Lotus expects further step in Canada

Although Lotus has been more competitive in 2011 than in its debut season, it has yet to make enough progress to achieve its aim of regular Q2 appearances and fighting for points.

But Gascoyne is optimistic that the new parts in the pipeline for Montreal will play a significant part in narrowing the gap.

"We've got a low downforce package for Canada and the aero efficiency looks a good step up so it should be another step forward," he said. "We're pretty close [to the midfield] and we hope this will move us closer. We're only a few tenths away and maybe we can bridge the gap."

He also believes that Lotus is still working out how to get the best out of the upgrades it introduced for the Spanish Grand Prix earlier this month and can gain more time from this package too.

"I still think we are getting our heads around the blown diffuser and how to operate that and [Monaco] isn't the sort of easiest place to be learning," Gascoyne said.

"So I think there is more to come, but we are starting to get there and we are racing people and trying to beat Mercedes, so it was fun race."