Pastor Maldonado believes that Lotus can fight for a top five result at next weekend's Spanish Grand Prix.

Maldonado, who claimed victory at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in 2012, has yet to score a point so far in 2014 but reckons that he and Lotus can leap up the grid in Spain.

"I’m expecting to be more competitive," he said. "It will be very important to start scoring some points, but if everything goes well and we get some luck too then a top five is possible.

"It is going to be difficult - there are the two Mercedes and two Red Bulls and then others who have shown good pace in recent races like Force India - but if we get 100% from the car we can fight all of the other teams and come away with something good to build on."

The Venezuelan driver believes that it is vital Lotus can score points soon so that the team can catch up with some of their rivals.

"It is vital because this team and the drivers are used to scoring lots of them," he said.

"But more importantly it will act as a trigger for more confidence throughout the team and it will mean we can act on that and feed off it. The races after Barcelona are Monaco and Montreal where many variables usually happen. We have to be in the right place to take advantage of these and to enable a good platform for the summer."