Lotus plans 'interesting' updates for the German Grand Prix

The Enstone-based team has challenged near the front of the field several times this year, but has never quite put together all it needed to come out on top.

However, with the Hockenheim layout and weather set to play to the strengths of the E20, the team has revealed that some updates could boost its chances.

Technical director James Allison said: "I'm quite excited about it. The season seems to be getting stronger for us race-by-race. We should see pretty warm weather conditions in Germany, and nothing about that track should do anything other than fill us with confidence, so I'm feeling positive in that regard.

"I'm excited too because we've got some interesting new updates for Germany and we're looking forward to see how they work out."

With Romain Grosjean facing a five-place grid penalty for the weekend because of a gearbox change, the team's best hope of getting a car near the front of the grid will rest with Kimi Raikkonen.

The Finn is upbeat about being able to produce good form there - even though he has never won in Germany during his career.

"We've got a good car, we understand the tyres quite well, we've shown that we can be fast and race well... there's no reason why we shouldn't be fighting for another podium," he said.

"Some hot weather would be good. Usually in Hockenheim it has been very hot and everybody has had problems with the tyres going off. Obviously, for us, the hot weather suits the car fine. Our car prefers the hot temperatures and in the long runs it's not that hard on tyres. Let's have some real summer weather in Hockenheim."