Lotus owner Gerard Lopez is convinced the team is on the rise again after their difficult start to the Formula One season that has left them pointless after the opening four races.
Lopez, who also took on the roles of team principal and co-chairman this season after a behind-the-scenes reshuffle, has so far looked on aghast as Lotus have encountered problem after problem since the introduction of new power units.
After missing the first pre-season test because of the late build of the car, the next two tests were disasters as the cars barely completed any laps because of an array of technical issues.
This time last year Lotus had amassed 93 points after winning in Australia and scoring podiums in China and Bahrain.
Lotus’s main area of concern has been the power unit supplied by Renault. They have failed to get on top of the new system but there were encouraging signs over the weekend in China as Romain Grosjean qualified one of the Enstone-based marque’s cars in the top 10 for the first time this season.
Conversely, teammate Pastor Maldonado failed to make it out of the garage after an oil leak and had to start last on the grid.
In the race, Grosjean could have finished in the points but for a gearbox problem, while Maldonado saw the chequered flag for the second consecutive race as he came home 14th
“To be honest, we didn’t expect to have the engine issues we’ve been having,” said Lopez.
“We came out of the wind tunnel [over the winter] knowing we had a really good car, but unless you can actually run on the track you can’t do any set-up work.
“In China we saw a clear step up from Renault. The guys are almost talking about two seconds [faster per lap], which is huge.
“The stopwatch doesn’t lie – we moved two seconds forward in terms of performance.
“That’s why the weekend in China was a positive one for us in a certain way.
“I feel almost ashamed to say it was positive when we didn’t score points, but it is in the sense we know we have the absolute ability to be in a scoring position.”
With the next race not until the Spanish Grand Prix on May 11, Lopez is expecting to make further gains.
“We’re pretty hopeful of being in the top 10 and from then on it’s fighting it out with whoever is there,” he said.
