Maldonado eyes regular points

Pastor Maldonado is confident Lotus will overcome their current lean patch and return to the top 10 during the latter half of the campaign.

Lotus have scored eight points this season through Romain Grosjean, but the team have now gone five races without finishing in the top 10 and many believe that theme will continue at the next two races in Belgium and Italy as the E22 is not suited to those tracks.

Maldonado, though, believes his Enstone squad will soon be challenging higher up the grid again.

“Forget about Spa and Monza, but if we go to a track where the engine is not very important, we will be fighting for the top 10,” he told Autosport.

“Maybe we are not the quickest, but we are in a good position.

“The car is much better, we have found a better balance and I’m also more confident because I know the team better.”

The Venezuelan has only once outqualified Frenchman Grosjean while the Austrian GP was the only time he finished ahead of his team-mate in a race in which both have seen the chequered flag.

Maldonado, though, feels his mechanical problems have played a major role in that.

“I am often ahead of my team-mate when the car is not broken,” said Maldonado.

“He’s a quick driver, very experienced, he has more experience with the team as well and we are learning from each other, which is very important.”