Lotus boss: Double finish 'unbelievable'

Lotus team principal Tony Fernandes hailed his new team's performance in its maiden race as just unbelievable after both its cars completed the 49-lap distance. While fellow new boys Virgin and Hispania both suffered double retirements in Bahrain, Lotus managed to get both its T127s to the finish with Heikki Kovalainen a lap down in 15th and team-mate Jarno Trulli two places further back after having to nurse his car home due to a hydraulic problem. Afterwards Fernandes was full of praise for the team's achievement admitting he could never have dreamed it could make such a strong start when the Malaysian-backed squad came into being last September. I'm completely over the moon! I cannot describe the feeling, he exclaimed. Six months of work and to have both cars finish is just unbelievable. We're thrilled, we're happy and the spirit in the team is fantastic. I'm really proud of Jarno and of Heikki and everyone here. It's a great start and better than I could have dreamt of. We wanted to finish the race and to do so ahead of established teams is fantastic. Kovalainen made a strong start to pick up several places from 21st on the grid and went on to enjoy an early dice with Virgin's Timo Glock. The former McLaren man was naturally delighted to see the finish. It was a good race for our team to get both cars to the finish is a great achievement, he said. My car didn't have a single problem, I know Jarno did and managed to nurse his car to the end, but the primary goal was to get both cars to the end and we achieved that. So far the team has reached every goal we set ourselves so that is fantastic. In terms of my race, I had a good start and was battling with a lot of guys we didn't think we'd be fighting with." He added: My tyres were fine, and the pit stop was good, but I lost a bit of time whilst letting cars past, and we'll look at the strategy for Australia to work around that better, Kovalainen added. I really enjoyed driving the car, it felt really good and it was good to push. Everybody in the team should be really happy but now the honeymoon is over and we need to start working on better results. Trulli took a trip across the gravel on the opening lap as he avoided a melee ahead which he says affected his T127's handling in the first stint. The veteran Italian was pleased with the car's pace after a tweak was made to the front wing at his one stop and, while a late problem meant he eventually finished three laps down, he leaves Bahrain buoyed by Lotus's amazing progress. I made a good start and avoided the accident at the second corner but found myself in the gravel so at this stage I was nearly last, but then I started picking up pace and catching the people in front, Trulli explained. The car was understeering quite a lot and I couldn't really predict the balance so at the pit stop the team, who did a really good job, changed the front wing setting and I started pushing again and putting in some good laps. At the end of the race I had a hydraulic problem so I just had to get it to the end of the race. I'm really happy and proud for the team because in six months every single target we have fixed we have met so it's really good, and, as Tony said, one day Lotus will win and I hope to be here when we do.