Gastaldi: We are still focused on 2014

"The philosophy is to make the maximum of what we have"

By Franck Drui

23 July 2014 - 17:45
Gastaldi: We are still focused on 2014

Deputy Team Principal Federico Gastaldi looks back on Hockenheim and ahead to the Hungaroring.

How is the lay of the land after the weekend in Germany?

It was pleasing for Pastor to have a solid race and come home on the edge of the points at Hockenheim. After a tough qualifying he dug very deep and showed his racing instincts. For Romain it was very tough to have a cooling system failure, a very rare issue to have. He was unlucky because he had a good chance to collect some points to add to his tally. It was important to get to the end of the race and collect vital data on the E22 without its non-hydraulic connected suspension system. I can’t say we are satisfied with the result because we aim to get rewarded for the effort and skill we put in to racing, but there will be days when we get those rewards I’m sure.

You confirmed over the weekend that Pastor has a long-term deal at Enstone...

We were validating the deal we have with Pastor, confirming that we have a multi-year deal, reinforcing from both sides our commitment to each other; it’s a renewal of vows after a tough honeymoon if you like! Myself and Gérard Lopez spent a lot of time with Pastor in Hockenheim, where we sat down and discussed the future which was all very positive. Pastor is very much part of the future at Enstone and it was a matter of routine for both parties to confirm that he has a multi-year deal and will be in one of our cockpits next season. We are very happy to confirm this in public, as is Pastor and his partners.

The situation with Pastor is clear but what about Romain at this stage?

Romain has been part of the Lotus F1 Team family for many years, even since his GP2 days. Let’s be honest. Romain as a top, top driver is not happy with the 2014 season and this is mirrored by everyone at the team of course. We cannot confirm anything just yet as the timing will be right when we are both comfortable to announce something. All I can say is that it’s certainly the intention for Romain to stay at Enstone and continue what has been a great partnership and working relationship.

Hungaroring is the last race before the summer break. What will the team be focusing on during this enforced holiday?

Well the technical aspects of the factory shut down but all the brain power does not! One thing I know about F1 people and especially ‘our people’ is that they never stop thinking about F1 and how to improve things for the team. We remain ultra-focused on improving the package we have in 2014 and gathering more points for the team. The philosophy is to make the maximum of what we have in 2014, but of course at the same time we have already started on the car for 2015. We are always looking to the future whether it is short or long-term.

Just how much of that focus has shifted on to 2015?

We have to take the lessons from this tough season and apply them to make sure it doesn’t happen again. But we are only 50% of the way through 2014 now, so we are still highly committed to improving our World Championship position and to start scoring more points. We know that we have two very accomplished drivers that are always capable of scoring points, but we need to provide them with cars that can achieve that. Yes, the plans for next year are in motion and the technical teams are busy on that programme, but for the team it is important to make sure we score more points so we will be chasing everyone all the way until Abu Dhabi in November.

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