Lotus F1 Team 2015

[iotar__]

I wonder how many times this page will need resetting.
http://hasmaldonadocrashedtoday.com/
To be fair though... todays wasn't really his fault.

but he did crash

Not he didn't, he "was crashed". You should reset hasraikkonencollidedtoday.com and move this c... to Ferrari team thread asking Arrivabene driver choices questions.

Horner: "We are probably 100 horsepower down on Mercedes at the moment, and you can see the holes that are in the power delivery.” Still faster than Lotus with Mercedes engine over one lap. Success.

[itix]

True... but Toro Rosso is much faster than RBR so probably Horner is exaggerating more than a bit. The RBR is complete crap this year (and I don't believe that all of it can be blamed on the PU considering that TR can achieve what they do).

...plus the Lotus is severely underdeveloped. As a proclaimed fanboy I hope they can use all the data they gathered to develop new bits that will bring them forward. Based on RG's comments it should go better if it gets more downforce. Also, the chassis seems better (although maybe not on Toro Rosso or Mercedes level maybe).

Just my 2 cents and by no means anything more than an uneducated guess hahaha (mixed with some obvious bias).

[iotar__]

True... but Toro Rosso is much faster than RBR so probably Horner is exaggerating more than a bit. The RBR is complete crap this year (and I don't believe that all of it can be blamed on the PU considering that TR can achieve what they do).

...plus the Lotus is severely underdeveloped. As a proclaimed fanboy I hope they can use all the data they gathered to develop new bits that will bring them forward. Based on RG's comments it should go better if it gets more downforce. Also, the chassis seems better (although maybe not on Toro Rosso or Mercedes level maybe).

Just my 2 cents and by no means anything more than an uneducated guess hahaha (mixed with some obvious bias).

Horner exaggerating, maybe slightly, still the gap exists, not much difference if it's 60 or 80 HP plus driveability. Lotus lost a chance for their best result in 2015 season because they couldn't even make one car run in the race, something Force India managed after two days (!) of testing.

I hope they are underdeveloped and there are small positive possibilities to explain poor performance: they might be behind in understanding Merc engine, getting right new no-FRIC suspension and repairing updates that didn't work in Barcelona.
Still not enough to explain huge gap to Williams and everyone else is developing too.

[itix]

Horner exaggerating, maybe slightly, still the gap exists, not much difference if it's 60 or 80 HP plus driveability. Lotus lost a chance for their best result in 2015 season because they couldn't even make one car run in the race, something Force India managed after two days (!) of testing.

I hope they are underdeveloped and there are small positive possibilities to explain poor performance: they might be behind in understanding Merc engine, getting right new no-FRIC suspension and repairing updates that didn't work in Barcelona.
Still not enough to explain huge gap to Williams and everyone else is developing too.

It should be remembered that they have a lower budget than Williams for sure... plus lingering debts from the disastrous end to their 2013 season. I don't think they can keep the same development pace as williams. Trust me, I am not happy either that they have not reached their goal of competing with them but they should have a buffer considering some of their bits (crucially the front and rear wing) are still from 2014 and their body is more or less clean whereas merc for isntance look like a psychedelic painting with all its swirls and bits sticking out and curving in different directions. I have a feeling the goal in testing was to get the chassis tested as much as possible and we have not seen their long run pace yet.

I'd agree that the demise of Grosjean was Lotus's own guilt but the demise of Pastor can't possibly be blamed on them.

I remain cautiously optimistic given that they did reasonably well in Q1 and Q2 in Oz. Without speaking too soon I hope they can develop on this and that the potential I see is not just a pretty veil.

All of the above should still be seen as fanboy rant and by no means any science hahahaha.

[slimfitcasual]

What's so striking to me is the sponsor merry go round on the engine cover and side panels. One weekend it's Saxo, next it's Genii or PDVSA. Am I right to assume no one is willing to pay for that real estate for the entirety of the season?

[proteus]

I have one question abot this bank sponsorships on Lotus: Are the bank logos on the car as a some sort of repayment of depts the team has? We know that they are in red numbers, so i was thinking if they got an agreement with a bank, to stick the logo on the car instead for paying part of the bills? And please consider, this is just a speculation, because if this is truly the case, than every team would take loans and then say, that they can put logos on the car as a refund

[itix]

I have one question abot this bank sponsorships on Lotus: Are the bank logos on the car as a some sort of repayment of depts the team has? We know that they are in red numbers, so i was thinking if they got an agreement with a bank, to stick the logo on the car instead for paying part of the bills? And please consider, this is just a speculation, because if this is truly the case, than every team would take loans and then say, that they can put logos on the car as a refund

SaxoBank are some sort of online trading bank thingy, and I believe that most red numbers are owed to supplier rather than banks (thanks for that Boullier, you did great... first you ruined Lotus and now you ruin McLaren who I also believe have a lack of sponsors... bah).

They have rotated sponsors for ages. It is probably just the Lotus way of things. Everyone gets their 15 minutes hahaha. I am going to guess that they have some form of standard sponsor deal that they have ready to present to customers.

Also, that is a new front wing, nice, that was about time...

Am I right in saying that the suspension and steering arm mess and madness (half of which I have no idea what they do to be honest) are new as well?

The side pods are definitely new because that golf ball pattern was not there before. Nice to see that they have developed the car, definitely about time!

Hope it yields results this weekend *hopeful fanboy*

[chuckdanny]

Boullier has nothing to do with this side, sponsorship, it's when ronnie...
At lotus it was lopez's job

[itix]

Boullier has nothing to do with this side, sponsorship, it's when ronnie...
At lotus it was lopez's job

Not in 2013 it wasn't... Last year it was.

Boullier spent like most of his days dealing with some made up consortium of BS and pink clouds called quantum instead of chasing actual sponsors while the team fell around him. The red numbers are still from that season and he literally blew the biggest budget the team had had for ages into the air.

I'll trust you on the McLaren side because I know nothing about McLaren.

Anyway, we are going off topic, this actually belongs in the team thread and not the car thread so lets get back on track. On a second glance I noticed that they have two front wings. One new and one that looks suspiciously like the old one but not painted...

[ergenomic]

Saxo Bank bought cheap sponsorship last year when they were struggling. They were testing before expanding. They have now expanded to be a larger sponsor. Saxo Bank is a FX trading desk operating around the world. They use the sponsorship to have customers attend races.

[quidam]

Now they have Proton logo on the side of the car :

http://img1.auto-motor-und-sport.de/GP- ... 853046.jpg

[itix]

Now they have Proton logo on the side of the car :

http://img1.auto-motor-und-sport.de/GP- ... 853046.jpg

Proton is malaysian and the owner of Lotus cars... so it kind of makes sense.

[desl]

Now they have Proton logo on the side of the car :

http://img1.auto-motor-und-sport.de/GP- ... 853046.jpg

Proton is malaysian and the owner of Lotus cars... so it kind of makes sense.

Not really.

Genii and Proton started a partnership in 2011 and Proton had the option to acquire shares of the team ... what hasn't been done.
Proton/Lotus was just the main sponsor and the partnership ended in April 2012 as Lotus didn't pay the agreed sponsoring fees.

Genii abandoned the pending payments and in exchange they got the right to use the name "Lotus" until 2017.


So, since April 2012, there is no real link between Genii and the Lotus Group. Genii is just allowed to use their name ... which they do for promotion.

Hence it's somehow a bit surprising to see the Proton Logo on the Genii car.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motors ... Lotus.html

[FW17]

No that's not how it went down

Proton cars owned Lotus

Lotus Danny Bhar through proton loaned Genni 35 million

Genni failed to pay it back so got converted to sponsorship/naming for 5/7 years

[bdr529]

They have rotated sponsors for ages. It is probably just the Lotus way of things. Everyone gets their 15 minutes hahaha. I am going to guess that they have some form of standard sponsor deal that they have ready to present to customers.

I think you mean the Enstone way of things