Lotus will run without their double DRS concept during the Belgian Grand Prix having been unable to properly test during Friday practice.
But Sky F1's Ted Kravitz believes team will still be a major factor in Sunday's race
Lotus are set to run without their 'Double DRS' device during the Belgian Grand Prix having been unable to properly test it during Friday practice.
Both sessions were subjected to heavy rain, with no cars even venturing out onto track during the opening 45 minutes of the afternoon practice.
Technical Director James Allison confirmed that the team may err on the side of caution, rather than risk using the device, given that they will only have Saturday's hour-long third practice session to evaluate car set-up.
"The forecast for the next two days is for dry and warmer weather so running today was not very useful in terms of preparing for qualifying or the race," Allison reported.
"Today's rain also prevented us from seeing how the 'Device' would perform in the expected race conditions. With discretion being the better part of valour we will conduct P3 tomorrow with a conventional aero package rather than attempting to squeeze Friday's intended evaluation into the precious final practice session.
"On the plus side we learned today that the cars are working fine and we're happy to end the day with no damage from running in these difficult conditions."
Having tested the device in Friday morning practice at both Hockenheim and the Hungaroring prior to the summer break, the expected race debut for the rear-wing stalling system this weekend had prompted many pundits to suggest that Lotus were the favourites for the race win.
But while the innovative device's full introduction now looks set to be delayed until next weeked at Monza, Sky Sports F1's Ted Kravitz says Lotus remain confident that even without the system they will still be in the thick of the victory fight come race day.
Discussing the likely contenders for the race win on Sunday on
The F1 Show, Ted said: "I'll kick it off with Lotus. They're not going to have this new F-duct straight-line speed device, it's too much of a risk.
"But I've just spoken to a couple of key people at the team and they've said 'do not worry, we've been able to tell from the first practice session that we still have a very good car here'".
