Lotus’ trackside operations director, Alan Permane is fairly confident that the team will score a good result at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium next weekend.
The British engineer is quite happy with the performance of the team so far this season.
“On the whole I’d say we’ve had a decent start to the year,” said Permane.
“It’s frustrating to sometimes come away from a weekend knowing we haven’t quite got the most from the car, but at the past few events we’ve brought some successful updates that are working very well.
“Out of ten rounds so far we’ve had eight podium finishes including a victory at the opening round. We’re battling with teams that have arguably got a lot more resources at their disposal, so I think we’re doing a very good job with what we have here at Enstone,” he added.
Permane confirmed the Lotus E21 is working well on the revised Pirelli tires.
“Mercedes for example seem to be very well suited to them, but Ferrari perhaps not so much. Although we were slightly quicker than them in both Germany and Hungary, we and Red Bull look very evenly matched. I wouldn’t say they’ve changed our position too much,” he said.
The challenge of Spa will obviously be very different from the one of the Hungaroring.
“Yes, a total contrast to Budapest in pretty much every area. Similar to Canada, Spa is a much lower downforce layout than most venues we visit with significantly lower temperatures; usually between fifteen and twenty degrees ambient,” he said.
“We will also be using the hard and medium compound tires which combined with the cooler climate have not been our strength I think it’s fair to say. We have however been putting in a lot of time and effort to get the harder tires working better in lower temperatures, and I’m fairly confident we’ll head into this race remaining equally competitive,” he added.
Will the infamous Device (designed to reduce drag at high speeds) will likely be used on the fast circuit of Spa?
“Absolutely. We haven’t made a final decision yet as to whether it will be deployed, but we’ve been conducting a lot of simulation work with the concept to help clarify that decision and there’s a good chance we’ll see it make an appearance.
“We’ve got several updates coming up both mechanical and aerodynamic so we’re confident of making another step forward,” Permane explained.
The British engineer is quite happy with the performance of the team so far this season.
“On the whole I’d say we’ve had a decent start to the year,” said Permane.
“It’s frustrating to sometimes come away from a weekend knowing we haven’t quite got the most from the car, but at the past few events we’ve brought some successful updates that are working very well.
“Out of ten rounds so far we’ve had eight podium finishes including a victory at the opening round. We’re battling with teams that have arguably got a lot more resources at their disposal, so I think we’re doing a very good job with what we have here at Enstone,” he added.
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| Alan Permane, Eric Boullier (Photo: Lotus GP) |
Permane confirmed the Lotus E21 is working well on the revised Pirelli tires.
“Mercedes for example seem to be very well suited to them, but Ferrari perhaps not so much. Although we were slightly quicker than them in both Germany and Hungary, we and Red Bull look very evenly matched. I wouldn’t say they’ve changed our position too much,” he said.
The challenge of Spa will obviously be very different from the one of the Hungaroring.
“Yes, a total contrast to Budapest in pretty much every area. Similar to Canada, Spa is a much lower downforce layout than most venues we visit with significantly lower temperatures; usually between fifteen and twenty degrees ambient,” he said.
 |
| Romain Grosjean, Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus E21 (Photo: Lotus GP) |
“We will also be using the hard and medium compound tires which combined with the cooler climate have not been our strength I think it’s fair to say. We have however been putting in a lot of time and effort to get the harder tires working better in lower temperatures, and I’m fairly confident we’ll head into this race remaining equally competitive,” he added.
Will the infamous Device (designed to reduce drag at high speeds) will likely be used on the fast circuit of Spa?
“Absolutely. We haven’t made a final decision yet as to whether it will be deployed, but we’ve been conducting a lot of simulation work with the concept to help clarify that decision and there’s a good chance we’ll see it make an appearance.
“We’ve got several updates coming up both mechanical and aerodynamic so we’re confident of making another step forward,” Permane explained.