Pastor Maldonado has admitted that his first lap retirement at the Australian Grand Prix was "really frustrating" after performing well for much of the weekend.

Lotus, who switched from Renault engines to Mercedes over the winter, showed promise in practice and qualifying in Melbourne, but both Maldonado and teammate Romain Grosjean were forced out of the race in the early stages at Albert Park.

However, the Venezuelan has suggested that Lotus may be better equipped to deal with the heat of next weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix.

He told reporters: "It was really frustrating as the car looked good all weekend. Better even than it had looked in testing, and we had good potential with our race pace and durability. Then my race was undone in the first corners.

"There was nothing I could do as there was contact occurring behind me which then collected my car. It was difficult to look at the damage done to the car as I knew how hard all the crew in the pits and the rest of the team at Enstone had been working.

"Certainly, everything we've seen so far with the E23 suggests that it should be a good all-rounder. Sepang can get very hot, and our car seems to like hot conditions so that could be a point in our favour."

Lotus finished with only 10 points in the 2014 season.