(Bernard Asset - Renault Sport F1)
Lotus F1 Team technical director Nick Chester believes that the Enstone outfit should be on an 'even keel' with their main rival in time for Bahrain Grand Prix in April.
Lotus struggled more so then their rival during winter testing as the team missed the opening test in Jerez in order to continue the development of their E22 chassis unfortunately however this meant that the team were on the back foot going into the first Bahrain test.
Chester confirmed that the team were unable to complete the objectives during the Bahrain test and suffered a number of reliability issues with the new car. The team were unable to complete a race during winter testing which means that they have admitted that they are not ready for the start of the new season, however they are not alone as a number of other teams including Red Bull Racing have said that they are not ready for the first race.
The team are hoping that their close working relationship with engine supplier Renault Sport will enable them to get on top of the new power plants and the new car for the Bahrain Grand Prix. At that race last season the team scored a double podium with Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean.
Speaking at last week's test in Bahrain, Romain Grosjean agreed with Chester by saying that the team only managed to get through one third of their Bahrain programme.
In the greater scheme of things the fact that the team will not be ready until Bahrain won't make a massive difference to the teams progress as all their rivals are in exactly the same boat in that the 2014 season is a complete unknown so they will be able to catch and there is no reason why the team won't be as competitive this season as they were last year.
©Ben Johnston 2014
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