Lotus boss Eric Boullier says no disappointment over Hungary despite no win

After another weekend when Lotus appeared to have the pace to triumph, Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean could not find a way past eventual winner Lewis Hamilton as they finished second and third for the second time this season.

But rather than rue the missed opportunity, Boullier says he is overjoyed with the job his outfit is doing, adding that the Hungary performance was better for his team than Bahrain.

"Both cars on the podium on a twisty circuit like this is good for the team and it is better than Bahrain, because we had a bad weekend at Hockenheim with Romain," he said.

"The drivers had a good race and tried to catch the leader, but we knew this track would be very difficult to overtake.

"We are happy with qualifying, as we prepared differently for it, and it worked. So both cars were in the top five. If we can produce this for the rest of the season then we will be in the position to fight for the win."

Although delighted with the points haul that has moved Lotus ahead of Ferrari in the constructors' championship, Boullier does admit that there will be some frustration for his team if it does not deliver a win at some point this season.

"Obviously if we were second and third every weekend I would be happy, but in some ways it would be frustrating to miss something and not win a race. If we can qualify well we will be in a position to win."

And although rival teams are now tipping Lotus to become a force in the championship battle, Boullier says that his outfit has not yet changed its target of simply improving on the fifth place it finished in last year's world championship.

"Our ambition is the same: to be better than last year," he said. "But if we have this pace every race then maybe we will revise our ambition."