After what could be described as a horrible season, Lotus bounced back from their 2014 campaign to having already snatched up 6 points in their first three races.
Even though 6 points isn’t a lot, it’s a good start for a team that has looked extremely quick both in qualifying as well as in the race. This is in no small part thanks to their Mercedes engine and as engineering chief Alan Permane points out, they also believe they have the 4th fastest car on the grid.
From what we’ve seen, we tend to agree. Again, it’s not about points or the overall product, but speed. And in terms of speed, behind Mercedes, Ferrari and Williams, Lotus has looked faster than Red Bull and the Mercedes-powered Force India.
The only thing they need is to find more downforce and have a bit more luck with their other components. Permane told Autosport that “It looks like in the race, we are the fourth quickest car, I think we were in a little bit of a race on our own, which at the moment, I am very happy with.”
He followed up by saying that everyone would be happy with a 4th place finish in the constructors championship, and that their race pace was “significantly better than them (Red Bull) and a little bit better than Toro Rosso and Sauber – enough for us to do a very comfortable race.”
All they have to do is start being consistently more reliable on the track than Toro Rosso, Sauber and Red Bull, which we believe is doable, and they might indeed finish 4th. Both Lotus drivers are certainly talented and experienced enough to provide them with consistent points as long as the car can make it to the checkered flag.
Still, Red Bull does have Daniel Ricciardo racing for them, and he’s proven to be very fast even with a car that is currently under-performing. Getting by him won’t be easy.
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