Lotus E20 Renault

[bhall]

I have a problem with it. Lotus screwed up, and now they're asking for a mulligan. (And to be fair, I don't like how the Mercedes scenario played out, either.)

Every other team showed up to Barcelona having done their homework, and their reward was a track full of other cars and prying eyes. Lotus did not do its homework, so why on Earth should they get a private test as a result?

And then what's to stop other teams from coming up with a bullshit excuse to leave a group test early just so they can have a private test later?

[mith]

Well, I am also pretty sure, Ferrari did one of their last year tests on Fiorano instead of testing with other teams. So it looks, teams actually has quite some liberty in that field.

And to be honest, I can't agree with your reasoning. Until few years ago, all teams could have tested as much as they could afford and that was obviously giving a lot of advantage to reach teams. However now, every team has strict limit of how much it can test. So I see no reason for them not to use that limit even when something at times goes wrong, especially given that all those cars are prototypes. Oh, and competing is done in-season. Now every team should take their time to ensure their cars are not going to blow up killing drivers and spectators, and also that their designs are fast - but that is just second priority.

[bosanac1]

I have a problem with it. Lotus screwed up, and now they're asking for a mulligan. (And to be fair, I don't like how the Mercedes scenario played out, either.)

Every other team showed up to Barcelona having done their homework, and their reward was a track full of other cars and prying eyes. Lotus did not do its homework, so why on Earth should they get a private test as a result?

And then what's to stop other teams from coming up with a bullshit excuse to leave a group test early just so they can have a private test later?

pick any of these

1. cost to rent track
2. no comparison to others
3. no rubbering in track and getting track temp up with one car



there was article long time ago talking about catalunya track, rent was 5 figures per day

[bhall]

Even HRT can afford five figures a day; comparisons will only require a look at this week's time sheets; the track is already rubbered-in; and cars have no effect on track temperature.

I'm honestly not trying to start anything, and I don't particularly have any ill will toward Lotus or any of its drivers. I just don't think F1 really wants to open Pandora's box with regard to testing. I'm being harsh, yes, but if you give a team an inch, they're going to take 1,000 miles, because that's precisely what they're supposed to do.

All of that being said, I'm pretty sure the other teams will consent to Lotus' request anyway.

Oh, well.

[Pierce89]

Well, I am also pretty sure, Ferrari did one of their last year tests on Fiorano instead of testing with other teams. So it looks, teams actually has quite some liberty in that field.

And to be honest, I can't agree with your reasoning. Until few years ago, all teams could have tested as much as they could afford and that was obviously giving a lot of advantage to reach teams. However now, every team has strict limit of how much it can test. So I see no reason for them not to use that limit even when something at times goes wrong, especially given that all those cars are prototypes. Oh, and competing is done in-season. Now every team should take their time to ensure their cars are not going to blow up killing drivers and spectators, and also that their designs are fast - but that is just second priority.

Yes, every team is given a testing limit:Public tests+50km shakedown+100km filming. If they want to do a 100 km filming day I;m fine with it, but they had every opportunity to be at this test. HRT or Marussia haven't asked for extra testing because they didn't finish their new cars in time, now it looks as though Lotus didn't "finish" it's car on time why should they have an opportunity other teams don't have.

[Mr Alcatraz]

I have a problem with it. Lotus screwed up, and now they're asking for a mulligan. (And to be fair, I don't like how the Mercedes scenario played out, either.)

Every other team showed up to Barcelona having done their homework, and their reward was a track full of other cars and prying eyes. Lotus did not do its homework, so why on Earth should they get a private test as a result?

And then what's to stop other teams from coming up with a bullshit excuse to leave a group test early just so they can have a private test later?

Lotus left after taking part in the first two days of testing this week…That leaves two days of non-participation. I think it would be benevolent of the rest of the field to give Lotus one extra day, but no more. What is the reasoning behind positively reinforcing negative behavior? Next thing you know they will insist that FOTA picks up Kimi's markers for his gelato habit.

[gerishnikov]

I would really appreciate it if someone would explain the whole process of how the chassis gets built as well as how many and at what stage and how it fits in with the crash tests and just the general timeline of things.
Is it usual for a team to build 3 chassis'?

I can't give you the lead-times... but the basic process would be:

0. Discuss previous year's chassis with all departments to evaluate areas that were weak, what needs improving etc.

1a. Get an outer mould line from the aero-heads.
1b. Get suspension points, target torsional rigidities and wheelbase from the vehicle dynamics guys (who will also talk to aero-heads constantly during this).
1c. Get ancillary interfaces from the other design people (engines/systems etc)

2. Starting from your front suspension and rear-bulkhead, produce initial draft design from fore/aft to centre, using the likes of CATIA, Fibresim and Altair HyperWorks. CATIA and Fibresim will hold your geometric and laminate information (including the real drape angles of the plies), which is then simulated in the FEA using Hyperworks (or another package).

3. Iterate (2) until your reasonably happy you meet the requirements laid down in (1).

4. Report areas of dis-satisfaction to aero-heads/vehicle dynamics/systems etc to see if compromises can be made.

5. Iterate (3) varying the requirements given in (1) until all departments are happy with the tub. With an integrated engine, you can expect the engine pick-up points to move around to aid overall torsional rigidity/kg.

The overall objective is to maximise torsional rigidity while minimising tub weight. I'm not sure if the polar moment of inertia is considered such a sensitive variable anymore.


6. Build initial tub and crash tub.

7. Test initial tub in first track test.

8. Initial tub becomes 7-post rig chassis, 2nd tub becomes reserve race chassis. 3rd tub becomes 1st race chassis. 4th tub becomes 2nd race chassis.


The teams will build many more than just 3 tubs during the year.

I would say between 4 and 6 tubs would be average certainly no more than that most crash tests are done in-house using dummy sections before the real crash tests so they know they will pass, its about 5 weeks to just laminate a chassis let alone all the machining/bonding the two half together and the fitting work.

[kwanchepan]

Lotus set to get extra day of running after pulling out of Barcelona F1 test

Lotus is set to add an extra day of private running to the final pre-season test after abandoning this week's Barcelona test with a chassis problem.

The Enstone team has applied for permission to have an extra day on track, which would require unanimous consent from the other teams.

AUTOSPORT understands that Lotus already has the required agreement from the majority of teams and given that Mercedes was granted an extra day before this week's Barcelona test after only running for three days in Jerez two weeks ago, it is likely to get permission.

It's not yet decided whether Lotus will run before or after the next Barcelona test, which runs from March 1-4, but sources indicate that the team is confident that it will have its chassis ready after making modifications to solve a problem believed to be related to the front suspension.

[Mr.S]

Lotus is grappling with a major problem less than one month before the start of the 2012 season.

The former Renault team has sensationally abandoned this week’s Barcelona test and returned to its Enstone headquarters, after an unspecified chassis fault was detected on the new E20 car on Tuesday.

“We’ll put the right measures in place and we will be able to fix the problem before next week,” said technical director James Allison.

But Gary Anderson, formerly the designer of Jordan and Jaguar cars, believes Lotus is playing down the problem.

“You would have thought they could have fixed it overnight — chassis are made of carbon fibre composite so you’d be looking to bond new strengthening parts on,” he told the BBC.

“In my experience, if you can’t do it in 24 hours, I don’t think you can do it at all. I wouldn’t be surprised if this meant they needed a new chassis, which would make it touch and go for the first race.”

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport thinks Lotus did not experience the fundamental problem at Jerez last week because the Circuit de Catalunya is a much more demanding circuit.

Meanwhile, Red Bull’s world champion Sebastian Vettel was Tuesday’s fastest as the second of three group tests began, but he admitted Lewis Hamilton – in the new McLaren – was also impressive.

“Ferrari is a bit of a secret at this stage and nobody knows whether they are really good or really bad,” admitted the German.

[Blackout]

Old news.
Last rumours say the chassis problem is located around the front suspensions and that Lotus will run next Monday in Silverstone

[Neno]

Old news.
Last rumours say the chassis problem is located around the front suspensions and that Lotus will run next Monday in Silverstone

anyone thinks chassis problem and front suspension have something with innovative reactive ride height system? maybe they found way how can make system legal, and that is the reason why they need work on chassis

[beelsebob]

Old news.
Last rumours say the chassis problem is located around the front suspensions and that Lotus will run next Monday in Silverstone

anyone thinks chassis problem and front suspension have something with innovative reactive ride height system? maybe they found way how can make system legal, and that is the reason why they need work on chassis

If it were that, they wouldn't have pulled out of the test, would they?

[Neno]

Old news.
Last rumours say the chassis problem is located around the front suspensions and that Lotus will run next Monday in Silverstone

anyone thinks chassis problem and front suspension have something with innovative reactive ride height system? maybe they found way how can make system legal, and that is the reason why they need work on chassis

If it were that, they wouldn't have pulled out of the test, would they?

maybe, because you can't at testing get that system into the car, they dont have equipment in Barcelona. usually needs such changes make in factory, in this case Enstone. they need to have big reason why drop 4 days of testing and go home...and this is maybe one of them. this is just speculations, but you need understand that Lotus made already that device and spend lot's of money on him. for me it will be stupid if that device just sitting somewhere at Enstone in dust. now when we have speculation about front suspension, you get wonder, right?!

[banibhusan]

Does it really make sense to abandon 3 days of testing for 1 day just to try out a single component. They could have continued with the current tests and in parallel could have developed a new chassis in the factory to incorporate the new suspension system.

Or may be they already had it installed and found some issues with it. All sorts of weird speculations going on.

[Neno]

Does it really make sense to abandon 3 days of testing for 1 day just to try out a single component. They could have continued with the current tests and in parallel could have developed a new chassis in the factory to incorporate the new suspension system.

Or may be they already had it installed and found some issues with it. All sorts of weird speculations going on.

i belive that Lotus have new front suspension, they said that will have i barcelona new stuff on the car. but maybe that front suspension have something with ride height suspension they worked, if it so, that can be logical reason why they need modife chassis. i realy dont belive that team who created ride-height system over winter, can't make good chassis, it this case two chassis