F1 team preview: Lotus should go for a win in Hungaroring

Lotus car E21

Pirelli has decided to go with the soft and the medium compound tyres instead of soft and the hard tyres it originally planned for the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend.

The change in plans will benefit the Lotus F1 team more than any other. The Lotus E21, the 2013 car of the team, has been the best car of the season in terms of tyre preserving capabilities. It has been able to do exceptionally well even with the fast degrading Pirelli tyres and with the new tyres from Pirelli expected to last longer, the E21 can do even better.

Lotus have done much better in hot conditions this season, so the high temperatures expected in Hungaroring will add to their advantage.

Apart from the climate and the tyres, the new pit lane rules also might work in the favour of Lotus. After the infamous accident in the German Grand Prix where a loose wheel from Mark Webber‘s RB9 hit a cameraman causing serious injuries, the FIA has decided to cut down the pit lane speed from 100 kph to 80 kph.

This reduction in pit lane speed is expected to increase the pit stop timings by as much as 4 seconds. Due to their excellent tyre preserving capabilities, Lotus, on multiple occasions, have managed to finish races with one stop lesser than their counterparts. If they manage to come up with another efficient pit stop strategy, they can gain extra valuable seconds.

For team Lotus, the focus will be more on their star driver Kimi Raikkonen rather than on their car. Raikkonen has been in a wonderful form with five podium finishes so far this season that includes a win and four second place finishes. The team will expect him to put up another good show on Sunday.

Having secured six podium finishes including a win in 2005, Kimi Raikkonen has an excellent track record in Hangaroring. He would certainly like to continue his good run and what better way to do so than securing a win. Both Lotus and Kimi Raikkonen are hungry for a second win of the season after several close finishes including the last race in Germany where a broken radio led to a late pit stop for Raikkonen, giving him less time for a late challenge against eventual winner Sebastian Vettel. A good weekend in Hungary and they might just get what they believe is long overdue.

For Romain Grosjean, the focus would be on having a good race and securing a podium finish. He is becoming better with every race, certainly much better than his crash prone performance last season. He seems to have settled quite well in the team and it has reflected on his performance, including his excellent driving in Nurburgring.

Lotus have certainly become a force to reckon with. A pair of enthusiastic drivers behind a formidable set of cars, combined with favourable conditions and there is no reason why they can’t out perform the big names on Sunday.