How Lotus finally delivered on its promise

The Bahrain Grand Prix turned out to be another thriller, and in Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull RB8 it gave us our fourth different winner in four races so far this year.

And after Sauber came so close in Malaysia, with Lotus completing the Bahrain podium we now have two other teams that have been knocking on the door of the ultimate success. But while Sauber's big moment came in a rain-affected race, Lotus now looks like it might be able to challenge for victories anywhere.

Until now incidents and other misfortunes have to some degree hidden the potential of the black and gold car, although Kimi Raikkonen's feisty performance in China demonstrated that both driver and team are quite capable of mixing it with the top guys.

Kimi's race might have unravelled in Shanghai, but that weekend provided some good lessons for the team, and not just in terms of strategy. Indeed, one of the key factors in the Lotus performance in Bahrain was the addition of the new floor to the E20 package that was raced in China. The floor was available in Shanghai, and was tried on Friday morning. But after a difficult first session there, the team took the decision to remove it.

"We knew from Malaysia we were competitive," says Lotus engineering chief Alan Permane. "We were very uncertain of our aero numbers in China, and we were very uncompetitive on Friday, so we were cautious and took it off."