Lotus hard at work at tackling reliability issues
In light of the upcoming Austrian Grand Prix and the recent reliability issues on their Lotus E22, the team stresses that it is hard at work at trying to resolve all issues to prevent any repeats.
Deputy team principal Frederico Gastaldi commented that because of all the problems since the start of the season, the team is left with a lot of potential that was not realised yet.
"We have potential which is still to be fulfilled", Gastaldi said. "Canada was a kick where it hurts for everyone at the team but we took stock, identified the issues and have taken action to avoid any repeats. The last thing you want is both cars sat in the garage at the end of a race, but that’s what we had. Thankfully it is very rare for us. A rear wing issue for Romain was something unforeseen. We’ve analysed what went wrong, found a fix and it won’t happen again.
"A power unit issue for Pastor was not something new so we’re spending more time with Renault Sport F1 to do everything possible to avoid a repeat of this. It was an issue with a power unit sensor. Just a small thing, but something that had terminal repercussions."
Having left the issues behind, Gastaldi also mentioned simulations indicate that Spielberg should be a circuit much better suited to the team's Lotus E22.
"Austria looks to be more positive in terms of its potential for us, as well as the next few races too. We’re making improvements all the time so we can tackle all the aspects which cause us a challenge."
The team's Technical Director, Nick Chester, added that Lotus have a number of aerodynamic updates for the Austrian Grand Prix while admitting that braking is still one of the major points of focus.
We have a number of aero updates and we have some more work to do on braking", Chester said. "There is a good chunk of time still to be found in the braking zone and the key to unlocking this potential is enabling the latest brake-by-wire systems to deliver better feedback to the drivers."
