Mike Gascoyne is adamant that Lotus have made it through the “hardest part” by getting their F1 team on to the grid and through the first four races.Lotus is one of three new teams competing in this year’s Championship and although they haven’t set the track alight, they have at least put in an admirable showing by newbie standards.
The team, though, is hoping that next weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix will see a massive upturn in form with Heikki Kovalainen believing their upgraded T127 should be a second quicker per lap.
However, tech boss Gascoyne admits that only time will tell as their rivals are also heading to Barcelona with major updates to their cars.
“Now the first four flyaway races are behind us and we’re into the European season,” he said.
“All the teams will have upgrades for Barcelona, but we’re hoping that ours is even more significant than our rivals because we received our entry so late and had to freeze the initial specification of the car very early in the design process.
“We do expect it to be reasonably significant – we have an aero package with revised sidepods, front wings and brake ducts, and a number of mechanical changes, but obviously we’ll have to wait and see what step forward our rivals will also make.
“It’s very gratifying to see the whole factory in full operation, with every department now nearly fully staffed but starting to work to their full potential.
“This means we can now look at more long-term development and R&D programmes, and start thinking about future cars.
“We’re through the hardest part of the team’s growth and we’re on a very good footing for the future.”
About the author:
Jay WM Wong Editor
Lotus F1 Racing – T-shirts Were Part Of The Cause
Lotus Racing F1 – DuPont Refinish Joins Lotus Racing As An Official Technical Supplier
Lotus Racing – Suzuka F1 GP View
Lotus Racing F1 – Mission Accomplished
Lotus Racing F1 – A Day In The Sun At The Hungarian GP
Loading ...