Pastor Maldonado believes the Lotus E22 "has a lot of potential" and expects the car to be a podium contender very soon.
The Enstone-based outfit suffered a number of reliability problems over the opening race weekend of the 2014 season, with Maldonado and team-mate Romain Grosjean both failing to make the chequered flag in Australia.
The Lotus duo are confident that the team will make big steps forward at the second round in Malaysia. "Sepang is a good track and I really like the challenges it presents us with," Maldonado said. "It’s very interesting from the car point of view, especially the aerodynamics, but also the tyres because the asphalt is very aggressive.
"Hopefully this event will go more smoothly for us compared with Australia. We know we need to work very hard to achieve our aims and objectives for the E22. We know where our main focus lies and as a team we are determined to get there."
When asked how much he was able to learn despite limited running at the season opener, he replied: "A lot. It was the longest stint I’ve done so far and that’s very important for the engineers who can now work through the data and find improvements. Naturally, our immediate priority is to finish the races, but in Formula 1 you never stop searching for more pace as well."
He believes the team's 2014 machine can be transformed into a front-running car. "The E22 has a lot of potential and is feeling better to drive every time we go out," said the 29-year-old. "We’ve had a lot of initial issues with the car, but this has been the same up and down the pit lane. I’m impressed every time I look at the packaging of the car and I know that the work going on at Enstone and with Renault Sport F1 will make the E22 into a podium contender very soon indeed."
Grosjean admitted that the team used Australia as a test session and hopes for a more trouble-free race weekend at the Sepang International Circuit. "The first challenge in Malaysia will be the heat, humidity and usual rain storms at 4pm," he said. "For us as a team, the target is to move forwards and improve. The race in Melbourne was basically a good, long test. It wasn’t easy for the guys but I’m happy we did a lot of laps in the race.
"We gathered some useful data and we will now improve using that data. The aim now is to have a straightforward weekend at Sepang, working through our proper schedule in free practice, then carrying the benefits from that over to qualifying and the race."
 |
| © Lotus F1 Team |
The Lotus duo are confident that the team will make big steps forward at the second round in Malaysia. "Sepang is a good track and I really like the challenges it presents us with," Maldonado said. "It’s very interesting from the car point of view, especially the aerodynamics, but also the tyres because the asphalt is very aggressive.
"Hopefully this event will go more smoothly for us compared with Australia. We know we need to work very hard to achieve our aims and objectives for the E22. We know where our main focus lies and as a team we are determined to get there."
When asked how much he was able to learn despite limited running at the season opener, he replied: "A lot. It was the longest stint I’ve done so far and that’s very important for the engineers who can now work through the data and find improvements. Naturally, our immediate priority is to finish the races, but in Formula 1 you never stop searching for more pace as well."
He believes the team's 2014 machine can be transformed into a front-running car. "The E22 has a lot of potential and is feeling better to drive every time we go out," said the 29-year-old. "We’ve had a lot of initial issues with the car, but this has been the same up and down the pit lane. I’m impressed every time I look at the packaging of the car and I know that the work going on at Enstone and with Renault Sport F1 will make the E22 into a podium contender very soon indeed."
Grosjean admitted that the team used Australia as a test session and hopes for a more trouble-free race weekend at the Sepang International Circuit. "The first challenge in Malaysia will be the heat, humidity and usual rain storms at 4pm," he said. "For us as a team, the target is to move forwards and improve. The race in Melbourne was basically a good, long test. It wasn’t easy for the guys but I’m happy we did a lot of laps in the race.
"We gathered some useful data and we will now improve using that data. The aim now is to have a straightforward weekend at Sepang, working through our proper schedule in free practice, then carrying the benefits from that over to qualifying and the race."
No comments:
Post a Comment