Romain Grosjean says he hopes the Lotus E22 can show better race pace after qualifying in 16th place for the Bahrain Grand Prix. Grosjean progressed through to Q2 but set the slowest time of the session. "It was tight to get to Q2," he said. "We knew beforehand that we were around the cut off, so it was great to get through. If we look at the whole weekend we've been struggling on the track. "This evening the car felt more together and more driveable […]

Pastor Maldonado says Lotus is making progress after he completed 56 laps across the two practice sessions in Bahrain. Maldonado has endured a difficult time in 2014 with two retirements and a lack of running in Friday sessions. But the Venezuelan completed a decent amount of running on his way to the 17th quickest time. "It was good to have a reliable car and we completed a lot of work today," he said. "We had a lot of parts to test and we ran through […]

Lotus deputy team principal Federico Gastaldi says he is sure that his outfit is heading in the right director after securing their first race finish of 2014 in Malaysia. Romain Grosjean came home in 11th place and Gastaldi believes that Lotus can build on that result at this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix. "We head to Bahrain still with lots of work to do, but with clear evidence that we are heading in the right direction," said Gastaldi. We’re at a very early stage in the […]

Lotus's Pastor Maldonado is targeting a problem-free weekend as he prepares for the Bahrain Grand Prix. Maldonado has endured a torrid start to the 2014 season as he retired from both races and has had limited running during free practice sessions due to reliability issues. The Venezuelan driver believes that Lotus can unlock the potential of the E22, so long as he can compete some significant running. "Good reliable laps in the car would be the starting point," he said of his hope for this […]

Romain Grosjean says progressing through to Q2 was a surprise but reckons Lotus could have made it through to the final segment of qualifying. Lotus has endured a miserable season so far with reliability issues plaguing the E22, but Grosjean will start from 15th on the grid after taking advantage of wet conditions in Malaysia. "It was definitely a good surprise to reach Q2 today, and I think we would have had the potential to reach Q3 had it not been for a miscommunication towards […]

Lotus endured another difficult day during practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix as both Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado encountered problems with the E22. Grosjean was 17th fastest in second practice and stopped on track with gearbox problems after completing 14 laps in the E22. "We have to work and try to solve all our issues," he said. "We are focusing on every issue we encounter. This morning we couldn't do any laps, and this afternoon we burnt a cable which stopped the gearbox from […]

Pastor Maldonado says that Lotus can fight for the podium 'very soon' as they attempt to get on top of the problems affecting the E22. Maldonado started from the back row of the grid in Australia and retired with an MGU-K problem but he says he is boosted by the progress made by Lotus across the weekend. "We made clear improvements during the weekend," he said. "The team has shown it is ready to do whatever it takes. This is good because my philosophy to […]

Lotus driver Romain Grosjean says that the team can take positives from the Australian Grand Prix despite suffering a double retirement. Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado raced outside of the points before both cars pulled off the circuit. "In a way, it was a pretty positive day," said Grosjean. "I expected to do around 15 to 20 laps in the race after all the issues we’ve had this weekend, and we managed 45!" "We’ve learnt a lot today and all the changes made to the car […]

Lotus driver Pastor Maldonado has been permitted to start Sunday's Australian Grand Prix. Maldonado has endured a torrid time in Australia and failed to set a time during qualifying. The Venezuelan driver took to the circuit late on in Q1 after issues with his Renault power unit and ran wide on several occasions, before rain put paid to his efforts. He failed to set a time but will start from 21st place after a penalty for Esteban Gutierrez.

Lotus trackside operations director Alan Permane insists that their showing during qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix is not representative of the pace of the E22. Romain Grosjean set the 21st fastest time while Pastor Maldonado was unable to set a time due to delays in getting out on track after a power unit issue. "Today was not a reflection of all the hard work going on at Enstone and on track to get ourselves where we want to be," said Permane. "Qualifying at the […]

Lotus technical director Nick Chester has insisted that engine suppliers Renault has made progress. Lotus endured a woeful practice day for the Australian Grand Prix as Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado completed just 14 laps between them across the two sessions. Both drivers missed an entire session, while Grosjean's E22 snapped sideways under braking for turn six and he hit the wall. "We experienced quite a few issues today," said Chester. "We were delayed getting Romain’s car out in the first session due to a […]

Pastor Maldonado says that he has no regrets over his move from Williams to Lotus ahead of the new Formula 1 season beginning this weekend in Australia. Maldonado spent three years with Williams but has moved to Lotus. His new team has suffered a disastrous pre-season campaign while Williams are one of the favourites for this weekend's race. "For sure they have a good car," he told ESPN of his former team. "They have been working quite hard from what they had last year - […]