Chester: Progress is key for Lotus

After a challenging first race weekend of the 2014 season, Technical Director Nick Chester evaluates the key technical lessons from Melbourne and looks ahead to Malaysia.

How frustrating was it to be at the back of the grid in Australia?

It was very frustrating. Everyone in the team worked really hard for Melbourne. In my fourteen years at Enstone I cannot remember a more intense period of work and for there to be no tangible reward for it is tough to take but we knew that this would likely be the case. It was disappointing that we were not quicker and that we were unable to attain a truly representative position on the grid. Everyone understood that there are so many new parts and so much new technology for 2014, so we knew that it was going to be difficult for everything to work straight away and achieve a positive result. We are now addressing these issues one by one and making clear, quantifiable progress.

How did Romain and Pastor approach the weekend?

Both drivers were really strong and resolute in their approaches. They knew that it was going to be a challenging weekend after the evidence from the final test in Bahrain and although they wanted it to be a normal race weekend, I think that they both knew the value of making the very most of whatever track time we got. They were very professional throughout the weekend. Their feedback was very important particularly after the race when they had done a lot of miles even though unfortunately we didn’t finish the race itself.

What were the positives to take from Australia?

We know that there is good potential with the E22 and we need to get the whole package operating properly. The lack of mileage meant that we encountered problems that would normally have been resolved prior to the first race. Some issues we confronted were associated with software, the fixes for which can be quite time consuming. Worse than that, they can be time consuming at the most inopportune times over a race weekend. That said, we left Australia with some key directions including a deeper understanding of the energy management and how we need to optimize it.

Where does the team go from here in terms of making more progress for the upcoming races?

There are several issues we have pinpointed in Australia that we will be working on; some on the chassis and some on the power unit. I know that Renault Sport F1 are working very hard to fix issues on the software and also some on the mapping. The E22 is much more complicated in terms of how you operate the power unit and how it interacts with other systems on the car. This is something we need to improve on; and there is a lot of time to be found in this area.

With one race completed, how confident is the team in the E22?

From what we have seen on the chassis in terms of measurements, particularly on the aero side, it still looks very strong. There is nothing fundamental on the car that will stop it being competitive but we need to get to a sufficient level of mapping and operating the car so that the drivers can extract the maximum from the E22. There are clear, identifiable areas where we can find big chunks of time. Once we have more mileage under our belt and worked on the balance of the car then the drivers will feel more comfortable and we will make good progress.

Does the current workload affect the team’s upgrade programme ambitions?

It makes no real difference. We are still producing new bodywork and have some good upgrades coming for Malaysia in all areas around the car. We will keep pushing as hard as we can with the upgrade programme.

Is there a timeframe where you think the team will start to make significant progress up the grid?

It is difficult to make a strong prediction after the weekend we have just had in Australia, especially with the limited mileage under our belt. I’m certainly hoping for an improvement for Malaysia and then some more in Bahrain, although as they are back to back it is likely to be small steps. It may well be Barcelona before we are in a more stable position and compete at the level we want to be at. One thing’s for certain, we’re not sitting back; we’re pushing all the way with the focus on extracting the maximum from the E22.