Pastor Maldonado admits the progress Lotus has made in recent weeks has him dreaming of a podium in the Monaco Grand Prix.

Romain Grosjean scored the team's first points of the season at the Spanish Grand Prix, while both Charles Pic and Maldonado were quick during the in-season test following the race. With Maldonado fastest on day two and having completed over 100 laps, when asked by Crash.net how strong he felt he could be in Monaco the Lotus driver said the improvement in form means he has high hopes.

"It's going to be a tough race, Mercedes are very quick as you know but I will do my best and I think it will be possible to be competitive," Maldonado said. "Hopefully a bit more competitive than here in Barcelona because we have more mileage, we are more confident with the car - the team as well - so hopefully it can be much better."

And asked if a podium in Monte Carlo was an unrealistic target or if he could challenge Red Bull, Maldonado said luck would play a part.

"You never know, Monaco you need to be very lucky. Especially because of the traffic in qualifying, especially in qualy two, but if you put everything together then why not? Why not? We will see."