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[BackOnTop]

Lotus tops Motor Sport’s poll
Alex Harmer



The votes are in and Lotus is the most impressive Formula 1 team in the eyes of Motor Sport readers. If statistics were everything, though, the most impressive team would have to be Red Bull, followed by Ferrari, then McLaren, according to the standings. But based on where they were last year, struggling with inexperienced drivers and an underdeveloped car, this season has been a revelation.

With former champion Kimi Räikkönen and the fast but erratic Romain Grosjean on board, Lotus looked dangerous all year. After two seasons spent rallying, Räikkönen took some time to get his racecraft back, although he was the first to admit it. In a recent interview with Motor Sport, he said of his failure to pass Sebastian Vettel in Bahrain: “We should have won, we got one chance. And if it would have been now at the end of the season I probably would have been much more aggressive. But that’s how it goes.”

The Finn finished every Grand Prix in 2012, testament to the team’s ability to build a reliable car, aside from the alternator problems that plagued Renault’s engines. Grosjean only suffered once from that problem in Valencia, and his other retirements were often conspicuously his own doing. Räikkönen finished third in the championship despite only winning once and there is a good feeling in the team. Sometimes seen as a problem child at McLaren and Ferrari, he’s finally found his home.

Interesting Fact:
Lotus scored 654 votes (38 per cent of the total), fellow Grand Prix winners Mercedes finished with two. That’s two votes, not two per cent. After largely squandering their early-season form, down the stretch their car was off the pace. To put their result in perspective, HRT outscored them 55-2.

http://www.motorspor...or-sports-poll/?

[jcbc3]

Some things shouldn't be put to a vote.

[eronrules]

if we judge teams performance compared to 2011 performances, then yes LotusF1 wins, but SauberF1 should be second, williams 3rd .... then the big boys

IMO the list should be (comparing between 2011 and 2012)

1.LotusF1
2.Sauber
3.WilliamsF1
4.Redbull
5.Mclaren
6.Ferrari ..... and the rest

however ... we can all agree on Mercedes GP being dead last, no competition there

Edited by eronrules, 11 December 2012 - 13:48.

[Risil]

Looks about right actually. Are Mercedes the new Toyota?

[2ms]

Looks about right actually. Are Mercedes the new Toyota?

They have been Honda. But next year is the season where all the new hires could start to take effect, at the earliest really, remember that it wasn't until his 4th year there, that Adrian Newey was able to start succeeding at Red Bull.

[F1ultimate]

if we judge teams performance compared to 2011 performances, then yes LotusF1 wins, but SauberF1 should be second, williams 3rd .... then the big boys

IMO the list should be (comparing between 2011 and 2012)

1.LotusF1
2.Sauber
3.WilliamsF1
4.Redbull
5.Mclaren
6.Ferrari ..... and the rest

I would rate Williams above Sauber. The Williams car was done injustice by the drivers.

[muramasa]

The Enstone team impressed me alot too. Over the past few years after Renault pulling the plug from the outfit they have had all the elements that would put any teams in serious danger, but somehow they not only manage to survive but keep producing competitive, if not WCC contender, cars.

[Topsu]

I guess the base for this car was already there in 2011, but they made huge mistakes with the exhaust system.

[jcbc3]

Some of you are failing to see the difference between 'impressive' and 'improved'.

[Risil]

I would rate Williams above Sauber. The Williams car was done injustice by the drivers.

Who were hired by...?

[Maldonado after Spa did the Williams plenty of justice, IMO. The damage was quite literally done by then, of course.]

Edited by Risil, 11 December 2012 - 14:52.

[SpaMaster]

I am not surprised. I have said all along they have been the most impressive team this year. Their car got a nomination along the same vein in the Autosport awards too last year.

[eric2610]

Actually very interesting poll. Would agree with it. Maybe I would rate Sauber and Williams higher than RedBull. If you see with which budget those 2 Teams operate in comparison with RedBull and considering that those two teams do not have Topdrivers that always will deliver.

[flavio81]

Most impressive? Easily. They went from "meh" to "pretty good" in just 1 year.

[Anderis]

I have a feeling it's not their (Lotus') last step forward. They're doing extraordinary job in terms of finding sponsorship and I won't be surprised if they join front-runners on a consistent basis soon. It seems that from 2013 onwards, they will have enough resources to do that.

Edited by Anderis, 11 December 2012 - 19:37.

[eronrules]

I have a feeling it's not their (Lotus') last step forward. They're doing extraordinary job in terms of finding sponsorship and I won't be surprised if they join front-runners on a consistent basis soon. It seems that from 2013 onwards, they will have enough resources to do that.

amen to that brother

[2ms]

I'm just curious why people think it was the team rather than Raikkonen that made the difference. After all, the team is basically the same as the last 5 years if not smaller and with a lot of its talent gone. Technically, probably the biggest difference in the team's assets is their drivers.

[eronrules]

I'm just curious why people think it was the team rather than Raikkonen that made the difference. After all, the team is basically the same as the last 5 years if not smaller and with a lot of its talent gone. Technically, probably the biggest difference in the team's assets is their drivers.

that's because the car was good from the get go during bercelona and during the first half, both drivers performed well. kimi was a tad rusty for the first couple of races, but the car was good enough for him to push. we all heard the praises from both drivers that the car was predictable and could be pushed without snapping. you also have to remember that lotus was the last of the front running teams to install Coanda on their car, even without it, kimi was on podiums and always in 4-7th place. only a fundamentally good car (compared to 2011 ofcourse) could give kimi that chance, but that doesn't mean kimi wasn't exceptional, but you need two palms to clap.

[LiJu914]

I'm just curious why people think it was the team rather than Raikkonen that made the difference. After all, the team is basically the same as the last 5 years if not smaller and with a lot of its talent gone. Technically, probably the biggest difference in the team's assets is their drivers.

Romain Grosjean was already once one of their drivers in these five years. How well did he do at that time?

Or was Red Bull this year as good as in 2011?


Silly argument to claim the car was as good/bad as before just because the personnel didn´t change and because it´s your biggest wish...

Edited by LiJu914, 11 December 2012 - 20:08.

[Disgrace]

Most impressive? Easily. They went from "meh" to "pretty good" in just 1 year.

This current guise of the Enstone team has been around since 2010, which was a good year. They would have been up there last year but the FFE was developmental dead-end. The car itself only had the problem of being built around it, much like Mercedes this year with the DDRS. We already knew Allison could make a good car.

Contrast that to Williams who had to get in a new technical team after last year's disaster-tastrophe. I think they've been much more impressive to bounce back to create a race winning car. I suspect they'd be higher in that poll if they'd hired the drivers to deliver regularly.

[Jimisgod]

I would rate Williams above Sauber. The Williams car was done injustice by the drivers.

Sauber just worked its tyres well, it fluctuated wildly track to track. Williams was clearly capable of the front 3 or 4 rows for 75% of the races and had more "conventional" speed (not due to tyres). Pastor is flattered by how slow Senna was, the Williams clearly had the speed to beat Alonso in Spain.

Hulkenberg or Kobayashi, and def. Hamilton/Alonso/Button/Vettel + Williams would have given them a few more podiums and maybe another win.

[Anderis]

Pastor is flattered by how slow Senna was, the Williams clearly had the speed to beat Alonso in Spain.

I don't think Pastor was flattered by how slow Senna was. My view about his speed is determined more on the fact how well he was doing against Rubens in his rookie year (and he had much less experience with F1 car than di Resta or Hulkenberg in their rookie years). I agree Williams had the speed to beat Ferrari in Spain, but I honestly believe Pastor has put this car higher than it deserved on several occassion (in Singapore or Abu Dhabi until his KERS failed).

It doesn't change the fact the car probably had the pace to finish 5th in WCC with proper driver pairing (not necessarily two top drivers, just give them Force India's, Sauber's or Mercedes' driver pairing from this year). But well. They've finished 8th and it isn't impressive. Their season is flattered by the fact how poor they were last year. But all in all, 8th is disappointment for this team and some kind of underperforming. They have the resources to beat Sauber and Force India clearly. They could, but you can't isolate team from drivers. Drivers are the part of the team, as well as designers, engineers, mechanics etc. The final outcome is what matters the most. And on that basis, Sauber were more impressive this year. They've beaten Williams by 2 places in WCC despite having smaller budget.