Another gearbox failure (Lotus race review)

Posted on

| Written by

A late gearbox problem allowed Virgin to put one over Lotus.

Jarno TrulliHeikki Kovalainen
Qualifying position1718
Qualifying time comparison (Q1)1’25.540 (-0.202)1’25.742
Race position18
Average race lap1’31.373 (+0.958)1’30.415
Laps46/5351/53
Pit stops11

You need to upgrade your Flash Player

Open lap times interactive chart in new window

Jarno Trulli

Headed row nine of the grid with his team mate having beaten the time of the ailing Vitantonio Liuzzi in qualifying.

But another gearbox failure late in the race allowed Timo Glock’s Virgin through to claim “best new team” honours.

The solution to their gearbox problems appears to be in sight. Late on Sunday night Cosworth confirmed they won’t be supplying engines to Lotus next year as the team prepares to announce a Renault engine and drivetrain supply deal.

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

Heikki Kovalainen

Fell behind Glock at the start and couldn’t get back ahead of the Virgin:

I lost a few positions at the start, managed to get in front of di Grassi but then was stuck behind Timo. I didn’t have the straight line speed to get past him so didn’t have the chance to make a move. It’s a shame because I couldn’t get the true potential out of the car after a good weekend, but that’s life.

We haven’t lost anything in terms of the championship so all in all it’s not too disappointing.
Heikki Kovalainen

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

2010 Italian Grand Prix

    Browse all 2010 Italian Grand Prix articles

    Author information

    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...

    Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

    8 comments on “Another gearbox failure (Lotus race review)”

    1. This accounts for Tony F’s tweet that said something on the lines of ‘That makes decisions easier’.

      1. Yes. I recall at the start of the season X-track made some noise about “developing a competitive solution together with our customers” or some such, but so far this season, they have failed too often in giving their customers a basically working solution – how often have hydrolic gearbox problems stopped those three teams now?

        1. I made the total for the 3 new teams : out of 33 mechanical failures, 12 are related directly to hydraulics (6 Lotus, 3 each for Virgin and HRT) and 6 to gearbox (3 Lotus, 2 Virgin and 1 HRT).
          So 18 retirements come from hydraulics/gearbox, more than half of the total.
          To complete this, the only other frequent cause of retirement is the suspension (6 times, 4 Virgin and 2 HRT). All other causes arrived only 1 or 2 times (engine, brakes, fuel pomp, steering etc…)
          And 5 retirements were caused by accidents.

          1. That certainly makes the Cosworth look good compared to other 3rd party parts on the cars. Still, Lotus must just be itching to get the Renault drivetrain in their car. Can’t wait to see what that does for them next year.

            1. And they are saying that the 2011 car is looking better than their current car, considering that they made this car in the shortest time out off all the teams I have high hopes for next year.

            2. Me too. I think they could be up fighting with Williams and Sauber, ahead of Force India and STR. They definitely have two very capable and experienced drivers.

            3. They may also be interested in obtaining Vitaly Petrov as well, but at the cost of whom…?

    2. All this aside, I like Slow-tus and wish them well next year. I would like to see them up with Sa-oo-ber, Scuderia Rouge Bovine, and Wee Willy Ams.

    Comments are closed.