Lotus Group

After watching the team’s new baby take its first steps out on track, Lotus F1 Team Technical Director gives a brief assessment on what he’s seen so far:

So, thoughts on today?

I’m quite chipper about it really, not a bad day. The car didn’t break down and we seemed to have a reasonable turn of pace.

How different is this car from the E20 before it?

The aerodynamic line of thinking is the same, but each time you create a new car you try to push aspects on the new car which weren’t possible on the old car – for instance if the layout of the old car wouldn’t permit it. The layout of the new car is altered sufficiently that it will reward us for a whole season of decent development.

Is there much carried over from the old car?

Architectually, it’s an evolution, but almost every single part of it is new, so there are plenty of components which could embarrass you on track, so there’s all the tension of a new car on the first day.

It looked okay out on track in terms of times today?

We’ve been chugging around with a fair amount of petrol on board and the E21 seems fairly swift. That said, it’s very early days and we won’t know how quick everyone is until we’re all in the same trim and going hell for leather.