Federico Gastaldi is feeling positive and optimistic ahead of the team's first visit of the season to North America.

Monaco did not go according to the script; will Lotus F1 Team bounce back in Canada?
Federico Gastaldi: In Monaco we were heading in the right direction with practice and qualifying, it was just the race itself where we didn't get the results we wanted. With Pastor there was a technical issue and with Romain there was an issue with another driver. That is racing. In Montreal the team has a good history and Romain has gone very well there in the past. We know that this year's car, the E23, is good so we're aiming - and ready - for a strong result.

The Canadian public is always super enthusiastic, how much does the team like to visit Montreal each year?
FG: There are a few races which are classics on the calendar, and Montreal is certainly on that list. The Canadian Grand Prix is a part of Formula One's DNA. Canadians and Montreal have been a real part of the history of Formula One. The city really comes alive for the race weekend, it is a fantastic place to go.

Is Montreal special for you personally?
FG: I named my first house Gilles' Blue Ranch which should give you an idea of my enthusiasm for Gilles Villeneuve, who the circuit is named after. He was such a passionate, talented driver, racing in an era very different from today. The whole city has a very special place in my heart, from the architecture, the people, the bars, restaurants and cafes. It's certainly one place where I wish the race weekend was a lot longer.

What are your thoughts on the various potential future regulation changes being discussed?
FG: For me, it's always great to hear the feedback from the fans and the great amount of interest there is in our sport. There are a number of different ideas being discussed and a number of different opinions, with some quite strongly opposed viewpoints.

In Monaco the team announced an exciting new partnership with Pharrell Williams; can we expect more partner or sponsor announcements in Canada?
FG: For sure we are working on some exciting deals with Pharrell and with other partners too. Montreal, like Monaco, is one of the most popular races of the year, it's a good place to make any announcements so watch this space.

Pharrell visited the team at the end of the race; how did that go down?
FG: Pharrell gave a lot of time to see the team and even sat in Pastor's car to see what an F1 car feels like. He's a tremendously talented individual and having seen how he can turn himself to so many different fields of endeavour, I'm sure he would be a very handy racing driver too! He is a huge enthusiast of Formula One and came to us straight from Cannes by speedboat. He was very nice and very friendly with all of us and we're looking forward to working with him on a number of exciting initiatives and seeing him at some other races this season.

When does the team start looking to 2016?
FG: It's amazing, but already almost a third of the way through the season and we'll be at the half-way mark in two months' time. Naturally, we're already looking at next season, whether it be technically, commercially or in other ways too. We've made a huge step back towards the front of the grid this season after our troubles in 2014, and we hope to make a further step forward in 2016 too.

Technical Director Nick Chester dissects the team's Monaco race weekend and looks ahead to the Canadian Grand Prix.

We are heading to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix. What are the challenges presented by the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve?
Nick Chester: It isn't a track that is much run on through the year so it can be quite dirty and low on grip at the start of the weekend. The weather can be variable and generating tyre temperatures can be a challenge in Montreal. We will have the Pirelli soft and super soft tyres available and they should help with the low grip of the track. It's a circuit that has a lot of long straights making it a power and low drag track. It's a medium to low downforce circuit meaning that we would take quite a bit of downforce off for Montreal. The E23 performed well in the slow speed corners around Monaco, so this combined with the long straights should suit us quite well.

How would you sum up Monaco?
NC: We were relatively pleased with how the car performed in practice and qualifying and it was all the more disappointing not to score any points given our pace throughout the weekend. Had Pastor performed his Q2 lap again in Q3 he would have been seventh on the grid which would have been pretty good. It was a big shame to be let down by a hydraulic problem in the race otherwise he would have been fighting Sergio Perez for P7. Pastor drove well all through the weekend, he really deserved a good haul of points. Romain had done well to go from fifteenth up to tenth place in the race. All we were hoping for was to get him back in to the points following his 5 place gearbox penalty so up to then we were optimistic, however there wasn't much that we could have done after he got clipped by Max Verstappen. Overall the car went reasonably well in Monte Carlo in the low speed corners which should be good for other tracks coming up.

Could you tell us more about what the issue was on Pastor's car?
NC: We know that it was a leak from the hydraulic pump and we know which area was leaking. This is one of the parts of the car that is not made at Enstone, so it has now gone to the manufacturer who we are working with for a full analysis. It was quite an unusual issue but we will get to the root of the problem.

How much damage did Romain's car sustain in the Verstappen assault?
NC: Fortunately Romain's car didn't suffer any major damage given the size of the incident. The floor suffered a bit in the impact but the rear suspension resisted well and Romain was able to finish the race, albeit his chances of scoring had evaporated.

Is Montreal a favourite destination for the team?
NC: Absolutely. We always very much look forward to going to Canada. Montreal is a nice city appreciated by all team members. The circuit itself has a lot of history and we've seen some amazing racing over the years. We also have done reasonably well at this circuit in recent history so we are eager to get there and score points with both cars.

What impact could refuelling have for the future of F1?
NC: There has been a lot of talk to bring lap times down in 2017 and refuelling will do so by running less fuel in the first couple of stints during the race. It may not change the strategies that much as everyone will re-optimise for it. It may mean though that drivers can push a little bit harder on their tyres as they'd not carry as much fuel. The challenge would be to bring refuelling times down to the times we can do a tyre pit stop nowadays and that would prove quite difficult.