Lotus technical director Nick Chester says the team are hopeful that they can make progress with the E22 with a number of upgrades being brought for the German Grand Prix in Hockenheim.
The Enstone-based team have struggled to break into the top ten since Romain Grosjean’s two eighth-place finishes in Spain and Monaco, their only points finishes to date and currently lie 8th in the constructors standings.
Although Chester is positive that their upcoming upgrades, including a new front wing and minor changes to bodywork, along with knowledge gathered from the second in-season test at Silverstone will see Lotus make strides in Hockenheim.
“Our development schedule is continuing at full pace,” said Chester to Formula One’s official site. “We will have a new front wing, which is a decent improvement, a cooling upgrade and some smaller bodywork updates to increase downforce.
“Between what we have learnt in the Silverstone and these upgrades, we hope to make a good step forward.”
Chester believes Hockenheim’s long straights and medium-high speed final sector, as well as softer tyre allocations will prove to be a mixed circuit for the E22.
“It’s quite a mixed track with a couple of long straights and a medium-speed final section. Two of the straights are also linked by a medium-high speed corner, which is good for us, as is having soft and supersoft tyres for this circuit”
Meanwhile Grosjean shared similar views with Chester and also thinks that the race in Hockenheim will examine the progress Lotus have made with the E22 since the first race in Australia.
Grosjean said: “We’ve worked hard to improve performance in the low-speed corners, so Hockenheim will be a good test of how much we’ve progressed
“Apart from the run down to the hairpin there are no real straights to speak about so power unit emphasis will be on acceleration rather than top speed.”
He added that Lotus needed to make the most of opportunities presented by changeable weather conditions, with him pointing to the mixed conditions during qualifying at Silverstone, and aims to qualify in the top ten at Hockenheim.
“The weather played a part in the Silverstone weekend, just as it did at Hockenheim in 2012, so we’ll need to stay on our toes. I think as a team we have more to gain than lose from any weather changes so we should view them as an opportunity – the E22 seemed to like the damp conditions at Silverstone
“We can’t afford to give our rivals a head-start. A top ten grid place will be the first target for Hockenheim”
