Lotus F1 Team enjoyed a productive day of testing at the Circuito de Jerez with Pastor Maldonado completing 96 laps, setting a best time of 1:22.713,as the team continued with installation and functionality checks with the E23 Hybrid as well as initial performance assessments.
Maldonado reviewed his day behind the wheel, “It was a good day and we’ve learnt a lot more about the E23. The car feels strong and we know there’s more to come. We’re still checking all the systems and learning how everything works, but I’m very happy with progress over the last two days.”
“We were able to run with different tyre compounds today so there’s a good basis for knowing where we need to look in terms of set-up. I’m really looking forward to getting back into the car in Barcelona.”
Lotus trackside operations director Alan Permane said, We’ve completed a solid programme [Tuesday] and been able to log a lot of data as we begin our initial understanding of the E23. Yesterday’s issues were quickly diagnosed and rectified.”
“We’ve run very reliably with only a connection issue to delay our first run this morning. Pastor’s jumped straight back into the car after the winter break and has given us everything we’ve needed over the last two days, now we’re looking forward to Romain getting his first taste of the car [Wednesday],” he added.