Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsLotus F1

Gastaldi proud of Lotus fight

Lotus deputy team principal Federico Gastaldi says he is proud of the fight being shown by his team during a tough time.

With financial issues leading to Lotus being visited by bailiffs in the paddock after the Belgian Grand Prix, the shine was taken off the team's first podium of the season. However, Gastaldi says recent results - which moved Lotus in to the top five of the constructors' standings - highlight the resilience within the team.

"We are facing challenges but we are a united team," Gastaldi said. "We have shown many times that we are fighters and that we punch above our weight. We are now fifth in the Constructor’s Championship and that makes me proud of everyone at Enstone. We want to continue to show our worth and fight on each and every lap these coming races."

And Gastaldi says Romain Grosjean's third place at Spa-Francorchamps also displays the potential within Lotus which has been masked by uncertainty over its future.

"I was very, very happy for the team but not amazed because I know that the team has the ability to always deliver such great results. We have great drivers and fantastic people here at Enstone.

"For me we are the best people in the paddock so I’m not surprised by the result and even though we currently face some challenges, we can still deliver strong cars. It was a great job by Romain and a great job by all at Enstone."

Kevin Magnussen exclusive interview: New doors opening in F1

Click here for a look back at the 1971 Italian Grand Prix from Monza, when the top five cars were covered by just 0.61s.

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

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.