Pastor Maldonado is confident Lotus’s pace in Canada won’t be a one-off as the Venezuelan doesn’t believe it was down to Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve being an engine-dependent track.
That race saw both Enstone cars finish in the points for the first time since the 2013 Indian Grand Prix. A switch from Renault to Mercedes power this season means that Lotus now have the best engine on the grid, giving them an advantage in Canada since the track is made up of long straights and tight corners, placing an emphasis on power.
But Maldonado feels there was more to the performance than German grunt.
“I don’t think it was only down to the engine, I think we have always been fighting for the same positions since the beginning of the season,” he said.
“There are tracks where the engine can help us for a few tenths and less for the Renault guys. But Barcelona, which is a high downforce track, when I had the problem with the rear wing I was P7 already and gaining the positions on the track. So I don’t see why we can’t be as competitive again as we were in Canada.”
Seventh place in Montreal was only Maldonado’s second points finish for Lotus since joining them at the start of 2014, but he is hoping to add to that tally in Austria.
“It would be good to continue in the points,” he added. “From the first race we always had the potential to be in the points, but for many reasons we didn’t. I think we learnt from everything that happened in the past; we had a clean one in Canada, very good pace, good qualy, good race. We expected [Sebastian] Vettel and Felipe [Massa] to come, but it was very important for us to be in the points whatever the position.
“I am very pleased for the team - we jumped places in the championship, which is positive, and I really hope to continue like this.”
The points for Maldonado and team-mate Romain Grosjean, who finished tenth, moved Lotus to within 31 points of Red Bull - whose drivers look set to take engine penalties this weekend - who stand fourth in the Constructors’ Championship.
Maldonado added that he has no concerns over the team’s ability to continue to develop the E23.
“I think looking at where we started and where we were at the last race we have been progressing to maintain the performance,” he said.
“As soon as we have something big and new on the car that will be much better, we are working on introducing new bits, I hope they arrive as soon as they can. But I know we are working hard and pushing to have them soon.”
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