Lotus could replace Red Bull as the leading Renault powered outfit according to the team’s technical director Nick Chester.
The outfit, despite missing the first test in Jerez, was the fastest of the four teams using Renault’s V6 power unit and, whilst they may not have completed the most mileage, Chester is confident they can leap ahead of the championship winning team.
“I think we could be the lead Renault team,” he said on the final day of testing in Bahrain.
“We certainly haven’t gone badly this week in comparison to the other Renault teams and I know they are having a few problems.
“All we can do already at the moment is just focus on ourselves and do the best job that we can do.”
Chester did however admit they’ve got a long way to go to catch-up with their other rivals, particularly Mercedes which posted a time over five seconds better than the Lotus.
“They [Mercedes] have had a couple of very good tests now and have got themselves to a good level whereas we have still got a lot of progression.
“So I don’t imagine they are going to make so much more improvement before Melbourne and we have got a lot to make [up].
“But it is still quite a big gap to close,” he added.
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