Team Lotus, who call themselves the “true Malaysian racing team”, finished its home race with one retirement and the sole finisher in 15th place. That was Heikki Kovalainen, who was ahead of Virgin’s Timo Glock and behind the Toro Rossos. On the surface, it’s the same old position they’ve been in since joining the sport, but Team Lotus has hailed yesterday’s performance as its best ever.
“A very strong race from both drivers although unfortunately Jarno stopped in the garage with a clutch sensor problem. We looked to do a two stop strategy with both cars. We might have struggled with Jarno as his tyre degradation was slightly higher, but it worked well with Heikki,” explained Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer.
“Overall our pace was very good at the end, particularly when we were with the leading cars, and we were very close to passing one of the Torro Rossos as we came over the line which shows how we have progressed. This weekend has been by far our strongest race performance since we came back into Formula One, so it is good to be racing again,” a happy Mike added.
“Well I think we can officially say we were racing today! It was a real shame about Jarno as I really wanted two cars to come home but Heikki drove a fantastic race and it is exciting that he was really pushing the Toro Rossos in the final few laps – maybe with a couple more laps he would have passed one of them,” enthused team boss Tony Fernandes.
That’s something many would like to see. In this weekend’s Chinese GP perhaps?
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
‘Good’ motivational thought from Mike, go get your team ready to fight Torro Rosso, dont bother about the midfielder and the front runner now. Look closely where you stand now and do necessary things that you should do.
Hoping to see your team will be in top ten finisher once with condition no retirement happens in a race.
Wonder if TF has come with his statement regarding yesterday race, not really seen his tweeting about it. ;)
Dear Tony, please shut up till you can finish in the middle of the pack.
Agreed totally.
U cannot shut up an ambitious & hardworking man. Only lazy goon who prefer to take the easy path (hello Proton Lotus!!) should shut up & watch these hardworking people going about their business.
Hardworking to give comments to the reporter? Distracting People from the fact that Team Lot Of Trouble Usually Serious (LOTUS) is at the same state as Air Asia confusing cheap tickets campaign? The ticket is cheap… if you want this.. you pay extra la… Coz this extra money is mend for TF covering loses of his losing team
ptui !!!
cheap publicity..ur car is not good at all…
make ur care better than talk..
pfft…last year so proud of having the engine n gear box same as redbull racing..now where’s the bull crap u talk about..sigh~
dont u they r already there 24/2 is 12 places and tony team 15 that already midfielder..midfielder 11 to 16..17 and the rest back marker. top team 1-10. champ is 1
To be fair, how many car remained behind Heikki at the finish that was still running? If that’s the case, why aren’t we referring Alex Yoong as a frontrunner? He was 7th in the 2002 Australian GP!
come on green lotus.
Go MALAYSIA……
jarno too busy with his wine biz ^^
okay emo commentators… now it’s time
LOL
I think nasarudin’s tweet was quite funny and kinda puts things into perspective
“A lot of improvements from Melb. Team is 18 months old, but showing a lot of positivity. We r committed. All u haters can kiss my *** ;)”
far from being better and far from anything close the next worst team.
Just say it loud and clear, your F1 car will never make it to the podium! Not in XX years in F1.
If you were a student, you just aiming to pass the exam and not scoring straight As.
What a shame… how can TF claim the yesterdays race as TL’s best performance ever when the actual performance is just about the same? Plus, there’s just one driver being made it to 15th spot and a DNF, which is really a shame on the so-called “home ground”. Nothing more than just talk shit. Next time put those Airbus engines under the hood then TF can really prove it.
I think Tony’s words is more amusing and entertaining than watching TL racing. Still i will follow both LRGP and TL.
haha..im certainly agree with you. but regards to everything of the so call Team Lotus, Malaysian home team.. i rather enjoy reading his words and all those firecrackers around the race itself!!! hahaha.. TF, ur a funny guy..
yeah.. his word so amusing.. some times look likes he is ‘syok sendiri’ :)
TL we need to see some serious results not baseless comments. surprise us with a podium or top 5 position at least. then people will sit up and take notice….else its all just talk…..and that just gets you so far…
Well,Malaysian f1 fans got nothing knowledge about F1.They are 18 months years old team.How to get in on Podium or top 5.Even Red Bull also cannot make it.Stu**d!!!
Ahahahahahaha… oh Tony Lotus, you boys really know how to crack me up!! :D
15th is your best? Oh come on, Kobayashi (Sauber) is in the points, Di Resta (Force India) is in the points, and you can still be happy about that? The mid-packs that you want to wrestle with have probably written you guys off for the rest of the season by now. Try again next year… as anybody but Lotus please.
Man, this is too funny, I forgot to get angry at you ahahahah!
bye bye tony….lotus renault is talk of the town..team lotus is just your toy…and i am glad you finished dead last (almost)…
Mike- better i call it strongest race performance or otherwise i will jobless like what i do at TOYOTA
TF- Better i call Its fantastic race or otherwise i cannot sell the team with high value….
hahahhahahaha
TF is full with bullshitism…
before the season starts they targeted something like 50points…after 2 races still telor ayam..would be surprise if they can even scored 1 points this season
I bet they mend for 5-0 = 5 races with 0 points…
I think Tony is right this time… I remember in the last few laps, team lotus is actually challenging ferrari in front of him in the 1st turn as rule now allowed slower car to challenge a car one laps in front. I was so excited back then as it is happen in front of me
challenge FERRARI!???????? WAKAKAKAKAKAKAAKAKKAAKAKAKK!!!! WHAT A JOKE!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAH
He meant Torro Rosso la…..it using Ferrari engine btw
Team Lotus is not that bad, but what made me feeling like puke is the never ending boastful frm Tony.
Tony need to follow the example of Tuan Syed. very cool and calm. Look professional.
Lotus Renaul., Team Lotus and Mercedes all have a bit of Malaysia there, no need to run down the others and to show the world that u are more Malaysian than the rest.
malaysian who never speaks malaysian language….how malaysian is that?
position 15 is considered strong performance already.
Then to get top 3 or top 5 is ? super duper extra strong ?
P15 is kinda ok la.Better than Red bull when they first compete in F1..Red bull is Full of DNF.you go and see wiki but red bull buy from Jaguar.so red bull is not a new team.be patience la Malaysian.They were only 18 months old team.They are still developing and more to come from them.Renault also same like Team lotus and now renault got a very fast car.
What i want to tell you is pls dont hate this team.What did they done until you got angry with this team?You want to support LRGP,well go ahead.But please stop kutuk this team.You should give support this team to make them more stronger.
Team Lotus fans in Facebook:90,256
LRGP fans in FB:29547
Peoples are more supporting on the real Team Lotus rather than Protong owns team.
If TF kept his loud mouth shut, his team’s lack of performance would have been understandable. But he didn’t do that. He goes on talking cock about how his team is “Malaysian”, then he belittles the other team. That’s the reason why people are fed up with TL. If he was modest, public opinion would not be against him.
Besides, the only reason why TL have more supporters is because most of them (most but not all, to be fair) are Proton bashers. If Proton was still with them, people like you would be the first to bash them to no avail.
I’m okay with Team Lotus, but only if TF keeps his trap shut! Right now he’s acting like a tin kosong!
mmg la team lotus punyer fb lagi ramai yg like coz they established earlier than lotus renault
see
u echo-ed what we really hate about tony ‘dangdut’ fernandes
u ask people not to kutuk the team but the potshot in the end of ur comment
say other wise
if fb headcount is judge as popular count
then i believe paris hilton would have been president of the us
and also the fact that proton owns them also
showed how sour grape u are
but nevermind
some people loves their mom doing lap dances
simply because they say mom is a woman
thats how retarded someone mind could be
ah
p15 is nothing to be exact
that crazy steel minardi old chasis that chap alex yoong was on
managed to brought him to the finish line p7, p10, p13, p13 and p14
10 eff-king years ago
whats the big deal?
Can someone shut TF up please…
ask him to go to any MACC building lol..
better talk less and start performing… or the fans will support the ‘other’ lotus team. being less than average was last year’s story. should be slightly above midfield this year or there is no real improvement for the team. just more talk… and talk, and talk, and talk …
TF is a real joker. LOL
hahaha..
business man…always try to con people…this is the world of technology TF!!..not some hype and hop to con people buying the shares like you do to Air Asia..
That’s why I dislike this TF…..15 is far the great?? hahahaa…just shut up TF..wait until nobody like to sponsor your team…then you know how bad your bloody mouth
“true Malaysian racing team”??? TF u can kiss my xxx
where did the malaysian driver go? where did the malaysian factory go? where did all the promises go?
1T-Shirt. 1Tupperware. 1Syiok sendiri.
Typical marketing man…even there are hundreds of flaws, you have to promote a single good thing about your product.
racing or tailgating?
Dear funders of TL. Its only 18 months…. Better go prepare ur pockets and spk to williams, sauber or force india on hw to survive as PRIVATEER team. Good luck!
team loser
looks like LRGP has got 2 podium finishes….and they look quite strong moving forward.
TF, why not just proceed to settle out of court the lotus naming issue. find a figure that is somewhere in between and then put your ‘winnings’ to a worthy malaysian charity. you lose some, and win something else…later.
the lotus name is better carried by the proton guys, after all their connection is real and more tangible. they actually make cars called lotus, and has plans to build on it further. win or lose in the f1 stage.. they still carry the lotus name.
TF, win or lose…we know you’ll quit the f1 stage one day. then your fight for the lotus name will just be remembered for its spin and $$$…
i started to feel like TF is drunk while talking… LOL…
not that I hate TF, nor do I hate TL… I support them… but, lately I think TF is boasting too much… yes, Heikki is quite in midfield pack…. but second last????
as I have followed the live timing, I only see Heiki in real midfield once at the early of the race when everyone is going to pit for new set of tyres… after everyone’s done then only he went to pit for new rubbers… and then last after final pit he only stayed behind as where he is when somebody behind him or in front of him retire placing him where he is…
yes, they’re a new team… but mislead is mislead… yes, I do see a few times Heikki did catch up with one ToroRosso in front of him some time in the race… probably to conserve something, he has to hold back… it could be a better race than Aussie at the early of the race, but overall i see them still at where they left last year…