Lotus F1 Team Deputy Team Principal Federico Gastaldi looks forward to the team's second Grand Prix in Latin America, hopeful of some further fighting spirit on track.

After the success of the Mexican Grand Prix are you looking forward to further fan fever in Sao Paulo?
Federico Gastaldi: Mexico was a great event and it was really fabulous for a new event to be such a success. But now we head to Interlagos where we have enjoyed so many fabulous and dramatic races over the years and where we always get a warm welcome too. Tamas Rohonyi and his team do a superb job of promoting the Brazilian Grand Prix. There is a real passion for Formula 1 in Brazil and when you consider names like Senna, Piquet and Fittipaldi it's not hard to understand why. Brazilian success in Formula 1 has been a real way for the country to make its mark in the international sphere so the appreciation of it has added magnitude. Like in Mexico, the circuit is located in a very big city so we see many fans at the track as well as on the way to and from the circuit.

What makes Interlagos such a great track for Formula 1?
FG: What makes it rewarding for us is seeing so many excited fans at the circuit. Why they come is to see their heroes race on a rollercoaster circuit which doesn't let drivers rest for a minute. There's a relentless energy in a lap of Interlagos and whether you're in the car or watching from the stands or on television you can feel this. We have seen so many exciting races here over the years, with the passion of so many drivers really coming through. The Latin temperament appreciates emotions being shown and we have seen so many different ones on display here from so many drivers.

Will you be packing a rain coat?
FG: We've seen some pretty extreme weather at and around the last couple of events so I'll definitely be prepared for all eventualities. We've seen extreme conditions at Sao Paulo in years past so we won't be too surprised if it happens again. Certainly, any rain does not seem to dampen the enthusiasm from the fans and the track becomes yet more of a challenge for the drivers. Let's see what happens.

The Mexican Grand Prix saw very close racing from Pastor and Romain; how was that viewed from the pit wall?
FG: We enjoyed watching them race. Of course, we'd have preferred to have seen them racing for more points through virtue of being higher up the order, but the drive and intent of both was clear to see. That they were both so close for the entirety of the race at a brand new venue for both of them shows how well they are extracting the performance from the car. All drivers want to end their seasons with very strong races and we have different motivations from both. Romain is heading to pastures new next year and wants to end his time at Enstone as strongly as possible whereas Pastor is as motivated as ever. It was a great battle.

With two races remaining, what's the plan?
FG: We're putting everything into finishing the season as well as possible. It's been a hard fight for us this year, in some ways even harder than 2014, but we keep pushing looking to maximise every opportunity that comes our way.

When can we expect further announcements about the future from the team?
FG: In due course. There's no point dancing faster than the music!

Fresh from the tough engineering questions asked in Mexico, Lotus F1 Team Technical Director Nick Chester directs his mind to Interlagos and the Brazilian Grand Prix as the penultimate outing for the E23 Hybrid.

Interlagos is quite an old-school track. What are the idiosyncrasies of it from an engineering perspective?
Nick Chester: It is a tricky circuit to find the right set-up. The middle sector is very twisty with a lot of low speed turns and then the final sector which is essentially a long uphill corner on to a very long straight. You rely on strong engine power and delivery for the straight. You need a nice stable car for the twisty mid-section where a driver wants a strong turn-in without much understeer, and you want strong traction on exit after a balanced mid-section. The compromise on how to run on downforce is quite challenging. You want to take downforce off for the last sector but then want it on for the other sectors. We tend to rely on where the simulation suggests will be the best compromise. We normally don't run on full downforce which is probably what we will do again this weekend.

From an engineering perspective, what was learnt in Mexico?
NC: It was quite a big challenge. We knew before we went that the high altitude was going to give us a lot of obstacles to overcome – for instance we'd only have 70% of the downforce that we'd have at sea level, 70% of the drag and 70% of the cooling. Cooling was the biggest issue. We made bodywork changes and adapted the brake ducts. Fortunately everything worked as required so it was a good job done by the team in that regard. Seeing both cars pass the chequered flag was rewarding. It would have been nice to have been further up the order, but it was good to see validation of all the simulation work we'd done in advance of the event.

What lessons in particular were learnt for next time?
NC: We have a lot of data from over the weekend so we'll be better prepared for our return. Having both cars complete race distances is very useful here as we can compare, contrast and analyse performance better. Certainly we saw the track surface evolve a lot over the course of the weekend which allows us to make better calls for the future in terms of tyre usage.

Did you enjoy the race-long dice between Romain and Pastor?
NC: I'm happy as long as they don't touch! They were fair with each other and both cars finished so it was fine.

What are your thoughts on a potential 'client engine' to a different configuration to the existing regulations?
NC: It's quite a can of worms. A two-tier championship would be very difficult to operate. There would be so many different challenges for equalisation and this would be exceedingly difficult with engines of different characteristics.

How's progress with next year's car?
NC: We're well progressed through the design process and most of the layout has been done. We've learnt a lot over the past two seasons and all this knowledge is being put into next year's car. There hasn't been the greatest amount of development through the year on the E23, so we've been able to dedicate quite a bit of additional manpower to our 2016 challenger. Manufacture of some of the parts is already underway and we're looking at a lot of the final detailing currently.