2015 Season Review: Lotus

This season saw the Lotus team move from eighth place in 2014 to fifth place in the Constructors Championship. After a very disappointing 2014 campaign for the team, they went into 2015 with high hopes. A new Mercedes power unit gave the famous black and yellow team added optimism going into the new season.

The Lotus E23 hybrid proved to be a significant step forward compared to its predecessor ensuring its place in Formula One's midfield. However, a lack of funding meant a lack of development throughout the season to extract the pace and performance they needed from the E23. Nevertheless, it ended up to be a solid season for Lotus as they look forward to the return of Renault in 2016 after the buyout was completed just before the Christmas break.

The team retained their driver line up of Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado for another season; with the pressure firmly on Maldonado to beat his more experienced and talented team mate this season if he was to remain in the team on a talent basis rather than a financial basis.

The first race of the 2015 season proved to be disastrous for the team with both Grosjean and Maldonado failing to finish. The season opener in Australia was a race of attrition and it would have been a fantastic opportunity to get some early points on the board as did midfield rivals Sauber; who scored their best result of the season with Felipe Nasr finishing fifth.

It wasn't until the Chinese GP where Lotus scored their first points of the season. Grosjean finishing in seventh. Maldonado had been running ahead of his teammate, but several mistakes and a collision with McLaren's Jenson Button meant he made it three retirements in a row.

Grosjean however continued to score points while Maldonado consistently struggled, often involved in incidents with other drivers albeit not always caused by him. Maldonado's breakthrough came in Canada, finishing seventh. He matched this result at the next race in Austria.

But after the summer break, the Belgian Grand Prix in August proved to be the highlight of the season for Lotus and their best result of the year. Romain Grosjean scored the team's first podium since the 2013 United States Grand Prix, finishing third behind Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg at a time when they need a boost most after rumours about their finances and their future were at their peak.

Meanwhile, Maldonado did put together three consecutive points finishes in Japan, Russia and Mexico to consolidate sixth in the constructors' championship; ahead of nearest rivals Toro Rosso.

Overall, Lotus ended the season in sixth, nine points ahead of Toro Rosso but a substantial 58 points behind Force India, whose mid-season upgrade propelled them up the field. With Renault returning as full works team for the 2016 season, with their driver line up of 2014 GP2 Champion Jolyon Palmer and Pastor Maldonado looking shaky, all at Enstone will be hoping the good times return sooner rather than later.

Romain Grosjean – 51 points (11th in the drivers' championship)

2015 has to be Grosjean's best season in Formula One. He consistently extracted the maximum out of the E23 and annihilated teammate Maldonado in the qualifying head to head, by finishing ahead seventeen times compared to Maldonado outqualifying him two times this season. And he also finished 24 points ahead of Maldonado in the Drivers' Championship; thereby confirming that he is a Grand Prix winner of the future.

Over the first half of the season, Grosjean managed to score three consecutive points finishes with two seventh places in the Chinese and Bahrain Grand Prixs and an eighth place finish in the Spanish Grand Prix showing to all that he can still deliver when everything comes together for him.

Before the summer break, Grosjean managed another points finish in Canada and in Hungary; in a race that was tough for the Frenchman especially after losing his close friend and colleague the week previous to the event. But his finest moment came at the Belgian Grand Prix just after the summer break where Grosjean qualified a surprise fourth on the grid but was hit by a five-place grid penalty due to a gearbox change.

Despite this, Grosjean put in one of the performances of the season to score Lotus' first podium since 2013. Grosjean's third place in Belgium was the best result of Lotus' and his own season; which came in a time where the financial future of the team was under threat and it was this season that Grosjean decided that he had given enough to look at other teams for his future in the sport.

But in the final stages of the season, Grosjean did manage to score points again in Suzuka, Mexico and Brazil and Abu Dhabi, ending his final season with Lotus on a high after announcing before the end of the season that he will be driving for the Haas F1 Team in 2016.

But if this season has proven anything for Grosjean, it is that if the car is competitive then Grosjean will surely deliver consistently like he has this season and show once again that he has the measure over his team mate and confirming once again his future potential as a Grand Prix winner in the sport sooner rather than later.

Pastor Maldonado – 27 points (14th in the drivers' championship)

The spotlight in my opinion was on Maldonado this season to beat his more talented team mate this season and justify that he was in the sport for the right reasons rather than financial reasons. But once again Maldonado disappointed.

In yet another season with the Lotus team, Maldonado has been outperformed in the Drivers' Championship by his team mate by twenty seven points and being out qualified seventeen times compared to him out qualifying Grosjean twice throughout the whole season.

Maldonado's season consisted of six retirements but for once, the majority of which were not his fault in his defence. Jenson Button hit him in China while Daniel Ricciardo caused the lap one carnage in Britain. Marcus Ericsson was at fault for their collision in Monza while Fernando Alonso took him out in Abu Dhabi.

When everything did go right for him, Maldonado scored two consecutive points finishes in the first half of the season with two seventh place finishes in Canada and Austria. But in the second half of the season, he did manage to find consistency and scored points finishes in Japan, Sochi, Austin and Brazil.

But Grosjean did achieve the team's best finish of a podium in Belgium compared to Maldonado's best finish of three seventh places in Canada, Austria and Sochi. At the moment, both Renault and Maldonado have a long road ahead of them before they can return to the top step of the podium and for me personally, I just don't see this happening unless 'Lady Luck' hits Maldonado during the 2016 season.

If Maldonado cannot demonstrate why he has been signed for the Renault team based on his 'talent' rather than the money he brings next season, then he should be shown the door and replaced by a driver who can deliver the results that Renault need on the track.

In conclusion, 2015 has not been the year that Lotus, Grosjean or Maldonado needed; but it was better than their previous season. It is clear that the departure of Romain Grosjean to Haas will be deeply affected next season and shows that even with the best of intentions; their position in the sport this season clearly reflected his decision to leave the team that gave him his first break in the sport.

With the financial status of Lotus (now Renault) now fully confirmed, they have a lot of work ahead of them during the winter break if they are to come back fighting during the 2016 season like they would want to.

If Renault can bring everything together and give both of their drivers a competitive and consistently reliable car, I get the feeling that they could be back next year in the top 6 teams. The future can only be bright for Renault, but sadly, it looks as though they've got a lot of hard work ahead of them before they can be fighting for victories once more. And I do truly believe that the driver line up of 2014 GP2 Champion Jolyon Palmer and Pastor Maldonado will highlight once again that Maldonado does not deserve to be in F1 and Palmer will show the promise he did when he won GP2 a year ago and is the best bet for points finishes next season without a shadow of a doubt.

Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa