Lotus F1 Team took a formation finish with Kimi Räikkönen in sixth and Romain Grosjean seventh in the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas this afternoon.

Kimi maintains third position in the Drivers’ Championship on 206 points; 16 ahead of Lewis Hamilton in fourth. The team remains fourth in the Constructors’ Championship on 302 points; an increased 166 in front of Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 in fifth.

- Kimi and Romain both started on used medium compound tyres.
- Romain pitted for new hard tyres on lap 9, Kimi on lap 24.

Kimi Räikkönen, P6, E20-05
"It was an okay day, but not a very easy one for us. I got a bad start and then I touched with a Force India at the second corner so I lost a few more places. After that the car was okay and I could get past some of the others. Unfortunately, when it got cloudy it got too cold so the tyres stopped working and that’s where we saw Jenson [Button] get past. Basically, it was a race where we were just depending on the tyres to be in their window. I’m still 3rd in the championship and we’ll do everything we can to maintain this position until the end."

Eric Boullier, Team Principal
"Today wasn’t as good as Abu Dhabi obviously, but with both cars in the points we’re quite satisfied. The first part of the race created some expectations that we could have been in a position to fight for a better result, however the race didn’t play out that way. We had a small problem in Kimi’s pit stop and lost time there. Romain made a mistake behind Nico Hulkenberg and lost the opportunity to do a better job, but he had a very strong race from there and came back well. In the end, Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari were faster and there wasn’t anything we could do. It’s good to gain some points, plus we know we have better performance still to come from the car and the ability to achieve better results, so we’re looking forward to Brazil."

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An exciting inaugural qualifying session at the Circuit of the Americas saw Kimi Räikkönen qualify in fifth. A gearbox change for Romain will see him start from ninth on the grid for tomorrow’s United States Grand Prix; with Kimi inheriting fourth position as a result of his team-mate’s penalty.

Kimi Räikkönen, E20-05. Q: P5, 1:36.708. (Starts P4) FP3: P13, 1:37.765
“I was actually expecting a more difficult qualifying session today, but the car was the best it’s felt all weekend so it turned out to be quite good. The set-up is still not exactly how I want it but it’s much closer. The warmer conditions make the car work much better and that certainly makes a difference. Starting on the dirty side of the grid maybe isn’t the best; we’ll have to hope that the circuit picks up a little more grip for the race tomorrow.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director:
“There’s no reason we can’t be up there challenging for a podium spot again.”

What are your thoughts on qualifying?
We’re certainly happy with today. It was a good qualifying performance from both drivers and we’ve shown that the car has improved pace in qualifying trim with the updated exhaust configuration which is a big positive. Unfortunately for Romain, we had a gearbox issue with his car this morning which means he’ll take a five place grid penalty but we know the car has good race pace; with a clean start from both drivers there’s no reason we can’t be up there challenging for a podium spot again.

How difficult has it been to get up to speed with this new circuit?
It’s been a bit of a struggle for everyone I think. We’ve seen a very green surface, low track temperatures and tyres which are really far too hard for what’s required. The circuit has started to clean up significantly which is allowing the car and tyres to behave in a much more normal fashion and it now seems to be relatively easy to run very long stints on either compound.

What are your thoughts in terms of strategy for tomorrow?
As per the last few weekends, it’s highly likely that we’re looking at another one stop race. The decision will be whether to stop early and make the jump or whether to spend the most time possible running the option tyre, so that’s what we’ll be analysing tonight.

Are we feeling optimistic heading into the race?
I think so, yes. Our race pace on Friday looked promising and – as a rule – the car has been kind on tyres so there’s no reason to believe we shouldn’t be aiming for another strong result.

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Kimi Räikkönen has taken his 19th Grand Prix victory – the 48th win for an Enstone team – with a glorious day-to-night victory in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Kimi made an excellent start to take second place at the start from fourth on the grid, then capitalised when Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren retired. Romain Grosjean did not finish the race after being involved in an incident for which Sergio Perez was deemed responsible.

Kimi maintains third position in the Drivers’ Championship on 198 points; a diminished 47 shy of Fernando Alonso and an increased 31 ahead of Mark Webber. The team remains fourth in the Constructors’ Championship on 288 points; a reduced 30 behind McLaren and an increased 152 in front of Mercedes.

- Kimi started on soft tyres, pitting on lap 31 for a set of new medium compound rubber.

Kimi Räikkönen, P1, E20-05
"I’m very happy for the team, and for myself also. You never know what’s going to happen during the race; the safety cars made it quite tricky, but I’ve had similar races many, many times this year. Today we had a clear circuit to be able to use our speed. Perhaps we were not the fastest at the end, but we were quick enough and consistent enough to win so it’s great for the team. We’ve had some difficult races in the second half of the season so it’s fantastic to come back with a win."

Eric Boullier, Team Principal
"I have one word first of all: Great. Then there are many words such as ‘relief’ and ‘deserved’. It’s obviously a very well deserved result for the team. I’m pleased for Kimi and he did a very good job. We’ve been pushing very hard all season and we’ve nearly had it before. There’s a little frustration not to have had a win sooner, and we have been waiting for it, but it’s a fantastic feeling to finally take that victory and a superb reward for the team. It’s great for Formula 1, it’s great for Kimi and it’s great for our team."

James Allison, Technical Director
"When you are as happy as this it is hard to avoid lapsing into cliché. Despite being tantalisingly close several times this year, we have waited a long time to return to the top step of the podium. It is a massive tribute both to a flawless drive from Kimi and to the tenacity of the entire Enstone team for never having taken their eye off the prize all year. With two races left in the season we go on to Austin with a spring in our step, invigorated to do it all over again and see what we can achieve."

Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 Team Support Leader
"It’s just an awesome feeling to finally win a race; the first victory for the Enstone-Viry partnership in its present configuration. All season the chassis-engine package has been strong and everyone has worked incredibly hard in the last few weeks to successfully introduce new parts to get that last piece of performance. It all worked out beautifully today and hats off to Kimi for judging it perfectly."

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Under My Thumb!

Well, as I said in India, I felt the lap time speed was there in the car to fight for the top positions. Obviously, we just couldn’t use it at all after being held up by some others during the race because of a poor qualifying result.

So we went to Abu Dhabi with a good feeling from the car. If we could put everything in place with the qualifying and get a good start, the sky was the limit to fight with the leaders for the top place.

I had one experience earlier at Abu Dhabi to be forgotten, while I had my last race with Ferrari there and there was nothing left from that car to get any kind of result.

Now everything was different. We had a pretty solid practice, we tried some new parts for the last two races, but we got it right with the set-up, as well. I was quite pleased with how it went in the qualifying sessions. Obviously, it was tight as ever, but the lap was good enough to put us to P5, and, eventually, to fourth from there on, as Vettel got a penalty afterwards.

Then next on the agenda it was up to us to get a good start. I was fired up already going to the installion lap, while I felt, everything went so strongly in the practise start. Then we got the launch perfectly in place, and I was in front of Webber and Maldonado before reaching the second gear.

Hamilton had more speed, no question about that, but we didn’t have any problems to follow him. It was as predicted, this could have happened already in India. If we are free to follow the leaders, we can do it. But if there are some people in between, you just cannot do it and the leaders disappear quickly from us.

This time we didn’t have to wait until the pitstop, while Hamilton had some problems and stopped. That’s how it goes in motor racing. You hope to have the quickest car, but when you have it, you have to finish the race, too. The points are shared only after the flag.

We had the lap time speed and I could control the race quite easily until the second safety car came in. Then everything was open again. I knew I had to be able to gain a gap back in the few first laps, I really went for it – and it went ok!

We knew Alonso was there to make every effort to win this one. I saw him coming closer, but, obviously, there was not that big pressure. It’s completely different to come closer compared to try to overtake a fast car in that circuit.

It was in our control until the finish, but I have to confess, it would have been much easier, if the flag had been waved 1-2 laps earlier.

Well, winning means everything for me. It was just a great feeling to clinch the first one of the season, the first one with the new team, and get the 25 points for the first time in my life.

But all in all, it was a great result especially for the team. They have worked so hard all year long. They have had some difficult moments and we all have been disappointed after feeling how close we have been to the P1 without ultimately getting it.

Now it’s done. We all have the best reason to feel happy. Hopefully we'll get more of these moments together again as soon as possible!

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A tightly fought qualifying session at the Yas Marina Circuit saw Kimi Räikkönen net a fine fifth position on the grid whilst Romain Grosjean took tenth for tomorrow’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Kimi Räikkönen, E20-05. Q: P5, 1:41.260. FP3: P9, 1:43.184
“Qualifying was good. The car hasn’t felt fantastic all weekend but we decided we weren’t going to change the car’s set-up from where it was for the last race. It was the right choice because in the end the circuit came to us in qualifying where the car was the best it has been so far here. We’ll give tomorrow our best shot; Let’s see if we can make a good start to get right behind the Red Bulls, and then we’ll see what happens after that.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director:
“Overall a good performance from the team.”

How do you assess today’s qualifying performance?
“We are happy with our achievements today, however we could have possibly managed even more with both drivers. Fifth on the grid is very good for Kimi and means we should be well placed for tomorrow. Romain was looking set for a strong lap too, matching Kimi for the first two sectors, but he lost half a second on the final sector; we’ll be looking at what went wrong there.”

Where do you think the car should be on race pace?
“As has been the trend this season, we’re confident in terms of where our race pace should be relative to our opposition. We completed a promising long run on Friday afternoon; we have no problems or issues with tyre wear, warm-up, or anything like that so there are no reasons why we should not have a good evening tomorrow.”

Do we fear being stuck behind other cars as in the Indian Grand Prix?
“We’ve qualified further up the order with Kimi which should certainly help his race. Overtaking is slightly easier here, however Romain will have his work cut out. That said, he completed some nice overtaking moves last time out, so let’s hope for the same here.”

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A closely fought qualifying session at the Buddh International Circuit saw Kimi Räikkönen take seventh position on the grid whilst Romain Grosjean was just edged out of the top ten session, qualifying in eleventh place for tomorrow’s Indian Grand Prix.

Kimi Räikkönen, E20-05. Q: P7, 1:26.236. FP3: P5, 1:26.209
"We changed the car after this morning’s session and we were quite confident heading in to qualifying. Unfortunately, we didn’t seem to have any grip this afternoon so it was much more difficult than we thought. I’m quite disappointed to be starting from seventh as I thought we had a much better car than that."

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director:
"It’s going to be a tricky race to move forwards."

How do you assess today’s qualifying performance?
"It was a disappointing result. Kimi had a very good session in the morning and we were looking forward to a strong qualifying. Unfortunately, neither driver felt they had the grip levels they had enjoyed in the morning. Romain reported poor overall grip in all corners, whereas Kimi had issues with the low speed corners - a nervous car on entry and poor traction on exit - which are typical comments made about a car which is lacking in all round grip."

Where do you think the car should be on race pace?
"Qualifying seventh behind two Red Bulls, two McLarens and two Ferraris shows that we have the fourth fastest car here. We will do what we can in the race but we’ve seen very low tyre degradation and overtaking is difficult due to the circuit layout and DRS setup."

What strategies do the tyres allow?
"We think one or two stops will be the preferred strategies and will work tonight to see which will suit us best."

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