It’s so good to see Lotus so live and alive! They have a bunch of awesome spotscars in the works, and they are running not one but two F1 teams, well sort of. This is the Norfolk-based firm’s main car called Lotus T128 and its their contender for 2011 Formula 1 season wearing a fantastic livery. Not much details currently at hand, only that it will be powered by a Renault engine and has a rear-end from Red Bull.
Even if it doesn’t win anything, we’re still glad they’re onboard. And their car looks fabulous!
Marianne Hinson, Head of Aerodynamics: “In aero we started thinking about the new car around Spring last year, a bit before any of the other departments. The start of the process is a really fun period, when you’re looking through the new rules, thrashing out ideas and trying to find loopholes.”
Lewis Butler, Chief Designer: “The biggest design challenge was trying to package everything a bit smaller. We were trying to get that area around the driver really tight so the aerodynamicists were happy with it.”
Elliot Dason-Barber, Head of R&D and Vehicle Dynamics: “We’re definitely going to take a step forward with this car. Quite how much we’ll close the gap to the teams in front of us we’ll see, but my hope is we’ll be competing with the teams that were a second or two ahead of us last season.”
Keith Saunt, Chief Operating Officer: “You can just see that this car will be faster than last year’s. It’s got the right sweeps and curves on it – it’s the very latest iteration of what an F1 car should be.”
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: “I think that basically this car looks like a front-running car in every area. We said very clearly that we want to start challenging the established teams and I think that’s very achievable.”
Riad Asmat, Chief Executive Officer: “T128 takes Team Lotus in exactly the right direction. We have said since day one of the Team Lotus dream that the plan for our second year was to take the fight to the midfield, and with this car we are all confident that is what we will be able to do.”
Team Principal Tony Fernandes: “There has been so much focus off-track it’s a thrill to be able to get back to talking about racing. The launch of the T128 is a big step forward for Team Lotus and I want to thank the whole team for the amount of hard work that has already gone into the car, and I want to thank Renault and Red Bull Technology for their tremendous support in helping us make this step forward and for being such great team partners.”
Specs:
Engine: Renault V8 RS27-2011
Chassis material: Carbon Fibre
Bodywork material: Carbon Fibre
Front Suspension: Carbon Fibre
Rear Suspension: Carbon Fibre
Dampers: Penske & Multimatic
Steering: Team Lotus
Gearbox: Red Bull Technologies
Clutch: AP
Discs: Carbone Industrie or Hitco
Calipers: AP
Pads: Carbone Industrie or Hitco
Cooling system (radiators, heat exchangers): Team Lotus
Cockpit instrumentation: MES
Seat belts: Schroth
Steering wheel: Team Lotus
Driver’s seat: Team Lotus
Extinguisher system: FEV
Wheels: BBS to Team Lotus Specification
Fuel cell: ATL
Battery: Yuasa
Fuel provider: Total
Lubricants provider: Various
Wheel base: More than 3000 mm
Overall Length: Approx 5 metres
Overall Height: 950mm
