Lotus boss Eric Boullier says he has mixed feelings about the start of 2012 F1 season

A mixture of incidents and penalties for Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean have limited their race results, leaving Boullier eager to see what can be achieved on a normal grand prix weekend.

"From a personal viewpoint, I do feel a bit of frustration that we haven't delivered as well as we should have done," he said in a team preview on Thursday.

"We know we can do better, and we hope to prove that in the next races. On the other hand, I'm so proud of what the team has achieved this winter that I can't help but have a little smile on my face."

Boullier is confident, however, that the potential is there for some good results in the future - especially with Lotus delivering a series of updates for next weekend's race in China.

"The positives we have give us a strong basis to score good points this season, and on the evidence so far we are well placed to fight for our target of fourth place in the Constructors' Championship," he said. "The aero package we're bringing to China is proof that we're leaving no stone unturned.

"We are focused on developing and improving the E20, while both drivers know their objectives and are working well with the team. We can put down many of the negative aspects of the first two races to bad luck, or factors which we will all learn from. We expect to be securing some more solid points in the near future, with both cars in the top eight."

Technical director James Allison believes the updates for China will bring around two tenths of a second in performance - which could be very useful considering how close the grid is.

"It may not sound like much, but given how close the grids have been so far this season, that is a big deal. Hopefully, it's a bit more than other people will bring," he said.

"We have to continue improving the lap time of the car and for that we're looking at improvement in all areas. A specific area we've identified for improvement is pit stop times and we are focusing a greater amount of engineering effort in this direction. The areas we are looking at include the wheel nuts and wheel guns. Looking at our opposition it is clear there are gains to be made in this area."