Hahaha give up man. Does this mean we could be seeing Grosjean and Maldonado battle for the world title?
I doubt the shape of the nose will have that much of an impact on the overall aerodynamics of the car, although as it's a crash structure it'll be slightly harder for teams to copy. Even if it's a slightly faster car, I don't think their drivers would allow them a proper title challenge.
I wonder if they have released this image to force the other teams to waste resources on simulating a 'twin' nose? By the sound of it Lotus are very much on the back foot so the more subterfuge they can create the more time the opposition waste.
I cant help feeling bullshitted by Boullier. First he decides to not take Lotus to the test then he weasels off to the enemy... I hope the team can recover from this, they have lost a lot of key staff... I cant name one key member of the team right now
It's crucial to the car as it sorts out the airflow to the rest of the car. If there is a fundamential issue with the nose design, the rest of the car suffers badly.
Sorry, I've worded what I've said poorly. Whilst the nose is crucial to the aero of each individual car, I don't think the split nose+dependent aero combination will be dramatically better than a penis nose+correct aero. Even if it gets them a tenth or two in outright pace, their drivers would be giving that away compared to the likes of Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso and Kimi anyway.
Bad noises from Enstone Multiple sources are reporting that there are redundancies at Lotus F1 Team in Enstone, with around 30 staff being laid off as the team tightens its belt. Lotus did remarkably well on the race track last year, finishing fourth in the Constructors’ Championship, thanks to the efforts of Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean. The team started the 2013 season with a staff of around 500, but there was disenchantment early on with the departure of James Allison, who was unhappy when a number of senior management figures were laid off by the owners, Genii Capital, which was trying to cut back on costs. Although the team did pick up some sponsorship last year, the owners took on more loans in order to pay for the season, and in the summer the team missed the pay-roll. This is a disastrous thing for any racing team as it undermines the confidence of the staff, many of whom need their salaries to be paid on time and do not have financial reserves available if this does not happen. The result of that was that more staff began to look for jobs elsewhere. It seems that the team has lost around 70 people in the last six months and this means that plans to take the payroll down to 400 people requires only 30 lay-offs. Having said that a 20 percent reduction in highly-skilled staff is a major hit for any competitive organisation and it will be interesting to see where Lotus is in the F1 pecking order when the new car finally appears. ......
TJ13 has learned that Lotus have packed their trucks and set off for Spain. Although a bit late for the first test, which wound up last Friday, Lotus has decided to use their 100km âfilmingâ day for some unofficial testing this coming Friday, 7[SUP]th[/SUP] February
Renault has invited all its customer teams to Jerez on Friday to 'spectate' whilst the Lotus E22 completes a shakedown, or what's officially known as a filming day. Whilst a rival would rather not have three other outfits in attendance, it's believed Renault is footing the bill for the private test as an incentive. The idea is that Renault are given a chance to gather more information after their disastrous pre-season test last week in Jerez in which they completed far less running than rivals Mercedes and Ferrari. Their customers, Red Bull, Toro Rosso and Caterham, may send a representative to witness the new power unit running with the recent changes made after the initial test whilst collaborating on ideas and in an effort to solve the problems they're facing. Lotus are permitted to complete up to 100km of running, however it must be done on a non-race tyre supplied by Pirelli and conducted at a relatively low speed. Lotus are also expected to unveil their car to the public at 16:00 GMT on Friday 7th, shortly after the test. - See more at: http://www.f1times.co.uk/news/display/08485#sthash.HGLKaSXw.dpuf
100km? That's more than Red Bull did over the entire Jerez test!? What's the point in making them jealous if Lotus go out and go 100km at the first attempt Do they want to rub their noses in it more?
Lotus are running their new E22 car on track for the first time on Friday in a promotional filming day at Jerez. Although the team have already revealed rendered images of their 2014 challenger, they opted to sit out last week's start to official group testing at the same circuit in southern Spain and delay the full debut of the E22 until the first of the Bahrain tests later this month. However, Lotus have now travelled to Jerez to shake down the Renault-powered E22 in one of their permitted two 100km promotional days that teams can complete during the year. New Lotus signing Pastor Maldonado revealed on Twitter on Friday morning that he would be behind the wheel of the E22, which is allowed to run on demonstration tyres only during its time on track. "Finally back to the track work, planning a filming day in Jerez today," Maldonado wrote. "Looking forward to drive the new E22." Lotus themselves tweeted pictures of the car from the garage at Jerez, including the E22's eye-catching twin-tusk nose arrangement. The Enstone outfit become the fourth and final Renault customer team to try the manufacturer's troubled new V6 power unit, the French marque significantly trailing Mercedes and Ferrari in mileage after last week's Jerez action. Renault Sport's Deputy Managing Director Rob White said at the end of the Jerez test that "at this stage every kilometre is hugely valuable".
Wow, the sidepods looks more tightly packed than the Red Bull Cool looking car. So looking forward to all these different designs lining up on the grid.
