Lotus aim to beat Williams this season

Lotus technical director Nick Chester has revealed that the team’s aim is to catch and beat Williams this season.

Lotus had a woeful 2014 campaign, as they finished eighth in the Constructors’ Championship, with just eight points.

However, this season they have been boosted by their move to a Mercedes power-unit, and Chester expects them to be challenging for podiums.

He told Sky Sports: “The power unit’s a good step forward for us and on the chassis side; the chassis’s a good step forward.

“We’ve got a more consistent car, the drivers can get more out of it more easily, it’s much easier to drive on the limit and much more predictable. So we’ve got good steps in both areas.”

Pre-season testing suggested that Williams are the second fastest car on the grid behind Mercedes, and they will be locked in a four-way fight with Ferrari, Red Bull and Lotus for the final podiums spots.

Chester believes that his team aren’t on their level yet, but they should be able to catch up.

He added: “That’s the target, although they are a bit ahead of us at the moment. We got some more developments coming at race two and race three that’ll hopefully help close that gap.

“But obviously they’ve had another year with the power unit.”

The season starts next weekend in Australia.

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