Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsLotus F1

Gastaldi expects more Lotus speculation at Spa

Lotus deputy team principal Federico Gastaldi says he expects more speculation regarding the team's future at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Renault has been linked with a takeover of Lotus as it weighs up a return to F1 as a constructor, while Lotus has also been facing financial difficulties which culminated in the late delivery of tyres from Pirelli at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Looking ahead to the Belgian Grand Prix next weekend, when asked what the latest situation is at the team Gastaldi says it is business as usual.

"This is always part of Formula 1, the rumour, intrigue and speculation," Gastaldi said. "We can expect all kinds of waffle in the Spa paddock but there’s nothing to report from the team; we’re focusing on our racing and we’re hopeful of a strong result in Spa."

Gastaldi also says he expects Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado to have used the mid-season break to return fully focused on getting the most out of the rest of the year.

"After the excitement of the Hungarian Grand Prix everyone was ready for a break! It’s very important for the drivers to have good, strong, positive mind sets for their racing no matter what’s gone on in the first half of the season.

"Drivers are very good at resetting themselves and getting on with the task of racing, but a longer break away from not just racing but also the factory and other demands helps that little bit more with this. I’m expecting two revitalised chaps to jump back into the cars at Spa and the plan is to push all the way, after all there are still a lot of points up for grabs."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.