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F1: Lotus should be stronger in Malaysia

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Khatir Soltani
Mike Gascoyne believes that Lotus will be stronger in Malaysia than it was in Australia. He hopes the team will be in position to challenge the likes of Force India and Toro Rosso.

"We left Australia with mixed feelings about the race," he admitted. "Heikki's pace in the early laps was a good step forward for us, and Jarno's race pace took us close to what we showed in the pre-season tests.

"But we did struggle all weekend with the tires and a couple of small issues that we have now had time to resolve back at the factory.The conditions at Sepang should suit us more favourably," he added.

The main issue with the car in Melbourne was tire temperature and since Malaysia should be warmer, the performance should be improved.

"I think the track temperatures will help us show more of the car's true pace and as the layout it is quite similar to Barcelona - relatively high aero and a good mix of low and high speed turns - I think we will be able to extract more performance from the car than we were able to in Melbourne."


Khatir Soltani
Khatir Soltani
Automotive expert
  • Over 6 years experience as a car reviewer
  • Over 50 test drives in the last year
  • Involved in discussions with virtually every auto manufacturer in Canada