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Are Lotus on the comeback trail?

Pastor Maldonado's days in the hot seat are over. (Photo: AFP)
Roar Guru
18th May, 2014
4

The 2013 season was a roller-coaster ride for the Lotus F1 Team, from the highs of their maiden season win in Australia and emergence of Romain Grosjean as a matured driver to the lows of their monetary woes and the loss of James Allison, Eric Boullier and star driver Kimi Räikkönen.

This season did not start in the same fashion for the embattled Enstone team, with a range of issues including their new chassis and power-unit problems with Renault.

These technical maladies and the loss of their experienced managers meant that the future of this once championship-winning team was in serious doubt.

After five races, it seems that Lotus’ fortunes may be starting to change for the better.

Despite having missed the crucial first pre-season test in Jerez, followed by the heart-wrenching double retirement at the first race in Melbourne, the team have been on the incline performance-wise at every race.

At the previous race meeting in Barcelona they scored their first points of the season, with Grosjean finishing in eighth.

After the Spanish Grand Prix, there was a two-day test as part of the in-season testing schedule, and yet again the team boasted a great performance compared to their immediate rivals.

On the final day of the test, Pastor Maldonado was the fastest on track and hailed the team’s ‘big step forward’ since the start of the season despite not yet scoring any points himself.

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Like Red Bull Racing, who also recovered after a horrid winter, Lotus would be targeting to finish second in the constructors’ championship with Mercedes AMG having seemingly sealed the top spot for now. With only 4 points to Red Bull’s 84, the task at hand for the black and gold squad is quite daunting.

To make any sort of gains in the team standings, both drivers are required to make a hefty contribution – a contribution which Maldonado is yet to make for the team after five races.

The only points the Venezuelan has against his name this season are penalty points, of which a driver is allowed up to 12 before his or her license is suspended and they are given a one-race ban.

At the last event, Maldonado displayed strong pace on the Friday during practice but things went the other way on the Saturday where. He lost complete control of the car in qualifying and careered into a wall. He started the race at the back of the grid and found himself bumping with a Caterham before finishing 15th.

For Grosjean, though, the points at the last race were a huge relief. He was the most improved driver of the 2013 season with his mature drives to finish on the podium, including a career-best second place in Austin.

It’s a tough road ahead for Lotus, and they’ll need the support of both drivers to get back to the top of the grid.

This will be Grosjean’s gig until Maldonado can reform his game. And that won’t be enough to fight Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, Williams and Force India, who all are gunning for those second and third places in the constructors’ standings.

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