Last week Federico Gastaldi Lotus team principal said that they won't stop developing their 2014 contender as they expect to extract a little more from it, but that they have enough resources to develop their 2015 car at the same time, with their change of engine supplier from Renault to Mercedes which is the best engine so far (who knows in 2015 though), what are you expecting from the Lotus E23 in their WCC fight.
How do you expect the Lotus E23 (2015 Contender) to perform ?
#1
Posted 31 August 2014 - 05:11
#3
Posted 31 August 2014 - 08:20
Bizarre to ask this question now, when quite frankly the teams won't have a scooby doo as to how their car next year will perform, let alone how it'll stack up against their competitors.
#4
Posted 31 August 2014 - 08:34
5 star thread
#5
Posted 31 August 2014 - 08:40
#6
Posted 31 August 2014 - 08:50
Not well. There is a certain pig-headedness about the Lotus design team, in that they seem unable to admit when they are wrong. At Spa, Caterham changed to the ant-eater proboscis, leaving Lotus on their own with their two-tined-fork nose; is it that they know something that all the other designers don't, or are they unwilling to admit that their solution was wrong? As we all know, get the aerodynamics of the nose wrong and everything else follows, or not, in the case of Lotus. All season long we have had drivers reporting instability, the lack of consistent handling; if the Lotus designers carry this mind-set forward they will still be going backward next season...
#7
Posted 31 August 2014 - 09:40
Bizarre you dont have a engine option
Edited by iii, 31 August 2014 - 09:41.
#8
Posted 31 August 2014 - 10:04
I suspect Lotus' technical team isn't as strong as they were in 2012-2013 any more with all that exodus, so I doubt they can repeat such performances even with the best engines. Then again they should be better than right now. So it could be somewhere inbetween I guess... Perhaps around where current Ferrari, Force India and McLaren race?
#9
Posted 31 August 2014 - 11:43
Somewhere between first and eleventh. Could be between first and eighth depending on what happens to Caterham, Marussia and Sauber.
#10
Posted 31 August 2014 - 11:57
Where is the "absolutely no idea" option?
#11
Posted 31 August 2014 - 14:31
They have not done anything with the Renault engine, so they will also be behind red bull.
So I don't expect them to be in the points on a regular basis.
#12
Posted 31 August 2014 - 14:39
#13
Posted 31 August 2014 - 14:57
This team has really drug the great Lotus name through the mud.
Until they get their **** together they're doomed.
Not a fan of either driver. RoGro isn't a team leader and PasMal is just an anchor with deep pockets.
With little or not much money from this years tally will kill them again in '15.
Big mistake not sticking with Renault imo. Too many Merc teams will leave them as bottom feeders once again. Call me crazy ,but they miss Kimi.
#14
Posted 31 August 2014 - 15:56
Will it be a 2015 car?
#15
Posted 31 August 2014 - 17:16
Not well. There is a certain pig-headedness about the Lotus design team, in that they seem unable to admit when they are wrong. At Spa, Caterham changed to the ant-eater proboscis, leaving Lotus on their own with their two-tined-fork nose; is it that they know something that all the other designers don't, or are they unwilling to admit that their solution was wrong? As we all know, get the aerodynamics of the nose wrong and everything else follows, or not, in the case of Lotus. All season long we have had drivers reporting instability, the lack of consistent handling; if the Lotus designers carry this mind-set forward they will still be going backward next season...
Caterham already had the "anteater". They just cleaned up the formerly boxy area above.
I think it would be too easy to pin it all on the nose design. The car obviously has plenty wrong with it. The good thing about next year for them is that there won't be too many changes in regulations, so what they throw at this year's car can be applied to next.
#16
Posted 31 August 2014 - 18:48
Not well. There is a certain pig-headedness about the Lotus design team, in that they seem unable to admit when they are wrong. At Spa, Caterham changed to the ant-eater proboscis, leaving Lotus on their own with their two-tined-fork nose; is it that they know something that all the other designers don't, or are they unwilling to admit that their solution was wrong? As we all know, get the aerodynamics of the nose wrong and everything else follows, or not, in the case of Lotus. All season long we have had drivers reporting instability, the lack of consistent handling; if the Lotus designers carry this mind-set forward they will still be going backward next season...
Caterham only resculpted the vanity panel area, they already had the proboscis. Given that it's a crash structure that means it requires undergoing the required crash testing which means that along with the fact that the aero of a good deal of the car would have to be adjusted to mach a new design, it would have a long lead time. Remember that it took Williams half a year to make the change from their walrus nose back when they were flush with BMW money.
#17
Posted 31 August 2014 - 20:13
Caterham only resculpted the vanity panel area, they already had the proboscis. Given that it's a crash structure that means it requires undergoing the required crash testing which means that along with the fact that the aero of a good deal of the car would have to be adjusted to mach a new design, it would have a long lead time. Remember that it took Williams half a year to make the change from their walrus nose back when they were flush with BMW money.
And it took McLaren 2 races... My point is that Lotus seem to think that everyone is marching out of step but them...
#18
Posted 31 August 2014 - 20:46
And it took McLaren 2 races... My point is that Lotus seem to think that everyone is marching out of step but them...
This year? McLaren haven't changed the fundamental philosophy of their nose design at all. We've just seem them optimise the design.
Anyway, Enstone are hardly alone in the unique nose departments. Ferrari and Mercedes have variations on other themes, and to a certain extent the Red Bull and Williams, maybe even Sauber, noses are along the scale away from the anteater shapes.
#19
Posted 31 August 2014 - 21:12
Advertisement
#20
Posted 31 August 2014 - 22:53
And it took McLaren 2 races... My point is that Lotus seem to think that everyone is marching out of step but them...
Which they had been working on since well before the season started, and they have considerably more money to spend on such developments.
Given that the rules wont allow for the twin tusks next year it would be stupid to think that they haven't already begun work on a new nose concept. With their lack of budget and that they are currently racing a car based around the now banned FRICS, I expect upcoming developments will be limited to things that could be easily transferred to next years car, which they will have started work on already.
#21
Posted 31 August 2014 - 23:11
There is nothing concrete to discuss so I'm closing this one. Their car certainly depends upon their financial situation though.