Romain Grosjean said he didn’t believe he had any chance of finishing on the podium after starting 17th on the grid for today’s Indian Grand Prix.
Asked if he thought it was possible Grosjean said: “Not at all. I wouldn’t have bet a penny on me being on the podium today.”
“But the car came back as it was on Friday,” he added. “I think the race pace was really there. We did a very brave strategy, as we did yesterday, I think it was not the time to go safe. And it paid off, we’re back on the podium, it’s quite amazing from where we started.
“I tried to go through the field and it was tough until the end, I didn’t know when the tyres were going to go off. The team did fantastic and very proud to be here.”
Grosjean caught team mate Kimi Raikkonen who was struggling with his tyres in the closing stages of the race. This led to a heated exchange on the team radio as Raikkonen defended his position from his team mate, even forcing him wide at turn four.
The team’s trackside operations director Alan Permane told Raikkonen to “get out of the ******* way”. Raikkonen responded with similar language, adding he would yield the position “when I have the chance but not in the fast corners”.
Grosjean said his team mate “was in a difficult situation”.
“I knew I had to be careful to my engine. I knew Massa had much fresher tyres behind, so I didn’t want to lose time and I lost a little bit of time.
“But never mind. The good point is we are in the podium, we score good points for the team and we still have a very strong car for the upcoming races.”
2013 Indian Grand Prix
- Vettel takes fifth Driver of the Weekend win
- This year’s Indian Grand Prix voted best so far
- F1 still struggling to gain a foothold in India
- 2013 Indian Grand Prix fans’ video gallery
- 2013 Indian Grand Prix team radio transcript
Image ?é?® Lotus/LAT
Manished
27th October 2013, 12:31
well done Romain =)
Shame for Kimi…..made contact with webber + rear brake problem + 6.7seconds pit stop that got him stucked behind sauber+ not enough fuel in the end and was told to save fuel without losing time like Kimi’s a magician.
Postreader
27th October 2013, 12:46
Lotus is happy though. They owe Kimi fifty kiloeuros for each point he makes and ain’t paying it already.
Keith Campbell (@keithedin)
28th October 2013, 9:17
I very much doubt whatever bonus Kimi gets from his contract is worth more to the team than the points themselves. After all, what salesman gets 125% commission on everything they sell? (i sure don’t!). Not to mention every point could be crucial in the constructors’ championship which if it gains them a position would be worth 10s of millions.
On fuel saving though, quite a few times Lotus seems to have short fuelled their cars, they shouldn’t be making those mistakes.
Aditya (@adityafakhri)
27th October 2013, 12:52
Lotus strategy is like two side of coins, it could work brilliantly or massively disappointing.
dejavu like China 2012.
anyway, brake problems, fuel consumptions, KERS issues, pitstop problems are familiar with Lotus and Raikkonen…
had Lotus create better strategy, that incident wont happen, nevertheless I’m not impressed by the move against Grosjean.
Lars Jarlvik (@lazze2k5)
28th October 2013, 8:16
I’m not sure that move was intentional I just think the tires where that bad so he couldn’t stop i time, he did the same thing a couple of turns later when there were no cars around.
scuderia_fan85 (@scuderia_fan85)
27th October 2013, 14:26
all that is just to get Kimi outta Romains way.
scuderia_fan85 (@scuderia_fan85)
27th October 2013, 15:10
Shame on Lotus. which other team on the grid can only focus on car at a time?
David Margono (@woshidavid95)
27th October 2013, 19:05
@scuderia_fan85
That is a bit rich coming from a Ferrari fan… not saying what Ferrari are doing are wrong since they have their reasons, but to criticize Lotus for doing that when Ferrari are far more guilty of ‘focusing on one car at a time’ is rather hypocritical.
scuderia_fan85 (@scuderia_fan85)
2nd November 2013, 14:16
im a Kimi fan first and foremost. since his sauber days…
danclapp (@danclapp)
27th October 2013, 12:33
Well done mate you have really took over that team now dominating your teammate especially in qually. This tyre excuses is laughable i always was under the impressino Kimi is a racer he drives anything quick. Just keep it together Roman your in a good place you have proved too many (best driver for last races imo) that you coud be a WC in the right circumstance. Even though i must admit i think the Lotus is a way better car than the results it gets, the tyre life it gets is great.
candice
27th October 2013, 12:44
Funny, Romain was blaming the tire for his first half of the season’s lack of performance.
the great driver you refer today.
And it wasn’t for Kimi being bang by webber, rear brake issues, 6.7 seconds pit stop, and not enough fuel and had to save fuel from lap 47 onwards, your great driver would never got 3rd.
David Margono (@woshidavid95)
27th October 2013, 12:54
OK I personally prefer Grosjean but let’s resolve this amicably… Grosjean did an excellent job and Candice you should not be trying to criticize him every time, I presume the reason is that your favourite driver is Raikkonen and that you don’t like him losing out? Chill, everyone knows what Raikkonen can do. And for @danclapp let’s not forget that Raikkonen had done a pretty good job for a season and a half, perhaps he is slipping behind Grosjean but that’s not a reason to undermine him.
Shirley Hemshall (@porsche999)
27th October 2013, 13:04
I agree, pity some people can’t give credit where due!
Well done Grosjean, action always speaks louder than words! :0)
scuderia_fan85 (@scuderia_fan85)
27th October 2013, 15:04
he barely gets credit. a few races he is on top over his teammate and everybody singing him to the sky. he needs the teams help to get by. him cant do it on his own…couldn’t in Korea, begging and whining on the radio like a girl..
im sure Kimi will not even look back, damn well might regret coming back with them.
David Margono (@woshidavid95)
27th October 2013, 19:21
@scuderia_fan85
That is really funny coming from a Ferrari fan, where favouritism towards Alonso is the most apparent out of all the teams. And before Raikkonen ditched Lotus for Ferrari, I think it’s obvious he gets more support than Grosjean, so doesn’t that qualify as ‘needing the team’s help more’ as well? And as for Korea, give it a rest already, Raikkonen only managed to get ahead because of the safety car and those words were obviously uttered in a moment of adrenaline as Grosjean was fine with it afterwards. I can also stary reminding you of German 2010 of ‘Fernando is faster than you’ and probably many others, but as a Ferrari fan you should already be aware of it. You shouldn’t call out other teams for favouritism and politics when your favourite team is far more guilty of it. Just acknowledge what he can do already, it’s not a couple of races; it can be traced all the way back from the German Grand Prix this year.
candice
27th October 2013, 13:09
slipping behind Romain??
Singapore – mechanic didn’t blot the seat properly and hurt kimi’s spine.
Korea – In q3, kimi was later found out qualifying with damage front wing.
India – In Fp1, kimi said mechanic place some parts on his car that wasnt suppose to be there. The whole Fp1 session gone.
In the race, Kimi said he got no brake for the first 20 laps. 6.7 seconds pit stop further jeopardize kimi. And what the hell was that on lap 47?? Low on fuel?? had to save fuel without losing time??
Romain being better than Kimi, thats one thing i cannot comprehend. Kimi had too much issues consecutively. He wasnt even allowed to sort his camber setting limitation issues by throwing away free practices. You can say Romain did a good job, to say he’s better than Kimi in this race, its just a joke.
Aditya (@adityafakhri)
27th October 2013, 13:12
you should create an F1 team.
David Margono (@woshidavid95)
27th October 2013, 13:14
Again Candice, enough of the fangirl-ing over Raikkonen. Raikkonen did the better job overall but as of late Grosjean is the one doing better. Is it that hard to acknowledge that? Tsk
candice
27th October 2013, 13:32
In bahrain 2012, Eric was asked why he didn;t implement team order earlier.
Eric replied : ” i dont want to hurt his feeling”
Indian gp 2013 : get the *****out of the way
David Margono (@woshidavid95)
27th October 2013, 14:11
The same thing can be said at Sepang 2013, Grosjean finished ahead of Raikkonen despite lacking the team’s upgrades. In the first place, why would they give their then #2 driver upgrades over their star driver? Honestly, stop being so narrow-minded.
candice
27th October 2013, 13:29
yea. Romain did a better job by not having any problem.
Kimi did nothing wrong, but getting all the blames.
Im not fangirling Kimi, you are the one fangirling over Romain.
David Margono (@woshidavid95)
27th October 2013, 13:43
Sighs… SMH.
Funny how you never brought up Valencia 2012 when Grosjean was in 2nd until his car broke down, or more recently in Singapore 2013. Not to mention that Korea was entire his own fault, Raikkonen himself admits that >_> And no, the situation at Bahrain does not compare because Grosjean never pushed Raikkonen off the track nor did they have a Ferrari in hot pursuit. Stop being so biased and one-dimensional; in no way am I fangirl-ing over Grosjean like you are over Raikkonen because unlike you, I can give credit where it’s due.
candice
27th October 2013, 13:51
you mean that race where romain only outqualified Kimi by a tenth despite running the first major upgrades for the team where Kimi needs to wait until Hungary??
well done Romain. Shame on you Kimi….such a jerk.
David Margono (@woshidavid95)
27th October 2013, 14:12
Same thing can be said at Sepang 2013, Grosjean finished ahead of Raikkonen despite lacking the team’s upgrades. In the first place, why would they give their then #2 driver upgrades over their star driver? Honestly, stop being so narrow-minded.
Dion (@infinitygc)
27th October 2013, 15:06
Grosjean did have a problem, his engine was running out of air during the final 5 or so laps, which made him have to short shift two gears.
Candice
27th October 2013, 16:05
when kimi lost few parts of his front wing at the start??
Good job Romain. Again, such a jerk Kimi
David Margono (@woshidavid95)
27th October 2013, 19:08
Again, whose fault was it that he lost his front wing oh wait, his own fault for being involved in a first lap tangle, likewise for Monza. You’re not even making any sense now Candice, if that was Grosjean you’d be criticizing him 24/7 for being a ‘first lap nutcase’. Just stop being so stubborn already and admit that Grosjean has been doing a better job as of late, or are you that deep in denial?
Strontium (@strontium)
27th October 2013, 12:34
It was an amazing drive by Grosjean! He is brilliant :D
Patrick (@paeschli)
27th October 2013, 12:36
Driver of the weekend :)
toiago (@toiago)
27th October 2013, 13:17
It’s one of the DOTW certainly. But I think this weekend it was Vettel. But let’s wait for the DOTW feature to discuss this subject!
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
27th October 2013, 13:36
Of course let’s wait, but his qualifying wasn’t brilliant regardless of the strategic mishap.
Shirley Hemshall (@porsche999)
27th October 2013, 12:45
Totally agree, brilliant drive by Grosjean.
Definately driver of the weekend :0)
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
27th October 2013, 12:45
17th to 3rd, what to say… Recovery, in legendary mode!
scuderia_fan85 (@scuderia_fan85)
27th October 2013, 15:01
legendary? aren’t u jumping the gun years ahead of time…
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
27th October 2013, 19:25
no projection, my friend. Just talking about one race.
Mads (@mads)
27th October 2013, 12:53
What a race he had.
I am getting increasingly impressed by him. To think.. where he came from. In 2012 he was given all sorts of names by practically everyone, from fans to drivers. Given a race ban, and practically lost all confidence. Raikönnen was driving in circles around him. And now he steps up to the job. He is usually blindingly quick in qualifying and his race craft is getting better and better race by race.
At the end of 2012 I had all ready written him off. I thought he was going nowhere and was either clumsy but fast or cautious and slow. Now he has found the balance to be both fast and while I wouldn’t say cautious, he doesn’t get into trouble any more.
Lotus was right to give him another year, he is clearly becoming a very high quality driver it just took quite a bit of time to get him polished.
candice
27th October 2013, 13:11
what kind of racecraft? he overtook 14 cars by stopping once.
David Margono (@woshidavid95)
27th October 2013, 13:27
Candice, refer to my comment above… SMH like seriously. Stop your fangirl-ing over Raikkonen and/or bashing of Grosjean for 1 second and acknowledge that Grosjean is doing a better job lately; overall it’s without a doubt Raikkonen is better but at this rate that may not be the case for long. And if Grosjean can make a 1-stopper work, I see no reason why Raikkonen can’t. Perhaps he pitted too early but the way he dropped like a stone in the end shows Grosjean had better tyre management, if not racecraft.
Kimi4WDC
28th October 2013, 1:26
It doesn’t matter if you fan boy or not, but it’s a numbers fact.
I do believe Grosjean deserves more praise in India than in Suzuka, but both of them have a high degree of pity in them, as looking at the numbers, he is not coming from a good place and we all glad that he is doing better now.
Dmitry (@robo)
27th October 2013, 13:35
Candice, love, Kimi won the race because of the tyre strategy. Cut your whining, do a favour.
candice
27th October 2013, 14:12
not really. Kimi won the race by overtook Lewis on the start to gained 4th. He also had to clear Perez and Sutil to get himself clean air.
Neel Jani (@neelv27)
27th October 2013, 21:30
Lover of the weekend goes to Candice! :P
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
27th October 2013, 14:22
yes, he overtook 14 cars. Everyone could do the same, but he managed to be on the podium starting from 17th place. There is nothing else to say, actually.
Pete (@repete86)
27th October 2013, 19:29
Then why didn’t Kimi finish ahead of him? They both had a one stop strategy, but clearly only one of them could pull it off.
scuderia_fan85 (@scuderia_fan85)
27th October 2013, 14:22
its clear Lotus are focusing more on Romains car; that’s their version of team orders.
TheBass (@)
27th October 2013, 13:02
He did a great job, and it’s becoming a trend for him.
David Margono (@woshidavid95)
27th October 2013, 13:04
Grosjean’s improvement in Lotus is somewhat reminscent of Massa’s improvement in Ferrari from 2006-2008… hopefully unlike Massa he will never have to experience a nasty accident that never leaves you the same driver again.
Merv (@)
27th October 2013, 13:25
I spent most of last year defending Grosjean, the potential was quite easy to see and a lot of his problems were down to pure bad luck.
Now I’m glad he’s proving me right race by race and really hope he continues to improve.
If things go right with the new car and regs next year I think we could be looking at a real contender.
Feuerdrache (@xenomorph91)
27th October 2013, 13:27
Great race from Grosjean despite having the slowest top speed (according to the analysis). No surprise, their strategy helped but you still need to keep the focus during the whole stint.
erix
27th October 2013, 13:30
Be careful RG, next year you might drive for Raikkonen F1 team, since Lotus have to do debt-for-equity-swap to avoid bankruptcy.
phildick (@phildick)
27th October 2013, 13:46
Just can’t wait for the radio transcript article after this race.
chi-tom (@chi-tom)
27th October 2013, 17:01
Yes! Alan Permane’s great “Get out of the ******* way” was priceless.
Diceman (@diceman)
27th October 2013, 14:43
Once again brilliant race from Romain. Looks like he is finally taking his place as the leading driver at Lotus.
scuderia_fan85 (@scuderia_fan85)
27th October 2013, 15:00
complete your statement. “only because their current leading driver is leaving”.
Diceman (@diceman)
27th October 2013, 18:00
But it’s not just that, he has IMO been the better Lotus driver at the second half of the season, so why couldn’t he lead them to success next season?
scuderia_fan85 (@scuderia_fan85)
27th October 2013, 14:58
Grosjean did as good a job as the team putting all their focus on his car; since he has never been in the championship fight, this obviously is a way to show Kimi by acting asinine they r upset he is leaving them. but anybody would. they couldn’t even pay him much less consistently develop the car at a rate higher than the mid-field team and on BOTH cars. and now they showing him this kinda disrespect…oh man.
Well back at Ferrari, I hope he disrespects his former team.
David Margono (@woshidavid95)
27th October 2013, 19:42
@scuderiafan_85
What nonsense, if they are really that bitter at Raikkonen they would have already told him to hand 2nd back to Grosjean at Korea. And the ‘disrespect’ first came from Raikkonem by forcing Grosjean off the track but oh wait, since it’s Raikkonen it always means that ‘he knows what he’s doing’ isn’t it? Tsk. And in case you haven’t noticed Lotus are still duelling with Ferrari and Mercedes for 2nd in the WCC so it’s absurd for them to only focus on one car. Not to mention that Lotus were obviously supporting Raikkonen more before he ditched them for Ferrari, and that can also be argued as the reason he performed better in the first half… no scratch that, that can be said for just about any driver.
Kimi4WDC
28th October 2013, 1:27
I think you need to re-watch the moves and disrespects you referring to.
David Margono (@woshidavid95)
28th October 2013, 7:08
Sure, what Alan Permeane did was crude and unprofessional, no denying. But if Raikkonen didn’t force his teammate of all people off the track on heavily worn tyres when a Ferrari was chasing them, it wouldn’t have happened. That was a very dumb move from Raikkonen and he disrespected the team first by doing that.
David Margono (@woshidavid95)
27th October 2013, 19:45
@scuderia_fan85
kpcart
27th October 2013, 15:04
A worthy result. Grosjean’s improvement in qualifying and race craft in recent times is nearly unheard of in top teams in f1 during the past several decades. a win is coming (not for redbulls current dominance).Hhis teammate has signed a deal for Ferrari yet he is showing him up. it reminds me of Felipe Massa’s unexpected rise, in which he started in a midfield team, then teamed with schumached ended up competing equaly over time and beating Schumacher, and then also beating Raikonnen, with the rise then unfortunantly ending with Felipe’s unfortunate accident. I feel Grosjeans progress is similar, he is not expected to be a great, but is making his own claim to greatness and is believing in himself.
Grosjean’s story is really his own making, he is not a child star put into f1 expecting results like Hamilton, yet he is getting there by himself. I never expected him to be a race winner, but his recent form tells me he is a worthy f1 driver who when he gets a win will be a highly celebrated winner…. the odds and support have never been for him, but he is creating his own odds.
Corrado (@)
27th October 2013, 16:14
Indeed ! If it wasn’t for Webber’s retirement… no chance !
Corrado (@)
27th October 2013, 16:15
+ Alonso’s failed startegy, no chance for GRO to get the podium.
Sammo
27th October 2013, 17:03
Romain has gotten lots more confident of late and good results follow, clearly gets more out of the car too. Kimi’s performance has gotten worse, so he’s skills are getting worse?, i don’t think so. The car suits Romain better now, and the opposite for Kimi. I think the only thing Kimi likes more than winning is racing and the only thing Romain likes more than racing is winning.
PMccarthy_is_a_legend (@pmccarthy_is_a_legend)
27th October 2013, 19:54
Wow Grosjean just outstanding. The Lotus is kind on its tyres, but boy did he make it work! He’s always had the speed, now the race craft is improving too. Just excellent.
Deb Luhi (@debeluhi)
28th October 2013, 5:20
I’m neutral in this battle between Kimi and Roman but I’m really surprised when some people are trying very hard to discredit what Roman has achieved this season and in particular the second part of it. Maybe the results are showing something else but Roman gave Kimi a run for his money (which he didn’t get, by the way).
David Margono (@woshidavid95)
28th October 2013, 7:13
@debeluhi
Say hello to obssessed Raikkonen fans who don’t like Grosjean showing him up… they say Grosjean is only doing better because gets more support than Raikkonen now but hello, before Raikkonen ditched Lotus for Ferrari I’m pretty sure Raikkonen, being the #1 driver got more support and I doubt they were complaining about that.
Sammo
28th October 2013, 14:08
Raikkonen hasn’t ditched Lotus for Ferrari. I think he’s playing it quite professionally by driving for Lotus full throttle (i don’t even know if he’s got all the money the owe to him either). I’m sure Lotus has ditched Kimi (like McLaren ditched Lewis last year) rather than the other way around, he isn’t in the inner circle anymore. I don’t mean that they are making his car worse but rather a black sheep of the family. If Lotus won’t get the sponsors it needs for next season, it would be better for Romain if he left also.
The only person knowing what’s really going on with car number 7 right now is Kimi, and he’s talking very little about it. This is the perfect time for Kimi haters (Permane seems like one these days) to rise their heads, like they did when Massa was getting the upper hand back in the day. In those Ferrari years only Kimi knew how difficult it was to drive the car he was driving, but he didn’t whine about it, some engineer seem to think he was amazing.
The best thing about this is that Kimi probably doesn’t care about these opinions, fan or foe. He knows what he’s doing — he’s a true racer, he races because he enjoys it. He doesn’t care about his teammates points or constructors points, he drives for himself and if he’s doing good the team can benefit from it. I don’t remember Kimi asking for team orders (the team made those decisions), he would have raced his teammate to the bitter or sweet end (like he did in Korea).
Kimi himself has said that he doesn’t have to drive, but enjoys to. He looks life beyond F1, it’s just an enjoyable job for him, if it wasn’t he wouldn’t do it. Many people like him because he doesn’t inflate himself just because he has more money (he’s first car was a Lada, and the prefers to drive a VW Caravelle for practical reasons) or he’s a celebrity and that annoys a lot of people, that he can be so “common”. Some even make the mistake of thinking he’s less intelligent. I like the fact that he isn’t “posh”, he’s the kind of guy a common guy like myself can relate to (although same aged as Kimi, my partying days are over, grown out of those but Kimi clearly hasn’t). He is an ideal example for workers -> work hard till the factory whistle blows, then drop your gloves, because anything more is off your skin. This makes people think he’s lazy, but he just does what he has contracted himself to do, and the driving part is what he enjoys. Then there are the other drivers like Romain or even Sebastian who live and breath Formula 1. Kimi could be better if he dived into it more, but then he wouldn’t be the same Kimi, he would be a formula 1 driver like the rest of them. You don’t have to be the best (always in subjective terms) one to be the most interesting (always in subjective terms) one.
Sammo
28th October 2013, 7:42
Romain has been great for sure. I just think Kimi fans are a little overprotective because a lot of people want to “shoot him down” when he’s not getting the best results (everybody is always “shot down” when they are in a slump, people like to kick you when you are down). I think it was good for Romain, that he had to fight for the spot even though he was obviously going to get it at some point (He got some schooling in the Guttierez fight as well, zic-zacing like crazy behind him and steaming about it). Kimi isn’t getting into any mindgames and I think a Kimi-fans stay out of them as well. Kimi is just a personality that some can’t handle (too honest).