Pastor Maldonado has praised his team after he and teammate Grosjean scored a double-points finish in the Japanese Grand Prix.
“It was a good race for us and we really deserved a happy result today after pushing hard all weekend”, the Venezuelan said after finishing 8th – directly behind his teammate.
Maldonado made his way up from 11th to 8th by taking advantage of Massa and Ricciardo’s collision and picking up a further place over Sergio Perez.
“It’s a shame we weren’t able to keep Hulkenberg behind us so we’ll review the strategy and performance to see if there was more we could have done.”
Lotus personnel were locked out of their designated hospitality in the paddock all weekend and were provided meals by rival teams and Bernie Ecclestone.
“It’s a good result and we deserve it. The team has been united all weekend, we scored some nice points and we’re looking forward to the rest of the season.”
Pastor moves clear of Sainz in 14th in the driver’s championship, just a point behind Felipe Nasr, and Lotus remain 6th in the constructor’s.
