Montagny doubts Lotus will be competitive with 100 less staff

Former F1 driver turned TV pundit Franck Montagny has made a bleak assessment of beleaguered Lotus 2014 prospects, in the aftermath of a huge staff exodus from the Enstone based team.

Lotus' campaign so far has been nothing short of disastrous as the visually-striking E22 struggles not only for pace, but merely to run.

"It is a really complicated situation for them," Montagny told Le Figaro.

"They lost Eric Boullier to McLaren, but that's not the only thing - they are a hundred people less at Enstone after the winter.

"100 people is significant and cannot be easily overcome. Today, I do not see how they can go back to the top of the table.

"They will be able to fight for the points but aiming higher, I would say, seems very difficult," Montagny added. (GMM)

Subbed by AJN.