Disappointing German GP for Lotus with double DNFs

Disappointing German GP for Lotus with double DNFs

Race day in Germany began with Lotus Racing Chief Mechanic Phil Spencer, Deputy Team Principal Kamarudin Meranun and Chief Executive Officer Riad Asmat paying their respects to Team Lotus legend Jim Clark at his Hockenheim memorial, but it was a disappointing Sunday for the team after both Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen recorded DNFs.

Trulli was running 15th when he retired on lap 4 due to a gearbox problem. He came in to the pits for the team to reset the problem and went out again, but it didn’t work out. The Italian seems to be shouldering most of the mechanical bad luck between the two drivers. Heikki Kovalainen on the other hand was forced to retire on lap 60 after coming together with Pedro de la Rosa’s Sauber, who was lapping him at the time.

Disappointing German GP for Lotus with double DNFs

“It was my mistake but I didn’t see the Sauber coming. I thought I was letting the Williams past, and didn’t see the Sauber so I closed the door and that was the end of the race. It’s a shame because I was running pretty well until then,” the Finn admitted.

“Ultimately a very disappointing day. Jarno lost second gear and had to retire and Heikki had to retire after contact with de la Rosa. Both cars made good starts – we started Jarno on the harder tyre and Heikki on the options to split the strategies, but Jarno’s race was over before he’d really started. Heikki drove a strong race and was comfortably leading the battle of the new teams before contact forced him to retire. Despite this it was still a strong showing from us, and now we move on to Hungary,” said Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer.

The lack of improvement in terms of performance isn’t entirely unexpected, as we previously reported that Lotus Racing has shift its focus and resources on next year’s car, as there’s little hope of overhauling any of the established teams this season.

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Danny Tan

Danny Tan loves driving as much as he loves a certain herbal meat soup, and sweet engine music as much as drum beats. He has been in the auto industry since 2006, previously filling the pages of two motoring magazines before joining this website. Enjoys detailing the experience more than the technical details.

 

Comments

  • what is DNF??

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  • Rosmama on Jul 26, 2010 at 10:20 am

    Buang masa dan wang

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    • Hameed Koyakuti on Jul 31, 2010 at 9:01 pm

      Since when this pendek Riad knows anything about Jim Clark etc.??? he dont even have to prove he is better than his father Tan Sri Asmat Kamaludin (the director of Calsberg Malaysia)
      This is purely technical know who, not technical know how?

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  • Deputy Team Principal Kamarudin Meranun boleh ker???

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  • they can bury their F1 car at the graveyard also. whether they are racing or not.. is like dead end. Always DNF of end up last.

    lotus my ka-cheng. . .

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  • autojohndoe on Jul 26, 2010 at 12:59 pm

    perfect topic to start the day…

    on your mark…. get set…. bash!

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  • dodgeviper88 on Jul 26, 2010 at 4:52 pm

    Imagine Petronas actually did sponsor this team……………………

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    • autojohndoe on Jul 27, 2010 at 1:02 pm

      is schumacher pf mercedes perfoming so well in that case?

      It is also a question by hiring Schumacher which we dont know how much petronas had spend on when he cant perform as per expected..

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      • dodgeviper88 on Jul 27, 2010 at 6:49 pm

        well at least he scores points, which the whole lotus team fail to do so. It’s just business, if you were the sponsor of course you would sponsor a bigger and better team

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  • Ronaldo on Jul 26, 2010 at 6:30 pm

    Every race they face the same problem and issue..gearbox , hydraulic etc…….and yet they so proud to say they leading the battle of the new team……….

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    • Diablo on Jul 27, 2010 at 11:38 am

      But they ARE leading among the new teams.. and getting close to the Toro Rossos. Isn’t that worth being proud over? Or fdo we only have reason to be proud when we win championships. If thats the case why is there 12 teams? The 11 teams should just go home and shut up?

      All other teams have problems of their own at one time or another. including Ferrari, Mclaren, Rebdull… Force India had a disastrous weekend. Shall we condemn them as well or are we practising discrimination?

      Normally we discriminate against ‘others’ ie white skin discriminate against black skin etc but in Malaysia I think it is compulsory that we discriminate against our own countrymen!

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      • dickybird on Jul 27, 2010 at 8:24 pm

        because we do discriminate against our countrymen everyday! lol! so true point you brought up!

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      • F1Freak on Jul 28, 2010 at 9:16 am

        Nothing to be proud about. They have no points, similar to HRT and Virgin, so there really isnt any “better than the new teams”. Again, As I have posted before, not bashing or discriminating against a Malaysian, my comments are that of an F1 fan.
        The reason I have not commented about other teams is because the article is on Lotus racing.

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      • Diablo on Jul 28, 2010 at 12:41 pm

        F1Freak, go visit www.formula1.com/results/team/ Lotus Racing is classified ahead of the the other 2 new teams. This is official. Where points are zero, they look at race finishes. Official classification does matter and relates to shared revenue.

        They ARE best of the new teams. This is official.

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  • squawk on Jul 26, 2010 at 6:48 pm

    Better luck next race.

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  • Tiadaid on Jul 26, 2010 at 7:25 pm

    Top Gear magazine have one of their men as crew. According to the website, he’s not mechanically inclined. Maybe he fiddled with the gearbox on Jarno’s car!

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  • wuqui79 on Jul 27, 2010 at 9:23 am

    Take heart Team Lotus, leave this bad day behind and move forward! As long as you progress steadily, there are always rooms for improvements and progress…

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  • BEER BELLIES and Obesity …. shows what kinda team engineers Lotus have.

    Pay Peanuts Get Monkeys

    “Now Everyone Can Quit”

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    • Tiadaid on Jul 27, 2010 at 5:12 pm

      Being fat has nothing to do with their capabilities. Many engineers for other teams are fat.

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  • Finalist Imam Muda Astro Oasis on Jul 27, 2010 at 10:07 am

    BTW, what were the 2 Muslims, Kamaruddin and Riad doing at Jim Clark memorial to begin with?? Paying their last respect? I thought we have banned that sort of things in Malaysia during Hari Pahlawan already??

    Kena tanya dgn Mufti Harussani and Mufti Nooh Gadot whether this is haram or not??

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    • Tiadaid on Jul 27, 2010 at 10:55 am

      What’s wrong? Jim Clark isn’t buried there, it’s just the spot where his car went off and speared into the tree, killing him. It’s not like they’re doing a ritual ceremony, just stand there in silence.

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      • Finalist Imam Muda Astro Oasis on Jul 27, 2010 at 11:32 am

        Same goes with our Tugu during Warriors’ Day. These fighters are not buried there. Still it is haram to even stand there in silence…

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        • Tiadaid on Jul 27, 2010 at 5:14 pm

          Why is it haram? Do you have any hadith or any words from the Quran to support your statement?

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          • dodgeviper88 on Jul 27, 2010 at 6:52 pm

            There is a cross there isn’t it? I thought on of Malaysia’s famous islamic scholar has warned against all this crosses? That’s what I read in the newspaper

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          • dickybird on Jul 27, 2010 at 8:31 pm

            dude, i sure hope you aint a MU fan coz the learned mifti have deemed it unislamic to wear red devils insignia and have also sought to express that the non-muslims not wear it too since it means they would support the devil! repent repent the end is nigh!

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          • Finalist Imam Muda Astro Oasis on Jul 28, 2010 at 8:03 am

            Well… the esteemed muftis have declared that it is a haram thing to do. As muslim we have to follow…Now no more memorial service during Warriors’ Day. They will resort to baca yassin and tahlil at the mosques to pray for the dead. That is more in tune with Islamic teaching. Pray for the Malay Muslim warriors who have defended their motherland.

            To remember and honouring the dead of a kaffir is not allowed in Islam… no matter how great/good that bloke was during his lifetime. It’s a big NO.

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        • dickybird on Jul 29, 2010 at 2:06 pm

          LOL! +1billion! the crushing dissapointment of the Lotus double DNF must have pushed over the edge! gosh you are SO funny man! thanks for the comic relief!

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  • milkme on Jul 28, 2010 at 11:56 am

    ‘To remember and honouring the dead of a kaffir is not allowed in Islam… no matter how great/good that bloke was during his lifetime. It’s a big NO.’

    wow, you guys are a hypocrite double standard bunch. you cant honour him just because he’s not muslim? oh cmon, his blood is still red just like both of us. and most our muftis now are cuckoo head :p

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    • Finalist Imam Muda Astro Oasis on Jul 29, 2010 at 8:25 am

      It’s not the issue of being a hypocrite… This is what our esteemed ustaz and muftis dictate us to do. They are the god sent experts on Islam. As Muslim we are not suppose to even question their decree. Afterall, we are just ordinary human compared to them. They are few notches above us in terms of Islamic teachings.. so they are absolutely not a “cuckoo” as you claimed them to be…

      BTW, it’s quite unbecoming of you to say that the Muslims are hypocrite double standard bunch. In your eyes we may look/behave lika a hypocrite, but in the eyes of god we are not.. The god eyes matter most to us as muslim…

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