Lotus hoping to pick up points in Montreal

Posted on

| Written by

Lotus technical director Mike Gascoyne is hoping the team will have the chance to score its first points in the Canadian Grand Prix.

Gascoyne said the team could benefit from having two experienced drivers in next weekend’s race, which often sees many retirements:

Canada’s a race we all look forward to. It’s a great city and a great race and we’re all glad to be going back to Montreal. It’s a temporary circuit where you often see quite a few people hit the wall, bringing out the safety car more than it’s usually seen.

It’s one of those races where it’s possible to pick up points, and we’ve got to put ourselves in a position to do that. We’ve got two very experienced drivers in the car which will help us be there at the finish and that’s the primary goal.

It’s going to be hard on brakes, but we’ve had no problems in that area. We’re also bringing a few more new parts, including a low downforce package specifically for Canada, so overall we want to build on the performances we’ve been putting in, aim for bullet-proof reliability, and have two cars see the flag.
Mike Gascoyne

The team suffered its first double retirement of 2010 in the Turkish Grand Prix on Sunday.

Driver Jarno Trulli is hoping for better luck in this year’s race. He has only finished the Canadian Grand Prix four times out of 12, coming home sixth on every one of those occasions.

In 2005 he retired with brake failure eight laps from home while running third:

Canada’s a funny one for me – even though I love Canada – the track, the people and the city – the race itself has never loved me! It’s a great challenge, and I’ve always performed pretty well there, but I’ve never had much luck there, so maybe that will change this year.

As it’s a temporary circuit it’s a major challenge the whole way round. There’s the constant threat of the walls and it’s critical not to make any mistakes. You have to have confidence in the car and a good set-up gives you the chance to push, but you’ve got to be perfect the whole time, otherwise it will bite you.

It’s also very quick, and hard on brakes, so the cooling and the stability under braking are both important, and I think we’re pretty good in both areas, so we should be ok. Our car has been performing better and better over the last few races, so we’ll see what happens when we get out there, but I think we’ll continue to move away from the other new guys, and towards those ahead.
Jarno Trulli

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

27 comments on “Lotus hoping to pick up points in Montreal”

  1. Sadly i am afraid Trullis recent luck needs a serious change for the better if he is to improve on his Canadian GP record, on the other hand if finishes and manages to get it home in sixt that would be a great moral booster!

  2. Ned Flanders
    4th June 2010, 12:17

    Lotus want to score points?! Good luck with that…

    1. I heard HRT wants a podium too.. doesn’t mean either of them are going to be close.

      1. lets not forget Super Aguri… Its about time they got some points too.

    2. True!! Scoring points is still a dream for the newbies!!

      But if I had to bet on either of the 3 new teams to score their first points, I wouls definitely bet on Lotus. They are definitely breaking away from the other 2

  3. Funny to see Gascoyne saying Lotus needs a low downforce package..

    1. Really it’s low-drag for Montreal as much as low-downforce.

      1. They have low downforce already, but the low-drag will be a little bit of a concern with the boxy side pods.

  4. I think points are still a dream unless a USA 05 is pulled. Anything can happen though, a few crashes amd some luck and who knows.
    I wonder if HRT may do quite well here compared to their other races by the character of their car.

  5. maybe they should concentrate on reliability… Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is a notorious car-eater, one way or another

  6. This is like Rubens saying he wants to win, Possible, and they probably deserve it for the effort they have made, But realistically? I’d bet against it.

  7. Can’t see this happening. However Montreal always comes out with surprising results, remember Sato passing Alonso for points in 2007. Guess you can never count it out in Montreal.

    1. I dunno. Consider the last three times in Canada you had 13, 14 & 15 finishers with 20, 22 and 22 cars starting 5 to 7 of those retirements where accidents and rest mechanical (and one year 2 black flags).
      With 24 cars, Sauber, Virgin and HRT having reliability problems that is potential 6 cars gone on mechanical and another 5-7 cars on accidents means potential 10-13 cars out of the race for 11 to 14 finishers if 2 of those are Lotus the chance is there remote but still there. If race finish with 11 cars and 2 are Lotus they will get 1 point even if they finish dead last. Probable? No? Plausible? I think so..

  8. I think the new teams have a better chance to score points in a wet race.

    Considering the new teams have been the least reliable so far this season, at a car breaker race such as the Canadian Grand Prix then I would have thought they would be still be more likely to retire due to car problems that the other teams.

  9. I think in Montreal we may see them to preform well as it is a low downforce circuit & we saw last year that the cars which are not good in high downforce circuit will bring out something here.

  10. I think they will have to wait for points. Unless there is major drama like big teams crashing out, they have no chance of points.
    In fact. all points scoring positions gets filled by drivers from top 5 teams- Mclaren, Red Bull, Mercedes, Renault and Ferrari.
    Then we have Force India, Toro Rosso, Williams (atleast of Barichello) and maybe a Sauber before we see a Lotus car.

  11. Since established teams usually take places 1-18 in qualifying, basically new teams need nine retirements from established teams to score point.

    Here’s what we have had so far:
    Bahrain 4
    Australia 6
    Malaysia 6* (including de la Rosa who did not start)
    China 4
    Spain 4**
    Monaco 6
    Turkey 1

    * means classified retirement, and placed ahead of some of the finishing new teams.

    Additionally, Kovalainen beat Hülkenberg in China.

    Basically I would say new teams definately need some sort of first-lap accident which take at least three cars out, preferably more. Australia and China had three-car accidents but they didn’t help enough. Then few mechanical issues, and I would say safety cars in times when the new teams are almost lapped would be good, therefore they could stay unlapped as long as possible.

    1. Well, ten cars were eliminated in a crash on the first lap of the 1994 German Grand Prix. And Jean Alesi’s engine blew so the 26-car entry was reduced to 15 by lap two.

      More recently eight cars eliminated in the first-lap crash at Melbourne in 2002.

      1. I remember that race in Melbourne. That was one crazy start to a season! However aren’t drivers taking first laps somewhat more conservatively this year, barring Melbourne again. I think they’re all being a bit more careful at the first corner what with the fuel load and lower front-end grip.

  12. 13 cars finished the Canadian GP in 2008, 12 in 2007, and 14 in 2006, so it’s a race that usually has a higher than average attrition rate. One of the new teams may luck their way into 10th place, but I think that will depend on accidents in the midfield.

  13. Lotus will get points,only if the first 12 are abducted by aliens on the last lap. I will be watching from home in Italy and I have a bigge chance of points. Get real.

  14. A bit off-topic, but I just laughed a bit, looking at the news items…

    * Lotus hoping to pick up points in Montreal
    * Whitmarsh: Montreal should suit our car
    * High expectations for Rosberg in Montreal
    * Schumacher looking forward to Canadian…
    * Button looking forward to Canada
    * Buemi aiming for more points in Canada

    So… everybody’s looking forward to the Canada GP and everybody aims to get some points for a change :P

  15. didn’t Force India suddenly top the timesheets at Spa 09 because their car simply had an inherent lack of downforce/drag on the car? Lotus are hoping to pull the same cat out of the hat.

  16. Unlikely, there are 18 cars out there which are over a second faster than the Lotus. That means if all the drivers making their Montreal debut – Petrov, Hulk, Buemi, Alguersauri, Kobayashi – crash out, and 4 other established teams’ cars have reliability problems, one of the Lotuses can finish 10th providing they finish the race and beat the other new teams.

  17. May the best f-duct win

  18. Canada normally has a pretty high attrition rate when it comes to retirements. In many years of racing at the track there have been less than half the field finishing. It is then fair to say that points aren’t out of the question for the likes of Lotus and Virgin – for as long as they can keep it together (both mechanically and the drivers) then it isnt an impossibility, only an improbability.

  19. That’s possible, but I think it would need more than half the field to fall off the track for either one to get points, especialy VRT.
    Just my opinion, of course

Comments are closed.