Formula One: Italian Grand Prix – 1 race, 24 different reactions! (Part 6)
Lotus and Hispania had mixed feelings after finding themselves at the tail end positions in the Italian Grand Prix. Perhaps, the criterion for a job well done at the lower end of the standings was basically to end the race in one piece. Some were able to
accomplish the feat while others had to retire early.
Lotus
Heikki Kovalainen had a poor start. Losing a couple of places means an undoing of all his work in the qualifiers. After managing to get ahead of Di Grassi, the Lotus driver had to content with life behind Timo Glock.
The fin admitted that his car lacked the straight line speed to make a move on the Virgin F1 car ahead. The driver did his all to stay in touch with Glock but it was eventually down to the extent of his machinery that let him down. The weekend seemed quite
encouraging but while one needs to know when to push harder, one should also be sensible enough to be a little conservative and stay true to the limit of the car.
The Lotus managed to go around Monza 53 times which is an achievement in itself. Moreover, the fact that the team finds itself in the same position with respect to the overall championship, it can’t be said that all was lost. Jarno Trulli looked the better
of the two Lotus F1 cars as he qualified in 16th position, ahead of his team mate. Best way to describe the Italian’s race would be, ‘it was a very good race until the gearbox problem’.
Initially, there was partial damage as the Lotus was running without a second gear and even though, Trulli continued racing, he had no choice but to retire when the gearbox gave way completely. The former Toyota driver was still able to draw out the positives,
at least before his retirement. He described how well the Lotus machinery complimented the Monza track claiming that the car offered promise right from the start.
While the Italian would surely be disappointed at not being able to finish his home grand prix, he pretty much seems to be gotten use to the life in Lotus camp. The gearbox issue has rather been the story of the season for Lotus – hopefully a Renault engine
and transmission could fix that up next season. The driver is hopeful that his luck would improve as the race calendar strikes off Italy and heads to Singapore next.
Hispania
Hispania driver, Sakon Yamamoto had a troubled race as he hit a member of his own crew in pit lane. "The first thing I would say that I was very worried about the incident in the pit-lane. I asked if he was okay and I was told that he was not badly injured”,
Yamamoto commented.
Other than that, the driver felt his car to be a competitive one, able to match the pace of their other low end competitors. Rest of the journey meant staying focused, concentrating on every straight and every corner. Although, the HRT F1 finished second
last in the 20 cars that were actually able to go the 53 lap distance, the amount of professionalism shown by the Korean driver is worth recognition.
He made a big mistake, agreed, but it takes some fiber to carry that mistake with you every lap and getting the job done eventually. Meanwhile, Bruno Senna failed to finish yet another race this year. This time, it was a mechanical failure in the form of
faulty car hydraulics. The driver basically had little to say and looked to put in some good hard work during the 2 week break and hopefully do better at the next grand prix.
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