Obviously, there is not too much to say about the Monaco Grand Prix weekend. We didn¹t start that well on Thursday, but managed to get the car ok for Saturday and Sunday. Then we ¹joined the train¹ going around the circuit in the race ­ but were pushed out off it during the final laps.

Once again the race showed how tricky it is to overtake in Monaco. We got the fifth place in the grid, raced most of the time fifth, and settled for the P5... But is was not to come for us. It was just ten laps to go, while I¹ve got hit from behind.

The rear wheel was destroyed and I had to limb back to the pits. Coming back with fresh tyres we were in P16. But at least then I saw how nice it is to race in a clean air with new tyres.

We managed to do some overtaking and got back to the TOP 10. We got one point back, but, obviously, it was a very, very disappointing end for the weekend.

Just imagine how great it would have been to go in the front of the pack with our car... At least we know, our car is competitive in all kind of circuits.

We had some good results earlier on before Monaco, so one bad result doesn¹t mean the championship is lost.

But as I have said many times, there will be a weekend, where we are not going to be happy, and this was one of those. Hopefully the only one, as well!

Kimi Räikkönen salvaged a solitary point on the final lap of an incident-rich Monaco Grand Prix after a late puncture forced him to pit from fifth place. Having re-joined the field in thirteenth, Kimi made back three places in the last two laps to take his tally of unbroken points scoring races to 23. Kimi remains second in the Drivers’ Championship, but is now 21 points behind leader Sebastian Vettel. The team remains in third place in the Constructors’ Championship, now eleven points from Ferrari.

- Kimi started from P5 with a used set of supersoft tyres, changing to new softs on lap 26, another set of new softs during the race suspension and finally scrubbed supersofts on lap 70
- Today was Kimi’s 34th consecutive race finish – 26th consecutive with Lotus F1 Team - and 23rd consecutive Grand Prix points finish; the latter leaving him just one shy of Michael Schumacher’s record

Kimi Räikkönen, P10, E21-03
“It was a really disappointing day. Because of one stupid move from Sergio [Perez] we’ve lost a lot of points to Sebastian [Vettel] in the Championship and you can’t afford to lose ground like that. He hit me from behind and that’s about all there is to it. If he thinks it’s my fault that he came into the corner too fast then he obviously has no idea what he’s talking about. It’s not the first time he’s hit someone in the race; he seems to expect people to be always looking at what he might do, then move over or go straight on if he comes into the corner too quick and isn’t going to make it without running into someone. Not the ideal weekend but there’s nothing we can do about it. At least we got one point back at the end.” 

Kimi Räikkönen will start from fifth on the grid after an exciting rain-visited qualifying session for the Monaco Grand Prix.

Kimi Räikkönen, E21-03. Q: P5, 1:14.822. FP3: P6, 1:15.380
It was a difficult day today because of the weather, but it was the same for all of the drivers. Obviously, qualifying here is never the easiest with the traffic and the barriers and you’d always prefer it to be dry as it’s so slippery when it’s wet. I’m happy we made it through to the top ten and P5 was more or less the best we could do with seven tenths to the next fastest car. I’m not sure what we’ll do in the race; we don’t have a clear picture yet as you never know exactly what the strategies from everyone else will be, but for sure we’ll find out tomorrow.

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director:
How was qualifying for the team?
It was a disappointing session for us. Firstly we need to say a big thank you to Romain’s crew for getting his car ready for qualifying in lightening quick time, and they were rewarded by a lightening quick first lap from their man. Unfortunately, traffic at the end of Q2 prevented him from getting into the top ten which was a great shame. Kimi has a reasonable position with P5 on the grid, but moving forwards up the order at Monaco is exceptionally difficult so any gains tomorrow will be hard won.

How difficult was it on the pitwall through qualifying?
Our car worked well in all conditions today so the weather wasn’t so much of a problem, we just had to ensure we had the correct tyres on at the right time. Finding clear track here is always difficult, no matter what the weather, and that’s what we saw with Romain today.

What’s possible in the race?
Monaco is a very different circuit from any other, with the short lap length and traffic considerations meaning that there are not many viable options for different strategies. Add that to a dry weather forecast for tomorrow – plus the fact that it’s almost impossible to pass here – and we have a very difficult race in prospect. We will of course look at all possibilities and do what we can to get our cars to the front. It’s a very long race and we have seen fortunes change on a Sunday quite often thus far in 2013, so anything’s possible.

Kimi Räikkönen completed the first practice sessions for the Monaco Grand Prix with the sixth fastest time of the day, with team-mate Romain Grosjean right behind him in seventh. Kimi set his time on the super soft Pirelli tyre.

As part of the team’s partnership with Columbia Records, both cars and drivers – as well as the team garage – sport eye-catching Daft Punk livery for this weekend.

Technical programme notes

- Both drivers ran with new front and rear wing specifications today.
- Pirelli’s soft (yellow) compound tyre was used in the morning session, the soft and supersoft (red) in the afternoon.
- The Monaco barriers are unforgiving.

What we learned today:
- The Monaco-spec front and rear wings work well.
- The E21 looks good on both tyre dry compounds.

Kimi Räikkönen, E21-03
Free Practice 1: P11, 1:17.509, 26 laps
Free Practice 2: P6, 1:15.511, 39 laps

Kimi:
“I was much happier at the end of today than this morning. We spent the first session getting the steering right as it wasn’t great at the beginning, then we changed a few things on the car and it felt far better. We’ve still got a few other areas to improve, but it was getting stronger with every run today. To get pole we have to make the car a bit faster overall and I have to drive a bit better, then we’ll have to see what happens.” 

Nothing compares

So far we have been around the world for a while, done five Grands Prix, but it¹s still quite early times for the championship considerations. For me every race is as important as Monaco. But, however, there is no other race like this one.

This is the weekend, you cannot afford to waste any of the precious track time in practise. You have to find the best feeling with the car and with the tyres to go really fast. Obviously, we lost the FP1 last year, and paid heavily for that. I have been racing in Monaco so many times, I know, it¹s no use to cry afterwards anything. This is the place, where it¹s so very tricky to have a clean weekend. But while you get it, everything goes to the plan, so it feels great. It¹s just like a part of magic of this legendary Grand Prix.

It¹s always such a nice atmosphere down here in Monaco. You can feel it looking around from the car, as well. To be a fan or a spectator, you enjoy this race 100%. For the teams and for the drivers it¹s not that easy weekend. The streets of Monte Carlo are so twisty and narrow. You have to be extra sharp and focussed for every single metre that you go fast there. You simply have less room for an error compared to any other race. Obviously, you cannot overestimate the value of a good qualifying session. While overtaking is almost impossible, you have to start from the TOP 3 positions. The only way really to enjoy racing in Monaco, is to be in the front of the pack.

Obviously, we struggled here last year, but I feel Lotus have really improved in many areas ever since. The target is do our very best weekend of the season. I always aim to win. Let¹s find out, how it goes this time!

Lotus F1 Team endured a difficult Monaco Grand Prix, with Kimi Räikkönen finishing in ninth position and Romain Grosjean crashing out of the race before the first corner. It was also a difficult race for the strategists with rain looming but never arriving to any significant extent until immediately after the chequered flag fell. Lotus F1 Team are now tied in third position in the Constructors’ Championship with Ferrari.

• Both cars started on used sets of red-marked super soft Pirelli P-Zero tyres.
• Kimi changed to a set of new soft tyres on lap 29.

Kimi Räikkönen, P9, E20-03
“Ninth was the best we could do today. I didn’t start in a great position and I had some difficulties during the race so it’s not been the easiest weekend, but at least we got a couple of points. It’s better than nothing but not exactly what we wanted. One race doesn’t change the fact that we have been pretty strong everywhere – even here at the beginning of the weekend. This circuit is completely different from any other and I don’t think we should worry too much about the fact that it wasn’t our best weekend. It is what it is – sometimes it doesn’t go the way you expected and now we should look to Canada for a better result.”

Romain Grosjean, DNF, E20-04
“We struggled to get off the line and it looked like Lewis [Hamilton] in front didn’t have the best start either. Fernando [Alonso] pulled alongside him so I was then on the outside of both cars, and unfortunately Michael [Schumacher] was on the outside of me as well. There just wasn’t enough room and next thing I’m facing all the traffic after just one hundred metres which wasn’t a nice feeling. It’s a disappointing end to the week after some positive early signs, but that’s racing and now we look forward to Canada and a chance to bounce back.”

Eric Boullier, Team Principal
"We arrived in Monaco after two consecutive podiums and did not really know what to expect at such a unique circuit. Before qualifying it was obvious that the E20 was going to be competitive, but things did not go as planned. Our positions on the grid did not reflect our true pace and that put us on the back foot for the rest of the weekend. Unfortunately Romain’s race ended prematurely after contact with Michael Schumacher, and like the Stewards I think it was a racing incident. With Kimi, we knew that fighting for a podium was going to be more than difficult. It then became obvious that we were struggling with our tyres when the temperature fell. The grip was just not there and we could only defend our position. In the end, the two points we’ve scored today are disappointing but because the field is so tight we have not lost too much ground on our opponents. We have the same number of points as Ferrari in the constructors’ championship, while Kimi is 25 points away from Fernando Alonso who’s leading the drivers’ classification. Anything can still happen and the championship is wide open. We’re now looking forward to Montreal, the first low downforce track of the season, where the E20 should be strong. Finally, I wish to congratulate the team for all their hard work this weekend. Our 500th was not one of our best, but I hope the 501st is!”

James Allison, Technical Director
“We’ve had five races so far this season where we’ve shown strongly. Sadly, at the sixth we were not on the pace. It was a completely joyless experience from start to finish. Romain has been metronomic this weekend, but he was out of the race before the first corner which was a massive blow to our hopes for today. Kimi had an okay start, but wasn’t able to keep the car running at a challenging pace once the sheen came off his tyres after ten or fifteen laps. We stayed out longer than we would have done otherwise on the first set of super soft tyres as we, and everyone else, were waiting for rain to come. Now we have to pick ourselves up and come back in Canada to bring both cars home in strong placings.”

Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 Team Support Leader
“We worked hard to deliver good drive and response over the lower rev ranges to deal with the low average speed of the Monaco track. The package has been quick this weekend, which was reflected in the qualifying positions, but Romain was very unlucky to be involved in the accident at the start. Ninth place for Kimi is a bit frustrating and not reflective of the general level of performance we have shown at this event.”