LOTUS F1 bosses praised the hard work of all those at their Enstone base after Romain Grosjean’s podium in Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix.

The Frenchman’s third place was the team’s first rostrum since the US Grand Prix in 2013.

Despite a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change, Grosjean delivered a measured performance to finish behind Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

It means Lotus are back in fifth position in the constructors’ championship.

Federico Gastaldi, deputy team principal at Lotus, said: “What an amazing job from Romain and we all thank all the hard work of everyone at Enstone and at the circuit in Belgium.

“It’s no secret it’s been a tough season for us, but we know how to pick our moments to bounce back.”

It was also Grosjean’s first podium since the race at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas two years ago.

The 29-year-old said: “I drove with my heart and did some great overtaking manoeuvres.

“We were really trying to go for the podium and I felt very emotional during the last lap of the race.”

His joy was tempered by a secondlap retirement for Pastor Maldonado after his car lost drive.

The Venezuelan said: “The car was feeling very good, very competitive and I had a good race start.

“We had an issue with the drive of the car which the team are investigating.

“I’m disappointed about the issue we had but that’s racing.”

After the race Lotus had their equipment impounded at Spa because of a legal dispute with former reserve driver Charles Pic.

JORDAN Albert endured a frustrating weekend at Snetterton in the Duo BRDC Formula 4 Championship.

The SWR driver was in the top five in practice, but crashed on Thursday.

His car could not be repaired at the circuit and a spare chassis had to be collected from the team’s Oxfordshire base overnight.

Albert qualified tenth, before finishing 13th, fifth and sixth in the triple header at the Norfolk circuit.

Teammate Zubair Hoque was 14th, ninth and 15th respectively.

Sean Walkinshaw, owner of the Chipping Norton-based team, was left thinking about what could have been.

He said: “After testing was so strong on Thursday and Friday, it is disappointing to come away from the weekend without any podiums.

“Jordan was in great form on the test days, but qualifying didn’t go to plan and that made all the difference to his weekend.

“Huge kudos to him though for coming back so strongly after Thursday’s crash, plus the team did a great job with the spare car.

“Zubair put together a good, consistent weekend again and is continuing to build his experience and become a more rounded driver.”