As anticipated, there will be updates to the car. Hope they bring positive results.

From MG blog; [twitter.com]

¨Here in the Lotus Racing Engineers office in Bahrain. All freight has arrived apart from some last minute updates¨

So... what do you guys and girls think our team will do in their first ever Grand Prix weekend?

Jarno and Heikki will end up 16th and 17th (don´t know which one where though)... but will kick the other newbies´ behind...

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F1? F1?
IT´S THE 2010 WORLD CUP IN SOUTH AFRICA!!!
Way to go Ghana!!! Keep it up...

Quote:

Naomi*
So... what do you guys and girls think our team will do in their first ever Grand Prix weekend?

Not quite correct. It's their 492nd Grand Prix start. But you are correct, it's Lotus' first since 1994.

I hope you're right... it would be very good if they're can beat the other debutant teams. Can't wait to find out how Lotus will do in practice.. although it doesn't mean too much.

@FormulaFan - ok, Lotus in their new form then, anyway, you know what I mean



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/03/2010 20:32 by Naomi*.

From Joe´s blog
[joesaward.wordpress.com]

Down at Lotus they seem pretty happy and Mike Gascoyne says that he expects the team to make some pretty rapid progress as the first developments come through the system.

The car was rather thrown together and this meant that some decisions had to be made that meant that the car was not as quick as it could be. The team hopes to shave a second and a half off the lap times in the first few races.


A big WOW, if this can become a reality.

Not bad qualifying the Lotus duo. To be honest, I am pretty happy. To be just about 3-3.5s off Sauber, Williams, Toro Rosso, considering a near 2min long lap, and whom had much more time and resources (at this time) is impressive.

I was in fact disappointed with the pace of some of the hot teams like Mercedes, McLaren, Sauber ( especially). They are not even close.


On another topic;

"Racing has always defined Lotus and on many occasions in motorsports history Lotus' numerous innovations have re-defined racing," said Group Lotus CEO Dany Bahar.

"It's only fitting that as the Lotus Racing name re-enters Formula 1, we will also race and innovate again in IndyCar. The Lotus name will, once again compete in the top two open-wheel racing series for the passion and enthusiasm of car fans around the globe."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 13/03/2010 17:18 by German Rocket.

IndyCar? Has Lotus a team in that championship?

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F1? F1?
IT´S THE 2010 WORLD CUP IN SOUTH AFRICA!!!
Way to go Ghana!!! Keep it up...

Apparently, yes. Head over here, BeeGeeOne.

[britishspeed.com]

It was a great session! 19-20 is good in the very first race. If we see to the new teams, only Virgin have a faster car in the first race and if we are lucky Jarno and/or Heikki can beat Timo Glock in the race. There is a lot of things to put together, so we don't know how is the best new team before the race is ower. Lotus is my number one favorite team this season and McLaren number two. I hope on a good race for both of them and all four drivers. Button or Hamilton is for sure WDC in October!

Johan

EXCELLENT race guys! VERY well done. First race, brand new car, they both came home.

You couldn't ask for anything more than that.

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If he were to hit you in the face, you'd feel a strong urge to thank him. He once taught a German Shephard to bark...in Spanish. Sharks have a week dedicated to him. He's the life of the party he doesn't even attend. He once had an akward moment...just to see what it felt like. He is the most interesting man on earth.

Fantastic effort from the entire team. Both cars got full race distance so a lot of new data.
They've done very well in their first one. Kudos to Lotus F1.

Excellent race result - Ferrari 1st and 2nd and Lotus to finish the race at all.
Cheering for the cars in the front (Ferrari over McLaren) and in the back (Lotus over the other new-comers) makes it more interesting.

Quote:

Parminio_USA
EXCELLENT race guys! VERY well done. First race, brand new car, they both came home.
You couldn't ask for anything more than that.

Whole-heartedly seconded. Kudos to the team.

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Incredible feeling I have now. So happy. To top it all off, having a car just 3s (on a 2min lap) off the race pace of the best teams just great.

I cannot imagine feeling so elated to see both cars finishing 15th and 17th.

What happened to Buemi? Did he had some kind of a problem ? Or Lotus did really beat the Toro Rosso.

No Buemi had a problem... anyway still great day for us Lotus fans, I mean 3s off the pace is not bad at all. I'm really happy.

Great job by the Lotus crew. Let's put this in perspective, not only did both cars complete a full race distance on a very hot and bumpy circuit, they did it while maintaining a fairly respectable gap. Just think about it this way, the gap between Lotus and the leaders is really no greater than the gap between Jordan/Midland and the leaders back 4 or 5 years ago. We've seen the improvement that Force India has made, and I see no reason why we can't see the same at Lotus, provided people remain patient and keep the funds coming.

Well said.

Here´s a quote from JA

Lotus Show That New Teams Can Mean Business

[www.jamesallenonf1.com]

But Lotus had a great day, with perfect reliability and once they switched onto the soft tyre on lap 30, their pace was pretty good too. For most of that final phase of the race, Kovalainen was lapping in the 2m 02s, at the same time as the bulk of the established midfield teams were doing 2m 00s. At one stage Kovalainen even had a battle with the Williams of Nico Hulkenberg.

It was a fantastic day for Lotus.
Many kudos to all in the team !!

Quote:

BeeGeeOne
Jarno and Heikki will end up 16th and 17th (don´t know which one where though)... but will kick the other newbies´ behind...

Almost had it...
I knew they would do great! The experience of both Jarno and Heikki beat the hell out of Glock (fairly experienced) and Di Grassi. HRT practically didn´t race.

So Lotus is on their way!!! Go Lotus!

---

F1? F1?
IT´S THE 2010 WORLD CUP IN SOUTH AFRICA!!!
Way to go Ghana!!! Keep it up...

I wonder, when will Lotus catch weaker established teams in terms of pace, like STR and Sauber. STR has to build the cars on their own now and Sauber seriously lacks money, so I'm looking forward to see Lotus getting closer to them with each race weekend. What exactly happened to Trulli and why was he driving behind Kovalainen?

Jarno had a problem with the hydraulics, his pace dropped a few seconds, which caused him to fall back.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 15/03/2010 14:22 by Naomi*.

Yes, Trulli had a hydraulic problem. They lost telemetry as well during the race according to Mike. Wonder which car though. They purposely chose to stop the car on the track so that they can change the gearbox without penalty for the next race.

As a result of that, Heikki who was actually 1 lap behind the leader was then classified as 2 laps behind.

They will have to consolidate their reliability because the niggling issue still exists.

Tony Fernandes
"From here we keep going. Before the race, Clive Chapman gave me Colin Chapman (original Lotus Racing founder)'s old Lotus cap and said, 'When you win the first race you'll be the man to throw this up in the air like my Dad used to.' That meant a lot to me, it was a wonderful gesture and it's like handing over the mantle of one of motor racing's great dynasties."

Very nice gesture. And congrats to Lotus for a brilliant result in the first race. Lotus means business!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 15/03/2010 19:20 by FormulaFan.

Quote:

German Rocket
Yes, Trulli had a hydraulic problem. They lost telemetry as well during the race according to Mike. Wonder which car though. They purposely chose to stop the car on the track so that they can change the gearbox without penalty for the next race.
As a result of that, Heikki who was actually 1 lap behind the leader was then classified as 2 laps behind.

Very interesting. Where did you read it? Any link?

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F1? F1?
IT´S THE 2010 WORLD CUP IN SOUTH AFRICA!!!
Way to go Ghana!!! Keep it up...

It's great to see Clive and Mario giving the new Lotus a sense of legitimacy. I have to confess, I was of mixed emotions when I heard that the name was being revived without a direct connection between the new team and the old, but I think I can look past that now.

You can follow Mike here

[twitter.com]

Quote:

FormulaFan
Tony Fernandes
"From here we keep going. Before the race, Clive Chapman gave me Colin Chapman (original Lotus Racing founder)'s old Lotus cap and said, 'When you win the first race you'll be the man to throw this up in the air like my Dad used to.' That meant a lot to me, it was a wonderful gesture and it's like handing over the mantle of one of motor racing's great dynasties."

Very nice gesture. And congrats to Lotus for a brilliant result in the first race. Lotus means business!