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No DDRS until Suzuka - Lotus

Lotus's DDRS is designed to further reduce drag when the car is on the straights © Sutton Images

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• Drivers:
• Eric Boullier
• |
• Kimi Räikkönen

• Teams:
• Lotus F1

Lotus will not use its double DRS device again until the Japanese Grand Prix, when it might make a reappearance on the car.

Lotus had hoped to test the device last Friday at Spa-Francorchamps with a view to running it in Sunday's race, but the wet weather prevented the team from collecting the necessary data to calibrate it. Technical director James Allison has now revealed that the nature of the next two circuits in Italy and Singapore means the next possible opportunity to run the device is at the Japanese Grand Prix.

"Although we would like to have it at Monza - because it is the type of circuit that rewards such a thing - we don't have the DRS device configured to cope with the Monza level of downforce," Allison explained. "So it is not even on the table. In Singapore you won't see it either, because it's too high a downforce circuit with insufficient straights for it to be worthwhile. The earliest you might see it now is Suzuka."

Compared to previous rounds, Lotus appeared to struggle for performance at last weekend's Belgian Grand Prix, but team principal Eric Boullier said the team would continue to push development until the end of the season.

"First of all, Spa is a very specific track and none of the remaining circuits have the same characteristics," he said. "Also, we only had one hour to set-up our cars and, although the situation was the same for everybody, we could have been quicker with more track time. Finally, quite a few interesting developments are still in the pipeline and they'll be implemented later in the year. At this time of the year, the team usually starts focusing almost only on its next car. This is not the case this year, as we'll develop the E20 until the very last race. And that won't compromise the design of the E21."

He added that Raikkonen is still a contender for the title.

"We know that we don't have the quickest car, but probably the most consistent one. We've clinched nine podiums already. Kimi is 33 points away from the current leader and we know that the season is still wide open. With eight races to go, we'll keep pushing as long as we have a chance. Kimi has been under that kind of situation before and we all know he can do the job if we give him the right car. The pressure is on us, then."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.