A double points score for the team in Japan has Lotus F1 Team Deputy Team Principal Federico Gastaldi eager to reiterate the name of the game; scoring at every possible opportunity.
How positive was it for the team to get a strong event on track in Suzuka?
Points mean prizes so we’re always out there to score as much and as often as possible. In Suzuka we saw two strong drives from Romain and Pastor which really underline the hunger from everyone at Enstone. No matter what the circumstances, we’ll keep fighting for our dinner.
What does the Sochi event bring to Formula 1?
It was a brand new event in 2014 and certainly exciting for everyone attending. F1 is a global spectacle and it shows the strength of the sport that we race in Russia. We have a very good Russian Formula 1 driver in the sport with Daniil Kvyat and at Enstone we had the first ever Russian F1 driver - our friend Vitaly Petrov – so we understand the market and enjoy the support we get from Russia.
Do you see Russia as an important market for F1 in the future?
Absolutely. We should be racing in the world’s biggest country. We have seen over the last 20 years or so, since the change from the Soviet Union, that the opportunities there are huge. The rapid expansion of the economy and the many big sporting events that are being held here over the next decade will make for great momentum in commercial opportunities. At Lotus F1 Team we are always investigating new markets and looking to expand the F1 experience for new audiences.
What can you say about the current situation with Renault?
It looks like we’re engaged to be married again, which is interesting as we’ve had a few relationships together before! It’s positive for the sport and it’s positive for Enstone that a company with the history and prestige of Renault is looking to strengthen its role in Formula 1. It’s true we’ve both experienced a few knocks over the years but we’ve also had some exceptional highs and that makes us all collectively exceptionally motivated to harness our resilience and show everyone what we can do.
The driver market is firming up for 2016, what’s the situation with the team?
We know that we can now publically say bonne chance to Romain who is headed to pastures new next year. He’s been a real asset to us over the years so we’ll certainly miss him. We know we have Pastor confirmed for one seat and we know that there are quite a few tasty drivers available out there and we’re doing everything to ensure that we’ve got a desirable race seat, which needs to be filled. What happens next is that there’ll be a number of discussions in a number of places then at some point we’ll have an announcement to make. I can at this stage publically confirm that it won’t be me driving.
How do you expect the rest of the season to play out for the team?
Hopefully with more action on track than off. It hasn’t been the easiest of years but we keep showing that we’re capable of performing well when it matters. It would be nice for Romain to have a good positive end to his Enstone career and it would be great for Pastor to have a strong run of results to bring his season to a close. We’re all working to those aims.