Second place would be amazing for Lotus

This weekend it is highly likely that Sebastian Vettel will wrap up the 2013 FIA Formula One World Championship.

He and his team Red Bull Racing are odds on favourites to take both the drivers and the F1 constructors crowns for a fourth successive season.

But behind Red Bull there are some battles that are set to hot up over the final four races.

As we’ve covered already over the past week, Sauber are targeting a end of season charge to take sixth place from Force India during the final four rounds of the FIA Formula One World Championship.

Whilst ahead of them the battle for ‘best of the race’ is also looking fascinating.

Just ten points separate Ferrari and Mercedes for second place in the FIA Formula One Constructors Championship, while Lotus also feel they can join that battle being only 23 points further adrift.

‘If we continue as we have done for the last few races, then mathematically second in the standings becomes a very attainable target, Of course, we all know that anything can happen in this sport, but second place would be an amazing result so we’ll push as hard as we can and you never know what might happen.’ Lotus team boss Eric Boullier told Sky Sports.

With 33 points to claw back from Ferrari, Lotus have an outside chance of clinching an unlikely runners-up spot. So how can they do it?

‘Podiums, podiums and podiums, We need points to help us with our Championship fight and you score the most points when you’re spraying the champagne! Of course, we want to be winning races and we’ll give our all whenever there is a sniff of victory, just like in Japan.

‘There’s one fundamental problem with trying to win at the moment, and that’s the pace of the Red Bulls. We’ll keep pushing and if we can beat them again this year it would be a tremendous performance.’

Lotus have a big incentive to perform well towards the end of the season and like most things in Formula One and indeed life, that incentive is money.

While the majority of Formula One fans concentrate solely on the drivers title, it’s the constructors championship which is where the money is.

The higher the place the higher the prize fund and all the knock on effect that brings in regards to sponsors, something that is crucial for Lotus to continue to develop into a race winning team.