed Sauber of Sergio Perez.
Kovalainen described it as “our best ever performance.
“It’s not the highest place we’ve had but today we beat two midfield cars in a straight fight so I am very happy, with my performance and the performance of the whole team.
“We knew we would struggle in the cool conditions yesterday but today the temperatures rose and we expected to be able to put in the sort of race that would do justice to the pace that is in the car.”
Heikki Kovalainen 2011 form guide
Jarno Trulli
Continues to have problems with tyre degradation. Qualified behind Kovalainen and finished in 19th.
Luiz Razia
Drove in Trulli’s place in first practice. Damaged his front wing following what the team described as a “suspension problem”.
2011 Chinese Grand Prix
- Hamilton: ‘It’s sweeter to win by overtaking’
- 2011 Chinese Grand Prix: complete race weekend review
- Who was the best driver of the Chinese GP weekend?
- McLaren: Button’s pit mistakes almost cost Hamilton
- Red Bull: Poor qualifying gives strategy advantage to Webber
- Ferrari: Montezemolo demands reaction after poor result
- Mercedes: Rosberg beats Ferraris despite fuel worries
- Renault: Points salvaged after poor qualifying
- Sauber: Two penalties in one race for Perez
- Lotus: Kovalainen joins in midfield battle
Image © Team Lotus
Lucas "Mr. Veloce" said on 20th April 2011, 15:25
I am still not sure about these third driver’s in P1, maybe they should not put the third driver in for the first race P1 but from the second race onwards, in Team Lotus’ case, if Trulli finishes behind Kovalainen, he’ll get kicked out for P1 in the next race and vice versa.