Team Preview: Lotus

2015 Drivers:

8: Romain Grosjean (2014 finish 14th 8 points)

13: Pastor Maldonado (2014 finish 16th 2 points)

2014 Constructors' Championship 8th (10 points)

2015 chassis: Lotus E23 Hybrid

Lotus is looking to rebound after an extremely difficult 2014 season in which they only scored 10 points all year. Lotus had been running near the front of the grid the few seasons before but they really struggled with the new Renault turbo engine and also struggled with their car. To try to take a step forward, Lotus has switched to Mercedes engines for the 2015 season which proved to be the best engine to have last year. If they can get the car to where it has been the years before last, they will definitely be a force to be reckoned with in 2015.

Lotus has retained the same driver lineup that it had last year with Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado. Grosjean was extremely disappointed with the performance of the car last year as he looked to be so strong at the end of 2013. Grosjean was hoping to build on that success with a strong 2014 but this did not happen. Grosjean will be as excited as anyone about having Mercedes engines as he hopes to be fighting near the front of the grid again and try to show he has what it takes to be a top driver.

Pastor Maldonado had an even more disappointing season in 2014. He had many crashes throughout the season which has damaged his reputation even further than it was before last year. Maldonado brings in a lot of sponsorship money to the team which is the main reason he has a seat at Lotus. Maldonado has shown before though that given the right car he can be quick. In 2012 with Williams, he was able to win the Spanish Grand Prix and he was also able to put in many strong qualifying results. If Maldonado can ever reduce the number of crashes he has, I think he can give the team some decent results given the right car. He will be looking to do so for 2015.

The team sounds positive about the car after testing which saw Lotus top the timesheets on a couple of days. Lotus had to not only learn about their car, but they had to learn about the Mercedes engine as well. They say that the Mercedes engine is a big step forward from the Renault engine and based off testing, Lotus is aiming for a top ten finish to start the season.

Prediction: I don't think we will see Lotus as strong as they were a couple of years ago when they could occasionally fight for wins but I think we will definitely see Lotus take a step forward in 2015. I don't think it would be a surprise to Lotus consistently in Q3 and then fighting for points in the race. At the end of the year I think that Lotus will finish 6th in the Constructors' Championship with a surprise podium along the way.

How do you think Lotus will perform over the 2015 season? Do you think they will continue to struggle in the 2015 season or do you see them rebounding from a difficult year? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.