Lotus F1 Team 2013

[kooleracer]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/112041

Lotus will miss the first test. I think Lotus is in more trouble then we think. Still no official confirmation about the powerunit supplier. Maybe they are not able to attend the test because they haven't struck a deal with Renault yet, or that they are in talks with another supplier. I don't think that Caterham or Marussia will even let the first testing opportunity past this year. LotusF1 will be on the backfoot because the first test is not about performance but reliability. There is no reason to miss the first test in 2014. I think Pastor is scratching his head now about the choice he made.

I don't think this is a cause for concern, really. First of all, if anybody would be blunt about something, it's Pastor. He seemed eager to attack Williams without keeping a lid on his mouth, and he's quite montoya-ish in his on-track and off-track character. So if there really would be something in the odds, i'm sure we would've read about some angry pissed off venezuelan hothead that feels betrayed. The fact none of this happened even after such long time of 'negative' publicity on Lotus makes me think it's more 'tabloid story' then that they're in dire trouble.

As for the personel moving, well it's happening everywhere, and fits with the new 2014 setting. such 'drastic' changes in format are a recipy for people coming and going. I'm sure the cashflow problems and money insecurity will definately not aid in 'happy members' but i don't think it should be blown out of proportion either, and i'm sure it has more to do with contracts than actual 'trouble'. it is, just newyear, and if i'm not mistaken, most contracts run from january to december.

wasn't redbull the one to miss a first test just aswell last year? or was it the year before? then it was prophecised they'd be in trouble too, didn't happen one bit though. Other people said that's a sign newey is just working as best as long as possible to have the best car, so why wouldn't we accept the same for lotus?

It'd be hilarious if Lotus would run 1st place immediately and it would be ferrari and redbull in trouble......fact is, nobody knows for a thing what is gonna happen.
Sauber's been tipped for having a very competetive car based upon what? exterior and first test results. All of that went up in smoke when the season got underway.

Let's just see coming 6 weeks what'll happen.

I think you are underestimating the changes in 2014. The past years the engine wasn't a big factor. This year its a huge change every part on the car needs to be redesigned. And the parameters have changed more cooling, MGU-H, Turbo etc. Every lap is important to miss 4 full days of testing is insane, its not like the other teams are taking a break during those 4 days. To get actually real data is so valuable for the development of the car ahead of the Bahrain test.

edit: 4 days of testing

[NathanOlder]

4 Days of testing

[Manoah2u]

let's just remind everybody here on the honda team's status at the end of 2008, brawn buying the outfit,
spooning in a new engine.

what was the general consensus?
anybody faith in them?
thought they'd not make the grid?

oh wait, the won the first GP a 1-2 and won the championship. let's just not get too carried away.

have people actually read the entire article? let's go and check it out........

http://www.lotusf1team.com/back-to-scho ... ml?lang=en

How is Enstone placed heading into the 2014 season?

Our E22 development programme has been ongoing for over two years and it has been illuminating watching it grow. The backbone of Enstone is strong and we are relishing the challenge of the new season ahead.

How is progress with the E22?

From our perspective the figures look promising and development has been positive. That said, we are very much working with very little idea of what the other teams are doing. This is the first year of radically different regulations which means that all teams are developing their cars along potentially quite different avenues. It’s fascinating for us engineers and I hope it is fascinating for the fans too. We think we have a very good solution to the challenge and hopefully this will be seen when the E22 turns its wheels in anger.

Although the regulations are different, are there good lessons which can be carried over from the E21?

Yes, and I think we can still reflect on what a good car the E21 was as it finished the season still looking particularly competitive, and it was the only car able to get close to the Red Bull. There are certain concepts from the E21 which are still valid for the E22, but in particular our development methodology and synchronisation with our various simulations is especially relevant and promising.

How close is the E22 to completion?

We’ve made very good progress with the various homologation tests which took place before Christmas including chassis squeeze and side impact loading tests as well as the rear crash structure, meaning we just have the nose test to complete the car’s homologation. We’ve undertaken chassis fits for Romain and Pastor. Certainly, our partners who have seen the car have reported themselves to be very impressed with the layout and various solutions to the new technical challenges.

When are we likely to see the E22?

We’re going to keep our car under wraps a little longer than some other teams. We’ve decided that attending the Jerez test isn’t ideal for our build and development programme. We are likely to unveil the car before attending the Bahrain tests, and in Bahrain we should really be able to put the car through its paces in representative conditions.

selective reading can go both ways. same article above where all the negativity is from now highlighted in red.

Homologation tests were done before 24th of december, all that's left is nose homologation [thus they're working on that one].
which team has it's car completely homologated for 2014? Sauber showed their nose crash test.....but how about the rest of their car?
reading the last line; lotus doesn't concider Jerez to have 'representative conditions'.

again....no need to overreact to lotus' situation purely based on some words.

do we know on the current status of the other teams? how about forceindia? sauber?

let's see what more their official website has to tell us.......

lotusf1team.com/






all from the official website.

"POWERED BY RENAULT"

http://www.lotusf1team.com/-renault-352-.html?lang=en

think we can give this no-engine hype a rest.......

[ScottB]

Brawn is not a comparable situation. The V8's were a known quantity, the Merc V8 bulletproof. It didn't need running to ensure it would be reliable.

These new power trains are hugely complex, to miss a significant chunk of pre season testing alone is a huge blow. If they really haven't confirmed what their engine is, then they are up the creek without a means of propulsion.

[PhillipM]

Brawn is not a comparable situation. The V8's were a known quantity, the Merc V8 bulletproof. It didn't need running to ensure it would be reliable.

...and the car had a shedload of money and development time spent on it for the entire previous year by toyota...not even close to the same situation.

[stefan_]

Honda.

The E22 has been in the design office for ~two years.

[Vanja #66]

Yeah, but they still don't have two teams of people on it, Brawn had both Honda and Super Aguri engineers at disposal... Along with everything else mentioned...

[xpensive]

I can see Caterham taking a close look at the situation and I would just love to see Gascoyne back in a competitive team.

Caterham just never had the facilities of Enstone, not by a mile.

[xDama]

let's just remind everybody here on the honda team's status at the end of 2008, brawn buying the outfit,
spooning in a new engine.

what was the general consensus?
anybody faith in them?
thought they'd not make the grid?

oh wait, the won the first GP a 1-2 and won the championship. let's just not get too carried away.

This one apllies to you as well BrawnGP was a totally different situation, not in the slightest way comparible with the current Lotus situation.

[Manoah2u]

it's not a comparison between lotus and brawn, it's the fact people had a very low esteem on the honda outfit's prospects,
as do they have now for lotus, based purely on assumptions. facts proved something totally different.

same was mentioned for the mercedes team in ther merc thread, people were saying schumacher made the right choice and mercedes was gonna end up fighting almost with marussia. based upon??

[turbof1]

There are several facts that indicate things aren't going well at Lotus:

-Raikkonen didn't receive a whole chunk of his salary nearing the end of the 2013 season.
-They had to hire Maldonado in order to get some cash from sponsors.
-Also regular staff wasn't paid for several months.
-Lotus missed out on the tyre test in december.
-More importantly, they ditch the first testing week of the new cars.

These aren't rumors or assumptions, these are facts. This has nothing to do with having a low esteem for the team, but everything to do with the writing on the wall: this team is financially in trouble.

Brawn had similar issues, having to suddenly run a large team without any major backing from a sponsor. The team received funding for a few months from Honda and that's it. However, Brawn GP did have a dominant car in the first 7 races, which attracted some sponsor money throughout the season, which ultimately saved them. Still, it was clear that the team was having it very difficult. Ross Brawn was forced to fire close to half the employees, and updates were very rare after Silverstone.

But more importantly in the comparison between Lotus and Brawn/Honda, and I can't stress enough of this, the problems at Brawn began only after the 2009 car was done and finished. That car had been in development for a longer time then any other team's car. When Ross Brawn took over, it was only a matter of running the operational side of the team. Lotus on the other hand has much bigger issues: they have to develop a car which much more drastically changes then Honda/Brawn had to face, still also have to run the operational side of the game, and have to pay off debts to Kimi and their employees. Brawn essentially started with a debt-free team and funding for 2-3 months. Granted, they didn't have sponsors at the time, but they atleast had time to sort it out. Lotus on the other hand is going from the 2013 sh*t hole to the 2014 tar pit.

[xpensive]

My guess is there there are intense bargainings going on involving Genii, Fernandes and MrE as we speak.

[FoxHound]

it's not a comparison between lotus and brawn, it's the fact people had a very low esteem on the honda outfit's prospects,
as do they have now for lotus, based purely on assumptions. facts proved something totally different.

same was mentioned for the mercedes team in ther merc thread, people were saying schumacher made the right choice and mercedes was gonna end up fighting almost with marussia. based upon??

Honda had 300 million and a host of talent at it's disposal. The BGP001 was in no way a Brawn than it was a Honda RA109 with a Mercedes V8.
Brawn was clever enough to realise that Honda where in trouble in 2007 with their philosophy and design.
The second half of 2007 and the entire season of 2008 where sacrificed for the 2009 season.
Everything was shifted to focus on a car that is renowned to have one of the most lengthy gestation periods of any car.

The knowledgable F1 public by and large knew and understood this.

It wasn't a shock to see Honda doing terribly in 2008 as the season was written off. The problem was 2007.

Lotus are in a totally different situation that is in no way comparable.
They have not had the cash to develop their 2014 car as effectively as they would want. They do not have a stable technical backroom to be able to follow through where others have left.
The car could've been in concept form since the rules where written, it could never be as effective as having a stable team of personnel with a bucket load of cash to burn as Honda/Brawn had.

When you say "people had assumptions" or "people saying the same.." , these are not everyone's view.

Lotus appear doomed. There car cannot be a nouvelle BGP001 simply because the environment it was created in was a tumultuous incestuous intermarriage of staff cuts, management change, driver change, budgets cuts, protracted quantum investment failures and no official engine supplier deal(STILL!). The RA108 had a 2.4 litre V8 just like the BGP001 so the engine installation will not have been as big an issue as a a brand new unrun 1.6 litre with monumnetal turbo and HERS requirements.

Chalk and cheese bruv.

I do wish Lotus all the best this year because they are going to need it.

[xpensive]

A Tony Fernandes/Caterham takeover, or call it merge, would make so much sense, both teams have Malaysian connections,
while Mike Gascoyne and Mark Smith worked together at Enstone in the early 00's when the team was racing as Renault.

A divine intervention, nothing less.

[iotar__]

A Tony Fernandes/Caterham takeover, or call it merge, would make so much sense, both teams have Malaysian connections,
while Mike Gascoyne and Mark Smith worked together at Enstone in the early 00's when the team was racing as Renault.

A divine intervention, nothing less.

Are people still stuck on Fernandes fairy tales? I mean not his, but public perception or imagination of supporters(?). He can't afford small team losing a lot of money (nothing wrong with that), how would he afford big team losing even more money? As for qualities required to run F1 team, it was comedy of errors as losing to Marussia after they ran wind tunnel program for 6 months or whatever proved. Speaking separately from this specific case how would mergers (Wlliams- Marussia etc.) even solve the problems of F1?

The whole Lotus name related drama, for which you should blame capitalism and free market, was to buy a car manufacturer (or other businesses?), not to lose money on F1 team and not achieve anything. Sauber was available at the time and so was RenaultF1. The rest of it makes even less sense - Smith, Gascoyne, what about them in 2014 F1, what connections?

Going back to reality - for Lotus it doesn't look good compared to 2013 as expected and for various reasons, but not as terrible as this before season board drama suggests unless Genii pulls the plug. [BTW are they number 1 enemy now?] Who knows they might even be as bad as McLaren 2013 but certainly not as bad as Williams.