Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli were both encouraged that the new rear wing was a step forward for Lotus at Interlagos.

12887 - Lotus pair encouraged by upgrade

Lotus brought a new rear wing designed to facilitate a more effective DRS - an area which the team feels has been costing it time in qualifying especially. Both drivers tested the upgrade during Friday practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix and felt that it is an improvement, and should see the team close the gap to the midfield.

"The new rear wing is another step forward and it's encouraging to see that sort of update coming right at the end of the season," Kovalainen said. "I got through a very good number of laps today and every change we made helped us find a bit more time on both tyre compounds, so with a bit more hard work tonight I think tomorrow and Sunday could be pretty good for us."

After being the quicker of the two drivers in FP2, Trulli said Lotus still hadn't maximised the full potential of the upgrade.

"We need to do a bit of work on fine tuning the balance, and I think there's more to come from the new rear wing, but the update is working and hopefully we can show in qualifying the sort of pace we've had recently in the races - that's the aim for tomorrow, and then to carry that over to Sunday."