LOTUS F1 bosses praised the hard work of all those at their Enstone base after Romain Grosjean's podium in Sunday's Belgian GP.

The Frenchman's third place was the team's first rostrum since the US Grand Prix in 2013.

Despite a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change, Grosjean delivered a measured performance to finish behind Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

It means Lotus are back in fifth position in the constructors’ championship.

Federico Gastaldi, deputy team principal at Lotus, said: “What an amazing job from Romain and we all thank all the hard work of everyone at Enstone and at the circuit in Belgium.

“It’s no secret it’s been a tough season for us, but we know how to pick our moments to bounce back.”

Grosjean said: “I drove with my heart and did some great overtaking manoeuvres.”

His joy was tempered by a second-lap retirement for Pastor Maldonado after his car lost drive.

After the race Lotus had their equipment impounded at Spa because of a legal dispute with former reserve driver Charles Pic.

Grove-based Williams have apologised to Valtteri Bottas after a pitstop blunder potentially cost the Finn a top-four finish at Spa.

Bottas had to serve a drive-through penalty as his team incorrectly fitted a medium tyre to the right-rear wheel among a set of softs, leaving him ninth.

Williams’s head of vehicle performance Rob Smedley said: “We should apologise to Valtteri because we absolutely ruined his race.

“But we shouldn’t blame individuals. We need to go away as a group and look at what happened.”