Lotus technical director Nick Chester has bullishly suggested that his team could beat Red Bull this season to finish as the highest-placed Renault-powered constructor.

Both teams, along with Caterham and Toro Rosso have suffered in pre-season testing due to issues with French manufacturers V6 power unit, but Chester is optimistic that the Enstone-based outfit can topple Red Bull.

He told Autosport: "We certainly haven't gone badly this week in comparison to the other Renault teams and I know they are having a few problems.

"All we can do already at the moment is just focus on ourselves and do the best job that we can do.

"Even if we are the best Renault-engined team, we have still got to push on and catch the other guys so we have just got to think about ourselves and move forward."

Lotus lost driver Kimi Raikkonen and technical guru James Allison to Ferrari, while Eric Boullier was recently announced as McLaren's new team boss.