VALENCIA (Spain): Lotus believe it is only a matter of time before they win a race after former champion Kimi Raikkonen took second in the European Grand Prix.

The British-based team were tipped as favourites to win on the streets of Valencia on Sunday but in the end had to settle for Raikkonen’s runner-up spot to Fernando Alonso, while the Finn’s team-mate Romain Grosjean retired.

Team boss Eric Boullier was encouraged by the pace of the two drivers, who delivered the team’s best qualifying results of the season, and believes it was a positive weekend for the team.

Encouraging performance: (From front) Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen, William’s Pastor Maldonado, Lotus’ Romain Grosjean and Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi competing during the European Formula One Grand Prix at the Valencia Street Circuit on Sunday. – AFP

“You cannot be disappointed with the pace,” he said.

“Everybody has improved their car, so everybody is improving their pace as well. I think it was a good outcome from the weekend.

“We were able to qualify better, and ignoring retirements we had the pace fast enough to have both our cars in the top five in the final result.

“It was disappointing that Romain could not finish the race, because he had a good start and a good race – but all in all it is very positive.”

Grosjean struggled to match the times of early pace-setter Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull, but looked certain to secure his third podium of the season before both men retired.

In spite of this, Boullier remained convinced that both his drivers will have plenty of opportunities to win races this year.

“We need to keep pushing for a very nice result because we can do it,” he said.

“It is good to be a regular podium finisher and it is good for the team that we have recovered the ground we lost last year.

“I am disappointed for Romain and disappointed that there were some big points that we missed, but in the end McLaren and Red Bull did not score as much as they wanted. Okay now Ferrari is chasing us, but that is good.” – AFP

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