Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsLotus F1

Maldonado praises Lotus unity in 2015

Pastor Maldonado has praised Lotus for the unity shown within the team during uncertainty over its future this year.

Lotus began the year with a relatively strong car but a lack of financial backing meant development during the season was severely limited. With a Renault takeover dragging on for months as the team's future remained uncertain, Maldonado says the way the team continued to work together proved to be its biggest asset.

"I have really really enjoyed working with my crew and we have had quite a few stand out moments among races, strategies and great pitstops – some, seriously fast!" Maldonado said. "Even if we didn’t quite achieve what we wanted, there has been a great atmosphere within the whole team, we have really been united and that has been the strongest part of this team."

And Maldonado described the team's ability to still finish sixth in the constructors' championship despite the off-track concerns as an "amazing" achievement.

"It’s not been the smoothest of year for the team, for all of us really, but on the other hand we really can say that we’ve done an amazing job to reach sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship given our circumstances. And now, everyone is looking forward, everyone is working hard to make next year as good as it can be."

Renault has announced it will return as a constructor in 2016, with its takeover of Lotus set to finally be completed this week.

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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.