With a strong driver line-up already, Lotus have expanded their roster to include three reserve drivers: Davide Valsecchi, Luiz Razia and Ricardo Teixeira. They may appear during Friday practice sessions during the season, although nothing has been confirmed yet.

Lotus have had a strong pre-season programme, and Jarno Trulli - usually the most honest of anyone on the grid - is happy with how the team is progressing, saying: "Looking at the lap times it's difficult to get a clear idea, but we can probably chase Force India and maybe Sauber. Obviously we are ahead of Virgin and HRT. This at the moment is the picture that we have."

However, the previous day he had highlighted concerns about the reliability of the car, with so many new pieces on the car. "This year we have a lot of new stuff, and when you have a lot of new stuff you are going to have some reliability problems, but you can also solve them during the season. "