Trulli: “Lotus has made enormous progress”

The 2010 season of Team Lotus was used to? to be present. So the Lotus team had entered into a car of the most simplistic in order to appear on the starting grid in Bahrain last March. Having nothing to expect from the T127, the engineers transferred their efforts to the T128 of 2011. In addition to a careful design, this second version from the Team Lotus workshops inaugurates a V8 this season. Renault, coupled to the transmission system of Red Bull.

This package delighted Jarno Trulli. “ We have perhaps the best rear end in the paddock, because the gearbox and engine are incredible, the Italian told Autosport. Everything works perfectly. The car looks good and also fast. Compared to last year, it's night and day. This is a huge step forward. Everyone worked very hard on the team ».

« Mike Gascoyne put things in place after Tony Fernandes set about finding a good rear end that will only solve our intractable reliability and performance problems last year, He said. Now, we will have to concentrate on the suspensions to work on rigidity and aerodynamics. The team did great things over the winter by adapting to the new rules ».

However lucid, he admits that the few reliability problems encountered this winter will not allow them to occupy the rank that should be theirs. “ It may be difficult at first but then we can be on top, he admitted. Looking at the lap times it's hard to say, but we can probably fight with Force India and maybe Sauber. I'm sure we're ahead of Virgin and HRT. For the moment, this is the picture we have for the coming season. ».