Monza: Lotus F1 Team crashed down to earth with incidents on the first lap of the Italian Grand Prix leading to a double retirement. Both cars started in the top ten but damage to each car in separate incidents meant that Pastor Maldonado parked his car in the garage at the end of the first lap whilst Romain Grosjean parked his at the side of the track early in lap two. The team now heads to the next Grand Prix in Singapore on September 18-20th.

Romain started from P8 on the grid on his qualifying soft tyres. Contact with Felipe Nasr’s Sauber at the first corner meant damage to the rear of Romain’s car and retirement early in lap two.

Pastor started from P10 on new soft tyres but contact with Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India meant damage to Pastor’s front suspension and he retired at the end of the first lap.

Romain Grosjean said, “We had the potential of a good race ahead of us. I made a strong start but got hit by a car from behind in turn one which broke my rear suspension so that was it for us. It was a too optimistic move from Nasr who hit me which meant my race was over. It’s been a tough weekend but everyone has made the most of the opportunities we have and the spirit of the team and the support from the F1 world has been amazing. The E23 still feels good so we head to the next races optimistic of more good results to come.”

Meanwhile, Pastor Maldonado said, “It’s been a tough weekend and this is racing sometimes. We keep united and keep pushing as there are still seven Grands Prix to go so time to recover and keep fighting. I had contact in turn one where the Force India came into the side of me and took out my front-right suspension and that was the end of my race. We were looking for a strong finish and we had potential for that. Everyone knows that turn one at Monza can be tough and that’s what we saw today."