Romain Grosjean was understandably delighted after delivering a top three result in Saturday's qualifying session at Albert Park, the Frenchman marking a near perfect F1 comeback. The reigning GP2 Champion now hopes that the team's form can consistently continue in 2012, following a year where it slipped down the order.
"Fantastic job from everybody. It’s really nice to be back in Formula 1 and today I’m very proud of this performance from Lotus," Grosjean commented.
"I’m back, almost at the top (laughs) and I hope we can keep going that way all season-long. In the end it would be a nice story."
On the other side of the Lotus garage, Kimi Räikkönen endured a much tougher session. Having struggled to find a comfortable balance in the final practice session, the Finn made a vital mistake on his final flying lap and missed the cut for Q2.
Further post-qualifying feelings from Lotus:
Räikkönen starts 18th after issues with traffic
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| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  L. Hamilton | McLaren | 01:24.922 | 14 |
| 2. | J. Button | McLaren | 01:25.074 | 15 |
| 3. | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 01:25.302 | 21 |
| 4. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 01:25.336 | 18 |
| 5. | M. Webber | Red Bull | 01:25.651 | 17 |
| 6. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 01:25.668 | 18 |
| 7. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 01:25.686 | 16 |
| 8. | P. Maldonado | Williams | 01:25.908 | 20 |
| 9. | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 01:26.451 | 18 |
| 10. | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | no time | 16 |
| Full results | ||||
| Romain Grosjean | |||
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| More Romain Grosjean photos | |||
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