F1: Both Lotus drivers suffer same mechanical issue

Lotus Formula 1 duo Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado were both hampered by the same mechanical problems on the opening day of running at the Australian Grand Prix. Neither driver could get through their full Friday program thanks to the same issue emerging on both cars.

Grosjean, who only managed five laps in FP1, said: "It was a disconnected pipe. It was not the biggest problem in the world, but it just takes long to fix. It's fine."

Maldonado added: "Fortunately it was the same problem, so it was easy to work with. It's nothing very important, but we prefer to stop and be sure that we can fit it correctly for tomorrow."

Despite the reliability problems, both drivers were upbeat about the performance of the new Lotus.

"I think we have an idea of where we can be and I think it's probably in line with what we thought in winter testing," said Grosjean. "We'll see tomorrow. I will definitely push hard to get to Q3."

Originally on Autosport.com