Romain Grosjean has set his sights on the third row of the grid after Lotus exceeded his own expectations during Friday practice in Canada.
Grosejan was best of the rest in FP1 behind the Mercedes pair and Lotus showed it was no flash in the pan in the afternoon as Pastor Maldonado finished two places ahead of his team-mate in fifth. As Canada is a power circuit Lotus stands to benefit from its Mercedes engine and Grosjean is excited about the weekend's potential.
"It was a good day," Grosjean said. "It was quite surprising to be P3 this morning but the afternoon confirmed we are looking in good shape with P7, the car feels great. Monaco was already a step forward because it was not a track where we were expecting to be as good as we were, but here is more in our direction. There has been a lot of positivity today between the two cars that we can try to get a good result tomorrow."
Fifth to eighth position alternated between Lotus and fellow Mercedes customer Williams in FP2, something Grosjean believes is a good indicator for where the team's attention should lie.
"I think realistically we can try to give some hard time to the Williams, if not beat them. I'm sure there will be four cars quicker than us, but if we do manage to be close to the Williams or fight them, then it will be very good. We are fighting the Williams for P5 so if we can achieve something likeP5 then it would be really good."
After enduring a frustrating year with Renault power in 2014, Grosjean says Friday in Canada showed just how far the team has come with its new engine partner.
When asked the difference, he replied: "Huge! Last year I think this was one of the worst places for us. The car was really inconsistent and here it is much better, so it is nice to enjoy the track that I love so much!
"When you are in a straight line and you are flat out it is fairly easy! We know Mercedes is doing very good work and the engineers are working, but the biggest difference from last year is when you turn right, it actually goes right!"