PASTOR Maldonado claimed a second successive seventh-placed finish for Lotus with an impressive drive at the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix.

The Venezuelan, who scored his first points of the season for the Enstone-based team at the previous race in Canada, came out on top in an exciting battle late in the race with Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen.

Maldonado was delighted with the result and feels the signs are good ahead of their home race at Silverstone on July 5.

The 30-year-old said: “It’s great to get another seventh position and the points that come with it.

“It was a big moment fighting with Max.

“The super soft tyres were very hot so losing their grip and you lose a lot of downforce close to the car ahead, but everything was under control.

“I wanted to get the position and I think we deserved it.

“It seems like we’re coming into a good time of the season for us so we’ll all keep working hard to continue scoring points.”

But teammate Romain Grosjean endured a frustrating weekend, with a gearbox issue forcing him to retire from a strong position on lap 35 at the Spielberg circuit.

He said: “We had good potential after the pit stop and it was good to be able to pass some cars with some side-byside action.

“We were eighth when we retired and the car was feeling good.

“I just lost my gears and there was nothing we could do other than retire.

“Let’s hope our bad luck is behind us as we head to Silverstone.”

Federico Gastaldi, deputy team principal at Lotus, said: “Once more, with the pace shown this weekend, we have shown our potential to score strong points in the races ahead.”