Chinese GP - Race
Romain Grosjean benefitted from an aggressive tyre strategy whilst Kimi Räikkönen ultimately lost out in a fast-paced and exciting Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit. Romain went from tenth on the grid to finish in sixth, whilst Kimi ran strongly in second place until his tyres could no longer deliver sufficient performance, finally finishing in 14th.
Both cars started on the yellow-marked soft Pirelli P-Zero and used a further two sets of mediums.
Kimi pitted on laps 10 and 28.
Kimi ran in P2 for laps 41-47. Romain ran in P2 for laps 29-31.
Kimi Räikkönen, P14, E20-03
“We tried to run two stops as it looked to be the fastest strategy and up until the last ten laps it was looking good, but we ran out of tyre performance at the end. I was stuck behind Felipe (Massa) for quite a while and couldn’t get past as I wasn’t fast enough in the right parts of the track to make a move. Even if I’d got past I don’t think it would have made the greatest amount of difference to the final result. We had good pace in the race, we tried a different strategy and it didn’t pay off today; it’s as simple as that.”
Eric Boullier, Team Principal
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Alan Permane, Director of Trackside Operations
“Ten laps before the end of the race, Kimi’s tyres were nearing the end of their life and unfortunately he got on the marbles when Sebastian (Vettel) passed. That was the end of his race effectively as he lost ten places over the course of a lap. We’ll dissect the data and see if a three stop would have been better for us, but everything before the race suggested a two-stop was the way to go, and this approach benefitted Romain. Without the gamble we took with Kimi we wouldn’t have been running in second position so that was the risk we took. I’m happy for Romain to finish his first race of the season. To go from tenth to sixth - racing with the cars of the calibre he was - showed a measured performance so it looks good for the future. We’ve learn a lot this weekend and hopefully we head to Bahrain with an improved car and better understanding of this year’s tyres.”
Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 Team Support Leader
“Congratulations to Romain on his first points of the season. It was a shame that Kimi could not get a double points finish, but the speed of the package is fundamentally there. Engine-wise we’ve had a trouble free weekend, which is always positive at this type of track where the unit gets a workout over the entire rev range. Driveability through the slow corners was good and the top speed was reasonable, which allowed Romain to defend his position in the closing laps from the Williams and get some decent points for the team today.”
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