Hethel-backed Lotus picked up a double podium finish in Barhain for the second time in two seasons to continue their good start to the season

Eastern Daily Press: Romain Grosjean's Lotus E21 leads Jenson Button's McLaren around Bahrain's Sakhir circuit. Photo: Steven TeeRomain Grosjean's Lotus E21 leads Jenson Button's McLaren around Bahrain's Sakhir circuit. Photo: Steven Tee (Image: LAT Photographic)

It was qualifying effectively killed off the hopes of anything better than the second and third-placed finishes brought hom by Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean respectively, as Sebastian Vettel sauntered to another grand prix win.

However, Lotus team principal believes there is plenty to work on.

'I have to be happy obviously,' he told Autosport. 'It is a great result for the team. We worked very hard and everybody back in Enstone built up very well, so we had a nice weekend.

'We had a little bit of a blow in qualifying, but it was a good recovery from the positions on the grid. It is clearly good, and an even better point as well is that Romain is clearly now back on track.'

Boullier added: 'Here we are again, just like in 2012. This time around though it was much more difficult – especially after a qualifying performance that fell below our expectations.

'But we've shown flashes of pace throughout the weekend and confirmed that speed when it mattered.

'The win was not quite within our reach after the start we made, but to come away with a double podium when the top six would maybe have been a more realistic pre-race target was a great performance from everybody involved.'