End of the road for Lotus?

[Nessafox]

Hi All

So Lotus is short of cash and loosing staff to other teams.

Looks like a job for Colin Kolles.

Feasible! If he wants to enter a team in 2015, why not pool the resources of Lotus and his DTM operations?

His plans were rumoured to involve Dacia, Dacia is owned by Renault... it actually makes sense!

[go_Rubens]

I heard something like that a couple of months ago. Something to do with Renault destroying an unexpected amount of turbos during the dyno tests, certainly way ahead of the number that would have been expected.

I eagerly await Renault turbos exploding in races in 2014. Just like the good old days!

Oh how this has turned out to be true in the tests.

Hi All

So Lotus is short of cash and loosing staff to other teams.

Looks like a job for Colin Kolles.

Feasible! If he wants to enter a team in 2015, why not pool the resources of Lotus and his DTM operations?

His plans were rumoured to involve Dacia, Dacia is owned by Renault... it actually makes sense!

So could team Enstone as we know it actually be saved by Renault themselves? I think that's what will happen.

[watka]

Renault may never have left the sport had it not been for Crash-gate and all of the reputation that they lost from that (after all, they've still got their oar stuck in with engine manufacturing). With the Dacia brand, they would have a discrete way of re-entering Formula 1 and even if they suck, it would be an offshoot brand that suffered rather than the main Renault brand.

[Ataxia]

Romain and Pastor have had a wonderful holiday together...but it's back to work for them.

[mediocre]

Romain and Pastor have had a wonderful holiday together...but it's back to work for them.

"No rabbits were harmed in the making of this movie".

God, I love this team.

[mario]

Renault may never have left the sport had it not been for Crash-gate and all of the reputation that they lost from that (after all, they've still got their oar stuck in with engine manufacturing). With the Dacia brand, they would have a discrete way of re-entering Formula 1 and even if they suck, it would be an offshoot brand that suffered rather than the main Renault brand.

I am not sure that Renault would have stayed on after their dire 2009 season given that Renault were already signalling that they weren't entirely satisfied with the sport.

Let us not forget that one of the driving reasons behind the Crashgate affair was the fact that Renault were looking to withdraw from the sport in 2008 given that they had been declining in competitiveness since 2006 (3rd in 2007 after McLaren were excluded, 4th in 2008 and a lowly 8th in 2009). We saw that BMW, Toyota and Honda were already signalling dissatisfaction with the rule changes for 2009 (BMW in particular given that they were not going to be allowed to run a thermal energy recovery system), and Renault were not happy that they were falling further and further behind their rivals. The FIA was even bending the rules slightly to allow Renault to make "performance equalisation" modifications to their engine in 2008 as a way of convincing Renault to stay, suggesting that Renault's commitment to the sport was wavering for some time.
Crashgate was a desperate attempt to maintain the interest of Renault in a works team by convincing them that it was still able to compete for wins - to a certain extent, all that seems to have done is postpone Renault's plans for withdrawing to 2009, because I imagine that Renault would have wanted to withdraw from the sport as a works team after their dire 2009 season.

[DanielPT]

Romain and Pastor have had a wonderful holiday together...but it's back to work for them.

That video was a bit weird has I would have switched their roles in it. It would be more fitting. Although I might also work if good old Pastor crashes into Grosjean in Australia.

[CoopsII]

Romain and Pastor have had a wonderful holiday together...but it's back to work for them.

Ive had a holiday in one of those airstream caravans, although ours was alot bigger than Pastors. They're great fun but bloody heavy so Im surprised they managed to get the F1 car to tow it

[watka]

Romain and Pastor have had a wonderful holiday together...but it's back to work for them.

Ive had a holiday in one of those airstream caravans, although ours was alot bigger than Pastors. They're great fun but bloody heavy so Im surprised they managed to get the F1 car to tow it

The only explanation is that they put this year's torquey turbo engine in last year's car.

[Turbogirl]

I really hope, this year's Lotus will at least be decent, especially after the designer(s) pulled off a nice Colin Chapman with the Manta-nose. Don't get me wrong, it looks kinda hideous, but after the Williams Walrus, the Ferrari Hammerhead and the anteater noses of this season (whoever came up with it), I'm very curious how this strange solution will fare. Maybe it's the next best thing after Colin's double chassis from the early 80s.

[kevinbotz]

I really hope, this year's Lotus will at least be decent, especially after the designer(s) pulled off a nice Colin Chapman with the Manta-nose. Don't get me wrong, it looks kinda hideous, but after the Williams Walrus, the Ferrari Hammerhead and the anteater noses of this season (whoever came up with it), I'm very curious how this strange solution will fare. Maybe it's the next best thing after Colin's double chassis from the early 80s.

Several senior figures at other teams have stated that they've been aware of the Lotus solution for quite some time already, having been alerted to the general design philosophy of the E22 through the massive staff hemorrhage that Lotus experienced last year. That no other team has adopted a similar solution may suggest that the "fork-nose" is not as efficacious as perhaps Lotus' senior technical management had originally projected it to be.

[Wallio]

I really hope, this year's Lotus will at least be decent, especially after the designer(s) pulled off a nice Colin Chapman with the Manta-nose. Don't get me wrong, it looks kinda hideous, but after the Williams Walrus, the Ferrari Hammerhead and the anteater noses of this season (whoever came up with it), I'm very curious how this strange solution will fare. Maybe it's the next best thing after Colin's double chassis from the early 80s.

Several senior figures at other teams have stated that they've been aware of the Lotus solution for quite some time already, having been alerted to the general design philosophy of the E22 through the massive staff hemorrhage that Lotus experienced last year. That no other team has adopted a similar solution may suggest that the "fork-nose" is not as efficacious as perhaps Lotus' senior technical management had originally projected it to be.

Torro Rosso apparently had a similar nose on the drawing board for awhile, but didn't believe it to be worth the rather high development (as opposed to a wang nose).

[Turbogirl]

I really hope, this year's Lotus will at least be decent, especially after the designer(s) pulled off a nice Colin Chapman with the Manta-nose. Don't get me wrong, it looks kinda hideous, but after the Williams Walrus, the Ferrari Hammerhead and the anteater noses of this season (whoever came up with it), I'm very curious how this strange solution will fare. Maybe it's the next best thing after Colin's double chassis from the early 80s.

Several senior figures at other teams have stated that they've been aware of the Lotus solution for quite some time already, having been alerted to the general design philosophy of the E22 through the massive staff hemorrhage that Lotus experienced last year. That no other team has adopted a similar solution may suggest that the "fork-nose" is not as efficacious as perhaps Lotus' senior technical management had originally projected it to be.

That would be rather unfortunate, but not surprising. Ferrarì's 1992 revolutionary solution with the double car bottom turned out to be insufficient as well and the Williams Walrus was an aerodynamical turd. Terzi had already experimented on that nose while she was still with Ferrari and nothing came out of it. And I believe, when the Lambo 291 appeared, other designers claimed, Forgheri's design choices were already been tested in the 80s by other teams, but to no avail. This all sounds so familiar...

Torro Rosso apparently had a similar nose on the drawing board for awhile, but didn't believe it to be worth the rather high development (as opposed to a wang nose).

Yeah, one of my uncles is actually an aerodynamicist and he had a pretty hard time explaining to me, how exactly the Manta-nose / fork-nose is supposed to work and how efficient it may be. Let's just hope it won't be the final nail in Lotus' coffin.

[kevinbotz]

Torro Rosso apparently had a similar nose on the drawing board for awhile, but didn't believe it to be worth the rather high development (as opposed to a wang nose).

Yeah, one of my uncles is actually an aerodynamicist and he had a pretty hard time explaining to me, how exactly the Manta-nose / fork-nose is supposed to work and how efficient it may be. Let's just hope it won't be the final nail in Lotus' coffin.

From what I understand, the aim of the "fork-nose" is to remove as many obstructions to the rear airflow as possible, increasing the effectiveness of the rear diffuser and concomitantly increasing rear downforce. The Caterham represents a different interpretation of the same design philosophy, eliminating the front-wing pylons altogether to maximize the rear airflow.

Such a "do-or-die" approach does have its drawbacks, however. Though no one can conclusively determine the exact nature of the "fork-nose" until clearer and more detailed pictures are released, it's likely that the solution offers comparatively less potential for Lotus to generate a low-pressure area at the front. These concerns also apply to the Caterham, where the total absence of front-wing pylons not only inhibits their ability to generate front downforce, but also deprives them of a valuable mechanic by which to redirect the front airflow, as most teams have purposed the front-wing pylons to serve as aerodynamic turning vanes as well.

[mario]

Torro Rosso apparently had a similar nose on the drawing board for awhile, but didn't believe it to be worth the rather high development (as opposed to a wang nose).

Yeah, one of my uncles is actually an aerodynamicist and he had a pretty hard time explaining to me, how exactly the Manta-nose / fork-nose is supposed to work and how efficient it may be. Let's just hope it won't be the final nail in Lotus' coffin.

From what I understand, the aim of the "fork-nose" is to remove as many obstructions to the rear airflow as possible, increasing the effectiveness of the rear diffuser and concomitantly increasing rear downforce. The Caterham represents a different interpretation of the same design philosophy, eliminating the front-wing pylons altogether to maximize the rear airflow.

Such a "do-or-die" approach does have its drawbacks, however. Though no one can conclusively determine the exact nature of the "fork-nose" until clearer and more detailed pictures are released, it's likely that the solution offers comparatively less potential for Lotus to generate a low-pressure area at the front. These concerns also apply to the Caterham, where the total absence of front-wing pylons not only inhibits their ability to generate front downforce, but also deprives them of a valuable mechanic by which to redirect the front airflow, as most teams have purposed the front-wing pylons to serve as aerodynamic turning vanes as well.

Certainly plenty of food for thought in your post - there have been a few who have wondered what impact having an asymmetric nose section will have on the overall performance of the car (since the second prong, as it were, is both shorter and has to terminate higher off the ground).

Several senior figures at other teams have stated that they've been aware of the Lotus solution for quite some time already, having been alerted to the general design philosophy of the E22 through the massive staff hemorrhage that Lotus experienced last year. That no other team has adopted a similar solution may suggest that the "fork-nose" is not as efficacious as perhaps Lotus' senior technical management had originally projected it to be.

As an aside, there are suggestions that the exodus from Lotus has been quite sever recently - take it with a pinch of salt, but Joe Saward has claimed that Lotus's team has shrunk by around 80 people (including, of course, Boullier in recent months).
However, there is also a suggestion that Lotus have already lined up a replacement to Boullier - there are reports that Olivier Quesnel, the head of OAK Racing and former head of Peugeot's racing division, will be taking over the reigns at Lotus.

[Sublime_FA11C]

I wonder if Nick Chester tested putting his foot in his mouth while doing a 180 turn during the pre season tests. This is quite a contrast in prediction and so far only Lotus and Marussia have talked up their new cars to such heights the fall down must have hurt them hard. Marussia can be excused and they really only talked up how amazing it was that they put together such an advanced car. Lotus on the other hand...

24.Feb. - Lotus's Nick Chester thinks they can be the top Renault-powered team early in 2014
22.Mar. - Lotus warn it could be the Spanish GP before they return to a competitive level
...
20.Apr - Maldonado accuses Williams of sabotaging his career by having competitive cars while his keeps having technical issues!

From a purely rejectfull point of view, Lotuses pulling over before completing a full race distance in the coming races sounds great.