After qualifying in 8th place for Sunday’s race in Suzuka, Lotus driver Romain Grosjean says he did not expect to fare so well.
“I didn’t expect to go into Q3, we thought we were half a second off so this was a great job from everyone!”
The result places Romain higher up for Sunday than the Force India and Toro Rosso duos in the battle for 5th in the constructor’s championship.
As with every driver in the top 10, Kvyat’s crash removed the chance for a second bite at the cherry, as the red flags were deployed with half a minute left in the session.
“I had a really good lap for Q3. I didn’t get to do my second run, but the main thing is that Daniil is okay and out of the car. For the race, we’ll certainly aim to keep the starting position and score some points.”
The result means he now has the joint-largest teammate qualifying battle lead on the grid, beating Pastor Maldonado on 12 out of 14 occasions.
