Saunt previously worked for Red Bull and Renault

Lotus chief operations officer Keith Saunt has played down his team's chances of making notable progress in the back end of the season.

Saunt has signalled plans for the next campaign are taking precedence over this weekend's Belgium Grand Prix.

He told BBC Radio Norfolk: "We've put all of our efforts into next year now, all of our team are focusing on 2011.

"But with Spa we do have a number of new components going on the car, whether they be aero or mechanical."

While the Lotus car will display minor improvements after its return from the two week enforced break, Saunt is cautious about the impact they might have.

"We will take a very small step forward in relation to where we were last race," he said.

"But you never know what everyone else is doing. Others might have taken a big step or might have gone backwards.

When you know the potential is in the car, and you're always trying to find that maximum potential, there are always things that can go wrong Keith Saunt

"So the proof in the pudding will be over the Spa weekend."

The Norfolk-based team are sitting tenth in the constructors' championship, above fellow season debutants Hispania and Virgin.

And while the 2011 campaign is high on the agenda, Saunt's technical staff will be pushing the car as far as they can to maintain that position.

"We have had a few problems over reliability over a number of races," he said.

"But when you know the potential is in the car, and you're always trying to find that maximum potential, there are always things that can go wrong."

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