Lotus planning ‘eye opening’ upgrades for Spain

Lotus are planning to debut a "reasonably significant" upgrade package at the first European race of the season in Barcelona next weekend.

It's normal for teams to delay major upgrades until the Spanish Grand Prix, which marks F1's return to Europe following the opening four fly-away races of the season.

That's the plan for Lotus which is once again aiming to score a handful of points to add to its current tally of just 12 thanks to Romain Grosjean's two seventh place finishes.

"It will be an interesting weekend as many teams will bring decent upgrades to the first European race of the season and we are working on bringing a reasonably significant package in terms of bodywork upgrades ourselves," explained technical director Nick Chester.

"There's a certain amount of anticipation to see what everyone turns up with. In terms of our expectations, there's nothing to say that we shouldn't have another strong race in Barcelona, just as we did in China and Bahrain."

Meanwhile deputy team principal Federico Gastaldi believes some of the upgrades they're planning for Spain and the next race in Monaco, could open some eyes up and down the pit lane.

"We've been working hard [over the past few weeks] on improving the E23 and how we use it," he said.

"There's potential for some things which could open some eyes in Barcelona and then at the next race in Monaco too. It's fair to say it's busy times at Enstone."