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Post by Anna on Sept 2, 2011 20:22:01 GMT
Team InfoBase: Hingham, UK Team Principle: Tony Fernandes Chassis: Lotus T128 Engine: Renault RS27-2011 1st Driver: #20 Heikki Kovalainen 2nd Driver: #21 Jarno Trulli 3rd Driver: Karun Chandhok Website: www.teamlotus.co.uk/homeTwitter: MyTeamLotus Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_Lotus_(current)StatisticsYear Entered: 2010* 1st Grand Prix: 2010 Bahrain GP Races: 33 Wins: 0 Best Race Pos: 12th (2010 Japanese GP) Pole Positions: 0 Best Qual Pos: 15th (2010 Malaysian GP & 2011 Spanish GP) Fastest Laps: 0 Points: 0 Drivers Championships: 0 Constructors Championships: 0 Highest Championship Pos: 10th (2010) Current Championship Pos: 10th (0 Points) Recent Championship Positions2010: 10th (0 Points, 0 Wins) Driver HistoryJarno Trulli (2010-Present) Heikki Kovalainen (2010-Present) Karun Chandhok (2011) Engine HistoryCosworth (2010) Renault (2011-Present) Notable Achievements*Team Lotus are considered a new separate team than the one that folded at the end of 1994 [/i]
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Post by Anna on Sept 6, 2011 14:15:20 GMT
Italy 2011 - GP Preview - Team Lotus Renault
Team quotes
Friday 2 September 2011 - 18h35, by Olivier Ferret Heikki Kovalainen: “Monza is another different challenge for us and it’ll be good going there on the back of such a strong weekend in Spa. It has different downforce requirements to most of the rest of the tracks we race on, but we’ll go there with the same sort of aggressive strategy we used well in Spa to put us into Q2.
“For Monza you’ll hear a lot of the drivers talking about how one of the keys to a quick lap is how well you use the kerbs. Getting over them as efficiently as possible helps minimise the overall length of the lap and it might only be fractions of seconds, but shortcutting as much as you can, obviously within the rules and as much as the car can take, saves time and helps you maintain momentum onto the straights. To the viewer on TV and even at the track the kerbs don’t look all that hardcore, but when you’re in the car you hit them pretty hard and you need to be ready for it to get out of shape and even start to snap away from you. We’ll work on Friday on getting the setup right to give us maximum speed on the straights and enough compliance in the suspension to really be able to attack under braking and into each corner. I’m looking forward to it – it’s a classic track and the Tifosi are among the most passionate fans anywhere, so it’s a good place to end the European leg of the season.”
Jarno Trulli: “Monza’s a funny one for me. As an Italian everyone expects it to be the most special race of the season for me but really it’s not. I can’t really afford to treat it differently to any other race as I want to make sure I can focus on the job every day I’m on track, and even though there’s a lot of fans in the stands, and friends and family around the paddock, I always try and treat it like any other race. Obviously the good thing for me is that it’s close to my home, so I do get to catch up with lots of people who I don’t normally have time to see, but ever since I started racing I was nearly always abroad, so while it’s obviously my home race it’s not one I approach differently to any others.
“From a technical perspective Monza’s not the most technical track, but it’s still critical to have the car balanced so you can attack the kerbs and be really confident under braking, particularly into the first chicane as that’s the most obvious overtaking opportunity. The car felt really good in Spa, and I know we have the revised power steering system I used in Hungary back for this race, so I think we’ll be ok. We had very strong race pace in Belgium, and if we can carry on like that in Italy we’ll be just fine.”
David Mart, Renault Sport F1 Engine Engineer: “Italy is the toughest circuit of the year for engines due to the high percentage of wide open throttle time per lap. 75% of the 5.793km lap is spent at full throttle and near maximum revs – it’s comparable to high speed oval racing in the States. As such we need to create engine maps that allow the engine to work well at the top of the revs, from 16,000rpm to 18,000rpm, with a smooth power delivery which peaks to a maximum obtainable from a 2.4 litre naturally-aspirated V8 engine, to ensure that the car doesn’t get out of shape and can go as quickly as possible."
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: "I am delighted to be back on track after having had to miss a couple of races due to what has probably been the busiest summer of my working career! Despite not being on track I have been keeping up with everything that has been going on, both at the factory and the races, and it was very pleasing to see the team have such a strong weekend in Spa after a disappointing couple of races before the break. The factory staff were working right up until Friday night of the Belgian race weekend on reliability fixes, to ensure we did not see a repeat of the problems we had in Hungary and Germany, so the fact both cars finished well, particularly after being involved in the collisions at the first corner, is testament to a job very well done by the factory team.
“Monza gives us another chance to keep edging towards the teams ahead before we go back to the Far East and what is really our third home race in Singapore. This weekend we are not going to be challenging the teams ahead quite yet in outright pace, but clever use of strategy and very strong drives from both Heikki and Jarno gives us a chance to hold our own in the race, so the target for Monza has to be to maintain the reliability record established in Spa and look for another two car finish at the chequered flag, as high as we can reasonably hope. That is a realistic target, and that is the approach we bring to everything related to our team. The plans for the future development of the team, and the group it sits in, are taking shape eactly as we want them to and we are setting ourselves reasonable goals that can be achieved through hard work, innovation and a little bit of luck.”
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Post by Anna on Sept 9, 2011 19:11:18 GMT
Team Lotus
Heikki Kovalainen: "That wasn’t too bad but we can definitely improve. This morning’s session was brought to an early end with a sensor issue on the gearbox and I was given the instruction to pull over when the engine temperatures started rising. This afternoon we worked on both sets of tyres and I think the softs are ok but we weren’t really able to get the best out the mediums which gave us some areas to work on tonight on improving overall grip."
Jarno Trulli: "That was a trouble free Friday afternoon for me but honestly I’m not all that happy with the balance of the car at the moment. There’s quite a lot of understeer on turn-in and through the exit of the corners and we need to work on dialling that out to find more speed. There’s definitely more to come and we’ve shown all season we can take good steps forward from Friday to Saturday, so I think we’ll be ok tomorrow."
Karun Chandhok: "I’m pretty pleased with the performance this morning. The car felt OK from the first laps and it was good to get some more time under my belt in the cockpit. Friday mornings are always pretty limited running, particularly when the track’s got that light covering of dust on it, but today I was focusing on some aero evaluation and we got through that program so I think I did ok today."
Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1 Support Leader: "This morning we worked with Karun on engine mapping and he did a good job for us collecting a lot of data we can use on both race cars this weekend. The chassis he was in, which reverted to Jarno for the afternoon session, completed decent mileage throughout both sessions, but this afternoon we struggled a bit with Jarno in the car, and we need to spend some time this evening to make sure we can progress for FP3 and qualifying."
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: "That was a bit of a difficult Friday for us. It started well this morning with Karun doing a good job running through an aero evaluation program and it was good for him to have a full session in the dry. For the race drivers, the main problem today was getting heat into the harder tyres and I think we may find that improves with increasing the downforce levels tomorrow. Both Jarno and Heikki were reporting that they could not find enough grip and as that is linked to both tyre performance and the downforce package the goal is to solve that for tomorrow and unlock the speed we know is in the car for qualifying."
Riad Asmat, Group CEO: "That was not one of our best Fridays. Despite completing a pretty decent number of laps we struggled to find grip on both cars all day so the main challenge now is for the engineers to work through the data that we have accumulated and improve our speed tomorrow. We know we can increase performance levels in all areas for FP3, qualifying and the race, and that is the focus now for the remaining sessions."
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Post by Anna on Sept 12, 2011 16:15:01 GMT
Fernandes hints at Team Lotus name change
"I don’t think this is healthy for anyone"
Sunday 11 September 2011 - 09h55, by GMM Tony Fernandes has hinted strongly that he will drop the Team Lotus name for his formula one team ahead of the 2012 season.
The Malaysian entrepreneur has been locked in a bitter dispute with Renault sponsor Group Lotus but won the legal right to keep deploying the name for his Hingham-based team.
But Fernandes, also the owner of the AirAsia airline, has subsequently bought the British specialist sports car maker Caterham and renamed his GP2 team Caterham Team AirAsia.
He said at Monza: "I always had a problem with ’am I really Team Lotus?’ because there’s a big question mark on that.
"You can’t have a name and not monetise it. So we will have to wait and see ... I don’t think this is healthy for anyone, having Lotus-Renault and Team Lotus."
F1’s Enstone based team, currently widely known as Renault, might also be heading for a name change, with the Guardian newspaper reporting that sponsor Group Lotus could finally be set to buy in.
The report said current owners Genii are "reportedly in discussion about selling the team", with Lotus "in pole position to get it".
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Post by Anna on Sept 12, 2011 16:17:16 GMT
Team Lotus Renault
Heikki Kovalainen - P13: "I had a great start, passing Jarno and then seeing the HRT coming into T1 in a pretty hardcore style so I avoided that and was then up into a good position early on. I managed to hold that place for a good number of laps and found the tyre degradation pretty easy to manage. The pitstops were really good today - the calls to come in were made at the right times and the whole crew did a great job to get me out so quickly, so thanks to them and the whole team for a good end to the weekend."
Jarno Trulli - P14: "For once I didn’t have a great start but I managed to avoid the crash at the first corner and luckily Heikki and I were able to get through that and avoid damaging our cars. While I was racing Heikki, I think Massa got into trouble into the first chicane, so I had to go off track to avoid hitting him. When I rejoined the track he shut the door on me, so I went down the inside, kept flat out and managed to overtake him. Then, going into the first corner I had two faster cars behind me with KERS - they had just pressed the button and while going into the second corner Massa lost the car under braking and hit me which forced me into the car next to me, damaging the front end of the car and the front wing. It was really unlucky as I was basically in a sandwich and I was the only one that was damaged! The team did a great job to bring me in , change the nose and then rethink the strategy, switching me to one stop strategy pretty much straight away. From there my lap times were really good and I enjoyed the whole of the rest of the race. I’m really happy about the performance today and the pace was excellent all afternoon. In fact, throughout the whole weekend I have been very happy with the pace of the car overall and this morning’s news about next year’s contract has made this a fantastic home race for me - thanks to the whole team for that!"
Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1 Support Leader: "From the engine perspective that was a pretty tough race but one that we are very pleased to have finished so well. Jarno’s pace today was really good - he was easily able to pull away from Timo once he passed him and to have both cars finishing so closely together after the incident Jarno had is a very positive result. Monza is extremely testing for the engines as the drivers spend so long at full throttle, but we managed to get both cars home without any problems so that is a good afternoon for us and the whole team."
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: "That was a great race for us. Both drivers managed to avoid the carnage at the start but then Jarno lost a bit of time early on after being hit by Massa. That incident meant we had to bring him in to change his front wing, putting him back a few places but we switched his strategy and put him onto a long stint on the soft tyres tyres before changing to the mediums. That change, and the fact he was pushing throughout the whole race, helped him get back in front of his direct opposition and he did well to finish 14th. Heikki was also strong all afternoon and was holding the places he had gained at the start as long as he possibly could - we are all delighted that he brought his car home in 13th without any issues at all as that was the primary goal for today. After a difficult Friday this performance was a great recovery from the team to show how we can bounce back from a difficult start to the weekend. It is been an extremely positive result which sets us up well for Singapore, so well done to everyone."
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: "It has been a great day for Team Lotus and, for me, about the best race I have been to so far! To come 13th and 14th at Monza is way above my expectations so I am very proud of both drivers and the whole team. Obviously the race had a number of incidents which helped our final grid positions, but there are two key points for us to take out of today - we were there at the end to take the advantage of the positions that were available and our pace over the race distance was strong enough to keep up with a number of the established teams. Both Heikki and Jarno did an absolutely fantastic job throughout the whole afternoon and they were helped by the pitstop crew who performed brilliantly, and the engineers who made the right calls at the right times. Well done to all. This has been a pivotal few days for our team and we will be making anumber of announcements over the next few weeks that will show just how well we have laid the foundations for the future of our team. But now for me it is back to London and Loftus Road!"
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Post by r1ch91 on Sept 13, 2011 11:53:05 GMT
Team Lotus poised to change name in 2012 By Jonathan Noble and Tony Dodgins Monday, September 12th 2011, 10:52 GMT
Team Lotus and Renault chiefs have dropped firm hints that the Lotus naming row could be resolved at the end of this year - leaving the way clear for both outfits to be renamed.
After a long fight over the use of the 'Team Lotus' name in F1, speculation is mounting that the Hingham-based outfit could be set to use a new name from 2012, with Renault adopting the Lotus moniker.
Although the matter would still need to go through official channels for the team and chassis names to be changed, the team bosses of both outfits have suggested the situation is moving forward to ensure there will only be one Lotus team in 2012.
Renault boss Eric Boullier said: "I just saw in the paddock that [Group Lotus CEO] Dany Bahar was talking nicely with [Team Lotus boss] Tony Fernandes, so I guess there is a settlement that has been done.
"We will see. Changing the name of the team/chassis can have some complications with sponsorship and obviously with TV money, so it is a matter we have to raise when we have all the elements in our hands."
Group Lotus sponsors the Renault team and has made no secret of the fact it wants to rebrand the team and rename it as soon as it can.
For Fernandes, who won the right to use the Team Lotus name after the matter went to court, he believes his outfit may be better off using one of the brands that he owns - with it possible the outfit could adopt the Caterham Team AirAsia name that its GP2 outfit has.
Speaking to AUTOSPORT, Fernandes said: "I always had a problem with 'am I really Team Lotus?' I always said that era was theirs, we were just bringing it back under new ownership. It was up to the fans whether they liked us or not.
"But there was a business behind it as well. You can't have a name and not monetise it. Effectively we are marketing someone else. I don't think this is healthy for anyone – Lotus Renault, Team Lotus, whomever.
"I've always said that protecting the brand is paramount and it's not me that started all this. I didn't have a claim, they (Group Lotus) had a claim. And they lost that case. But I've always had the door open and it may be a win-win for everybody and we walk away.
"I also always said we wanted to be in the car business and I never hid that fact. And now we have Caterham."
And as well as the likely name change, Team Lotus is also set to move factories next year – with it evaluating a switch to either Silverstone or the former Arrows and Super Aguri facility at Leafield.
Fernandes added: "I think the best scenario is that the cars leave for Australia next year and come back to a new home. There's no two ways about it. But Hingham will always be there, because we've got composites and we're developing a technology and engineering division."
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Post by Anna on Sept 19, 2011 11:36:37 GMT
Singapore 2011 - GP Preview - Team Lotus Renault
Team quotes
Monday 19 September 2011 - 11h22, by Olivier Ferret Heikki Kovalainen: "I’m really looking forward to getting back to South East Asia and particularly Singapore. I like the heat and we have a lot of support in Singapore so it’s a race the whole team is excited about. Last year was obviously a pretty spectacular end to the race, maybe a little too hot even for me and not quite how I’d like it to have finished, but there were a load of cool photos from the fire and we ended up winning the LG Moment of the Year prize for a shot of me putting it out. This year we go with a similar goal to last year - have a solid weekend, make sure we’re there at the end of the race to take advantage of whatever happens around us and do our best to push the guys ahead.
"There are a few obvious talking points around the race weekend - it’s a night race so all the drivers and teams stay on European time. In practical terms that means heavy blackout blinds in the hotel rooms, breakfast at lunchtime and our normal race weekend schedule all shifting forwards several hours to replicate the European race schedules. The heat is pretty hardcore for the guys in the garages, but I like it. Physically I have felt good all season and while it’s obviously more challenging in the humidity and heat of Singapore, it’s a good challenge and it’s what F1 should be all about."
Jarno Trulli: "I left Italy after what had been a pretty intense weekend for me and the whole team! On track I enjoyed myself all weekend and if I hadn’t got hit by Massa I think I would have finished even better, but it was one of those races where we pretty much gave as much as we could, so I left feeling good about how we’d performed in all the sessions.
"I’ll go to Singapore as late as possible, to make sure my body-clock isn’t affected by the fact we run at night. I’m excited to get back to somewhere that means so much to Tony, Din and Nasa, and to see the strong fanbase we have out there but once we’re on track I treat it just like any another race - the circuit is so well lit you don’t suffer from any issues to do with light, and as its layout is similar to Monte Carlo it’s somewhere I feel pretty comfortable."
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: "We approach Singapore in much the same way we do Monaco. We will be running with a maximum downforce package with a new floor and diffuser and bigger front brake ducts to cope with the brake cooling demands. The numbers from the wind-tunnel look pretty promising for the update to the floor so we will see what we have found when we get out on track. Because the track surface is very bumpy we have to run the cars at almost the highest ride-height settings of the season whilst also focusing on braking stability and maximising traction to generate the quickest lap times. As Singapore is a street circuit the track surface is very green when we first run on Friday, but it has high evolution throughout the weekend and by Sunday the grip levels have improved dramatically. Pirelli are bringing the soft and super soft compounds to Singapore and it will be interesting to see how teams deal with the degradation rates of both, especially in qualifying and in the race itself."
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: "I have been looking forward to Singapore for the whole year -there is an incredible atmosphere around the whole place and the fact it is a night race just adds to the spectacle. Alongside Malaysia and Silverstone this is our third home race of the year and the support we have in Singapore is fantastic, both from the Singaporean locals and from the thousands of Malaysians and other visitors from around the world who attend what is always a fantastic race.
"The heat and humidity are obviously challenging for the whole team but we have shown throughout the year that our guys are ready to take on whatever lies ahead of them, deal with it and keep learning and progressing. One of the most pleasing aspects for me over the last couple of races has been to see the improvements in the garage and on the pitwall that have seen us perform quicker pitstops, turn the cars around during and in-between sessions more quickly and efficiently, and make the right strategic calls at the right time. This was particularly true in Italy where Jarno performed particularly well all weekend but was robbed of a higher position by bad luck and Heikki also gave his all, giving us 120% all weekend and helping us show what we can do when the opportunities arise. Drives like those, and every step forward for the team, are all part of the process of our development, and while we are working very hard behind the scenes to put all the pieces in place for the next phase of our growth, the team is working equally hard under intense pressure at the races and back at the factory and it makes me very proud to see how far they have already come. The icing on the cake now would be a point - perhaps we can win the LG Moment of the Year for 2011 by recording our first points finish, that really would be daring to dream!"
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Post by Anna on Dec 17, 2011 12:52:30 GMT
2011 end of term report – Team Lotus Renault
0 point, tenth in the constructors’ championship
Thursday 8 December 2011 - 17h35, by Sandrine Bouchard For its second campaign in F1, Tony Fernandes’ outfit changed name. Originally knows as Lotus Racing it became Team Lotus… and will once again change name in 2012 following months of dispute with Group Lotus.
On track, the Hingham-based team improved significantly and got closer to the established teams. It took tenth place in the constructors’ championship.
Season review:
Team Lotus made the headlines more than once in 2011, not for its performance on track but for its dispute with Group Lotus. On September 24th 2010, Fernandes announced he had acquired from James Hunt the rights of ‘Team Lotus’ name.
However, in early December, Genii Capital and Group Lotus decided to rebrand the Renault F1 Team and named it Lotus Renault GP… which meant there were two Lotus teams on the starting grid of the 2011 F1 World Championship. It was also the start of a row between the two outfits, who both claimed to be the sole entity entitled to race under the Lotus banner. The matter ended up in court and, on May 27th, Judge Peter Smith from the London High Court granted Tony Fernandes the right to call his outfit Team Lotus and also ruled that Group Lotus had every right to use the Lotus brand for its road car. Nothing was really settled at this point and both teams had to cohabit for the whole season. They eventually found an agreement and will both change name in 2012.
On the sporting side, the biggest change for Team Lotus was its technical partnership with Renault. In addition to this new engine supplier, the Malaysian outfit purchased its gearboxes and hydraulic system from Red Bull. It also strengthened its technical staff with the hiring of Mark Smith. The new car was launched in late January and carried high expectations from the team who set its targets on scoring points and beating some of the established teams. Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen were retained as the regular drivers while Karun Chandhok was hired as reserve driver.
Although it failed to score points, Team Lotus had a satisfying season and improved significantly. Kovalainen managed to make it through to Q3 on three occasions. He also finished in 13th place in Italy, while his teammate Trulli scored two 13th places (Australia, Monaco). These were the best results for Team Lotus and guaranteed it tenth place in the constructors standings.
Conclusion:
Team Lotus has been improving consistently since its debut in Formula One and has now pulled away from its fellow new teams, Virgin and HRT. On occasions, it was able to challenge the likes of Williams, Sauber and even Lotus Renault GP.
Tenth place in the championship for two years in a row means Team Lotus becomes a Column 1 team in the Concorde Agreement. It represents a significant increase in income for the team (from 5 million to 23 million euro).
Expectations :
In 2012, Team Lotus will become Team Caterham. It will still use Renault engines and Red Bull gearboxes. Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli have already been confirmed but rumours insist the Italian will be put aside to make way for Red Bull protégé Daniel Ricciardo.
Highs:
Improved throughout the season Finished ahead of Virgin and HRT
Lows: Failed to score points Row over the Lotus name Reliability problems
Nextgen-Auto.com marks: Olivier Ferret : 13/20 D.Thys : 13/20 Sandrine Bouchard : 12/20 Jean-Michel Setbon : 10/20 Average mark on the forum Nextgen-Auto.com : 12/20 Total : 60/100
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Post by Anna on Jan 25, 2012 10:21:56 GMT
Caterham to keep green and yellow livery
19 January 2012
Caterham F1 has suggestively repeated that it will retain a green and yellow colour scheme for the 2012 Formula 1 season, as per an image uploaded through the team’s Twitter account. Although the outfit's new logo - chiefly green - had already been unveiled, the continuing presence of yellow was less certain.
As you can see, we aren’t allowed more than a sneak preview, but the image above would appear to confirm the expected outcome of no major differences on this year’s car. Prior to the naming row with Group Lotus, Caterham (then ‘Team Lotus’) had planned a black and gold livery of its own, although this will remain unique to the Lotus Renault GP cars of Räikkönen and Grosjean.
Caterham has reported that its contender is to be revealed in full next Thursday. Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli have already been confirmed as the two drivers.
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