Lotus team principle Eric Boullier revealed that his ambitions for the remainder of season have changed because he feels that second spot is up for grabs.
Boullier started the season with the mind-set that third place would be a good finish and a competitive target to aim for.
After half of the campaign Lotus find themselves fourth in the standings with an opportunity of catching Ferrari and Mercedes who sit third and second respectively.
The Italian-based outfit hold an 11-point advantage with Mercedes just 14 points further ahead and nine races still remaining.
The Enstone-based team have only collected one victory so far this term and that was courtesy of Kimi Raikkonen in the opening race in Australia.
However, the Frenchman believes that if Raikkonen and team-mate Romain Grosjean can challenge at the top of the field and pick up two or three finishes they will be able to claw back some points on their rivals.
Boullier said: “The championship is so close between ourselves, Ferrari and Mercedes at the moment that we really need to be aiming a little higher to make sure our goals are reached.
“I think therefore that to target P2 is a better ambition, and we will be pushing harder than ever to sustain that challenge.”
He added: “We have an ambitious group of people at Enstone and a top three placing at the end of the year is very much possible, which would be a fantastic achievement for everybody involved. We head into the next nine races on a real high.”
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