In an incident filled Monaco GP where one man didn’t start and six failed to finish, Team Lotus did well to avoid the chaos and bring both cars to the finish line. Thanks to the dropouts, which included the likes of Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa, Jarno Trulli finished 13th and Heikki Kovalainen 14th, the highest they’ve been this season. Still no points on the board, although the team is rather upbeat about the weekend.

“A strong result for the team and it was good to get both cars over the finish line. Both drivers drove very strong races and we gave them a chance to fight with a two stop strategy, starting both cars on options. We switched Heikki to the prime for the last two stints because he had higher degradation but kept Jarno on the options until the second pitstop and even thought they were held up by slower cars we are very pleased with 13th and 14th,” said Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer.

Team boss Tony Fernandes is a satisfied man: “I watched the race from Bali and that capped off an incredible week for us. This time last year neither car finished the race but today both cars crossed the line in 13th and 14th places. Our pace was good but most importantly both cars finished the race, we brought the Team Lotus brand home and we won the first of the GP2 races in Monaco. That constitutes a very good week’s work at the office.”

He is referring to Davide Valsecchi, the Team AirAsia driver who won GP2 Race One in Monaco.

It was quite a rollercoaster Spanish GP for Team Lotus. Saturday was a high, when Kovalainen entered Q2 and qualified 15th, but it didn’t quite pay off in the end, although they had quite a strong start to the race. Heikki reflects:

“It’s a real shame my afternoon came to an end like that. I made a mistake on the entry to turn four and went off but up until that point the race was pretty good. Both Jarno and I were right in the mix early on and we were fighting in the midfield for a lot of the race but then the tyres started to go off and the early pace wasn’t there for the later stages of the afternoon.

“Maybe we should have pitted earlier on but we’ve still learnt a lot from this weekend and can take that to Monaco where I think it will be a very interesting weekend for everyone,” he said.

“Heikki made a small mistake on lap 52 and then Jarno had a cracked exhaust which meant we had to keep an eye on that, but overall we have made real progress this weekend and have amassed a great deal of data on the new package that will help us learn how to get the most out of all the changes, so it is another positive weekend for the whole team,” said Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer.

Deputy Team Principal Kamarudin Meranun sounded quite upbeat too: “There are a number of positives to take from this afternoon – we were able to fight with the established teams and have shown that we are consistently improving, little by little. That is the key goal for this year and we keep moving forward so we leave Spain pretty pleased overall.”

Here are some updates on Team Lotus ahead of this weekend’s Spanish GP. The Hingham based outfit isn’t the only team on the grid bringing updates to Catalunya, but the Malaysian owned team is looking at a major improvement, one that will make lap times quicker by a full second. This will allow the team to ‘take a clear step into the midfield’ according to tech chief Mike Gascoyne.

“What was pleasing about Turkey was that the qualifying performance was really good, but we hadn’t brought any updates as most of the other teams had. Our update package is coming for Barcelona and that is a very significant upgrade package.

“We think our update is going to allow us to take a clear step into the midfield so that we are qualifying with them and out-racing them more and more. I think that we are reasonably happy, but Barcelona has got to see the next step forward. I think we’ll see a big step and I think there is more to come over the coming races,” the Brit said.

What’s it really about? “It’s a Red Bull-style exhaust and diffuser package,” Gascoyne revealed. “We didn’t implement a blown diffuser package last year, (and) were only able to really evaluate (this year’s) in the windtunnel from Christmas onwards, so we were playing catch-up in this area. The good thing is that it means we can catch up with those in front who already have it,” he added.

So far, Team Lotus hasn’t scored points, something which it set out to do consistently this year. Let’s see if this round of updates to the T128 will move it closer to that goal, and beat struggling midfield teams such as Williams in the process.

Last weekend’s Turkish GP, which was won convincingly by Seb Vettel, saw both Lotus Renault GP drivers in the points – Heidfeld came in seventh and Petrov was eighth. The team got hold of Group Lotus F1 spokesman Jean Alesi to comment on the race. Here’s what the Stallone lookalike former racer had to say:

With Heidfeld coming in 7th and Petrov in 8th both Lotus Renault GP drivers finished in the points this weekend, what’s your view on the race?

As I’ve said before, I think it’s very clear that the car is really competitive, to have two cars finish in the top ten at this stage of the season is great. I enjoyed the race and I had a little moment of real pride when I was watching the post race coverage on RAI (Italian TV and F1 host broadcaster), they had an exclusive interview with Red Bull Racing’s Chief Technical Officer Adrian Newey and they asked him what had surprised him most this season and he said Lotus Renault GP and the clever exhaust system. Newey is widely regarded to be at the top of his game and to have him say this about the R31 is just fantastic!

It seemed to be a very interesting race from a strategic point of view, what did you think of LRGP’s four-stop strategy?

I think the team played things perfectly. The tyre wear for Pirelli was really intense which made for some very entertaining racing. LRGP pitched it just right, I think they have a really good feeling for exactly what works for the cars, drivers and the tyres. To be fourth in the Constructers Championship after just four races is very promising, Heidfeld is only three points behind Felipe Massa in the Ferrari – I think that speaks volumes!

What can we expect from the next couple of races?

If the team continues the way they are, I can’t see why there won’t be another top ten finish in Barcelona, but where I really think the car will shine is in Monaco, the week after – the unique street circuit should suit the R31’s special characteristics really well.

Team Lotus set out to challenge the midfield teams and score points this season, but it has not materialised so far. While the T128 is comfortably ahead of Cosworth powered newcomers Virgin and HRT, they are yet to rival teams like Toro Rosso (Buemi scored points), Force India and the struggling Williams in pace.

However, Team Lotus is happy with this weekend’s results, where both Jarno Trulli (18th) and Heikki Kovalainen (19th) finished. Heikki’s best lap of 1:32.695 was slightly under three seconds slower than the fastest lap of the race done by Mark Webber. Branding the Turkish showing ‘Solid Progression’, the team is looking forward to the next race in Barcelona, where the car will receive a “big update”, according to tech chief Mike Gascoyne.

Trulli for one is confident that they will turn the corner in two weeks time. “The result today doesn’t really show how we have improved our performance so I think that when we get to Barcelona with the whole new package on the car we’ll really be able to fight with the midfield teams,” he said.

Team boss Tony Fernandes sounds contented in his post race statement. “The whole team is excited about the updates we have for Barcelona, but for now I am very pleased with this weekend. Here in Turkey last year neither car finished so this is another positive development in our growth. We keep making small steps and moving forward and that has always been the plan – grow in a measured, controlled way that gives us the best foundations for future success.”