Team yet to open account despite early promise of E23
Tuesday 21 April 2015 15:18, UK
Lotus are confident it is only a matter of time before they start consistently scoring points in 2015 after problems in each of the opening two races.
The Enstone team are one of three outfits, alongside McLaren and Manor, who are yet to get off the mark in the new season but unlike their two rivals have already shown form to challenge the top 10 with Q3 appearances in both Australia and Malaysia.
Romain Grosjean’s 11th place from Sepang is the Mercedes-powered E23’s only race finish so far though, while Pastor Maldonado has retired from both events.
However, ahead of the next round in China when further aerodynamic upgrades will be bolted onto their car, Lotus believe they just need their luck to turn.
“At the top of the list is, of course, points,” deputy team principal Federico Gastaldi said.
“We have the pace so we just need to be there in the correct position when the chequered flag falls. Both Pastor and Romain are operating at the top of their games so it’s just a question of having a race without any issues or contact from other cars.
“We’ve had a couple of reliability issues which we’re addressing so we expect to be out there and scoring very soon.”
For the fifth consecutive season in F1, Maldonado failed to see the chequered flag at either of the first two rounds. The Venezuelan insists he has “been the victim of other drivers’ incidents” after lap-one clashes with Felipe Nasr and Valtteri Bottas at Albert Park and Sepang respectively, although he is taking heart from the E23’s potential.
“I’ve been a bit unlucky, especially in the first corners of the first two races but on the other hand we have a car which is more competitive and this says that we can fight for points through the season,” Maldonado said.
“The potential of the car is there, we just need to put everything together and the results will come soon.”
Lotus’s bid to open their points account in China will be boosted by improvements to their car.
“We have bodywork upgrades at the front and rear of the car,” technical director Nick Chester explained. “In combination, we have a reasonable upgrade package for Shanghai which mainly focusses on improving our downforce.”
