The Lotus F1 Team last scored points at the Monaco Grand Prix at the end of May, and at Monza they disappointed once again. Pastor Maldonado finished fourteenth and Romain Grosjean sixteenth but despite their lowly finishing positions, the team still found some positives to draw from the weekend in Italy.
Deputy Team Principal Federico Gastaldi praised Maldonado for a clean race and for getting the best out of the Lotus on Sunday, but his hoping for a better weekend at Singapore on a track more likely to suit the team than at Monza.
“We saw a very strong race today from Pastor who didn’t put a foot wrong and extracted the maximum from our current package,” said Gastaldi. “Romain’s race was a little more difficult but he drove around the small issues he experienced to bring his car home too.
“Monza has certainly been a difficult venue for us this year; let’s hope for better results in Singapore.”
Trackside Operations Director Alan Permane was encouraged by the pace of the Lotus at Monza despite the result not being where he would want his drivers to be, but feels they are closer to understanding the E22.
“Fourteenth isn’t where we want to finish but today’s race did give us some signs of encouragement,” said Permane. “Pastor’s pace was much closer to that of the cars in front of us, and he drove an exemplary race.
“Both cars were reliable although Romain lost a part of his sidepod and also experienced some downshift issues later in the race, which hurt him in the very important braking zones here. We’ve taken another small step in understanding the car this weekend which helps us for the next races.”
Renault Sport F1 track support leader Simon Rebreyend knew before the weekend even began that the Monza race would be a struggle for the team, but felt Lotus got the best out of the power unit at the Italian circuit.
“We knew this race would be a challenge but we extracted the maximum potential we could from the Power Unit, with all systems working on point in every area,” said Rebreyend. “Pastor finished two places up on his starting slot whilst Romain gained a position but we know that Singapore will suit the stronger points of the car a lot more than here so we’ll get straight into preparations now.”
