Lotus wants to be the 3rd force on the grid

Alan Permane, the racing operations director of the Lotus F1 team, believes that the Enstone team can become the third force on the grid behind McLaren and Red Bull. Like his drivers, he is waiting to have a trouble-free race – mechanically for Räikkönen and without crashes for Grosjean – to assess what the E20 is truly worth, but he remains confident.

It would be nice to have a normal race, without penalties, and without an accident for Romain after a few corners. I think McLaren and Red Bull are ahead, and then I think we are there. I know Mercedes was third on the grid in Malaysia, but their race pace is nothing extraordinary, Permane told Autosport.

The Mercedes F1 W03 doesn’t worry Permane because he feels that currently, Rosberg and Schumacher may be fast over a single lap but in race conditions, things get complicated: « We saw (Nico) Rosberg pit to put on new intermediates in Malaysia when we were battling with him, and I thought we were going to have trouble on track. But his pace was the same as ours, if not worse. Mercedes will manage to solve its problems, but for now, their pace is not a threat.»

Same confidence towards Ferrari, which nevertheless won the Malaysian Grand Prix. Permane believes there is still work to be done by the Italian team to compete with the E20: « Even if Ferrari had a very good race in Malaysia, if they continue to qualify in 10th or 12th place, while we are third and fifth and a second ahead of them in qualifying, that will make a difference. It won’t take them long to improve, and they will give it their all, but we also have interesting things in store. »

According to Alan Permane, one of the keys in this battle at the top will be the development and the ability of the teams to improve their cars, and he is confident in Team Lotus: This is going to be an interesting battle. Being in a development race with them, Red Bull Racing, and McLaren – who are big teams – means we will give it our all to stay in touch with them.