18 replies to this topic

[chrcol]

seems no reason stated, having poor testing is a bit vague and a cop out of a reason why they suddenly 4-5 seconds slower.

[KingTiger]

They kept developing last years car for no reason, while everyone else had switched to 2014 cars by the middle of the summer.

[sydsvenskan]

Lack of money, loss of talent

[HoldenRT]

Lack of testing, and lack of resources to catch up or bounce back in the way that Redbull can.  They are just behind schedule, you can't even say what their pace is because they haven't even unlocked the car properly yet.

[Disgrace]

They kept developing last years car for no reason, while everyone else had switched to 2014 cars by the middle of the summer.

 

The opportunity to gain second in the WCC, with the finances they badly need, was realistic at one point. All of the success under the Lotus guise has come via debt financing, so an opportunity to get some actual cash should be grabbed with both hands. Refer to BMW's approach to 2008 when a team squanders what turned out to be their only chance at glory.

[Alburaq]

Many people said the Red Bull is slow based on their times in Bahrain... while the RBR showed flashes of speed. The Lotus did the same in Bahrain and yesterday. Obviously when you only look at the time cheets you se nothing.
It's ridiculous... Not talking about Lotus but the loosers who are already burying Lotus alive...
Did they forget Red Bull?
RBR was in a very similar situation not 3 weeks ago. And they solved their problems with Renault relativly rapidly. Yes RBR has more money and stability but you are forgetting that RBR is suppiying STR and Caterham with Gearboxes, some electronics and hydraulics so Renault has certainly prioritised RBR because when they solve RB's problems they kill three birds with a single stone.
And the E22 is relatively different inside...
Yes the E22 seem to be have a big potential: a car that does a 1:33 in its first practice session, with much fuel (as RoGro said), the first time it puts the soft tires and with jsut 301km/h as top speed, is a fast car... Just like the RB10 in Bahrain1 - day2 with Ricciardo...
They will solve their problems. That will obviously take more time than RBR but they'll be back and all the dogs who are barking will shut up just like yesterday for Red Bull : )

[chrcol]

But what are the problems?

[Exb]

I think missing the first test has not helped Lotus. Red Bull discovered their major issues at the end of Jan in Jerez and although they didn't get much running in they were able to start working on a fix (I think they have said they have moved a lot of the internals around for cooling). Lotus would only have discovered any major problems (and it does seem like they have some major problems) 3 weeks ago in Bahrain which probably hasn't given them time to bring any solutions yet and their 2nd test was only a couple of days after the first, again giving them no time to bring changes/updates if things needed correcting. The Renault power unit hasn't helped either as it has just added to the issues. I am sure they can sort out the issues with time and testing, unfortunately they are now going to have to do it during race weekends, its also not helped by the fact they are so far away from the factory whilst at the fly away races, it makes bringing updates trickier. It might be a good car once they get it running and the Renault engine seems to be getting sorted which can only help them. Hopefully they can sort it out sooner rather than later.

[MortenF1]

Didn't Maldonado do some laps in the 34's straight out the box in third free? That's not too bad all things considered. I think the car has very much right, but it seems there are serious software-problems and challenges with braking.

Grosjean needs to step up though, keep his calm both towards the team and also on the track, 'cause he's clearly been overdriving as a consequence of his frustrations.

[TheUltimateWorrier]

Slowtus

[Atreiu]

I think they are not so slow, but a thousand testing miles behnd.

[HeadFirst]

But what are the problems?

Lack of pace mostly.

[Lee Nicolle]

Asa they said on the commentary yesterday 'Lotus are 6 weeks behind'

This weekend and probably next are just a test session for them.

[charly0418]

6 weeks behind? honestly they look a lot worse than a lot of teams on their 1st day in Jerez

[Eff One 2002]

As far as I can see it's a combination of being massively underprepared and underfunded, plus the car performance seems below the Caterham at the present time. It's a very sad state to see the once great multiple WDC/WCC Benetton/Renault team in...

Edited by Eff One 2002, 15 March 2014 - 23:49.

[Mauseri]

The car just did not seem to want turn. Maybe the brake-energy-saving was not working. That's what happens when you have all brake balance in front.

[HammyHamiltonFan]

people making excuses for them is just pathetic, Marussia and Caterham have far less resources than Lotus and didn't have anything like the success last time out but still managed to develop cars that at least seem to work...

 

Lotus messed up big time with their finances and now they are paying the price for being at least 3 months behind on developing their car, they will be lucky to score any points this season imo.

 

Maldonado definitely won't score points.

[Petroltorque]

There is a singular lack of understanding among posters. The E22 is a far more advanced car than anything that Caterham or Marussia have produced. Yes they have lost resources but the Lotus chassis remains cutting edge. Even if they can get both cars to the finish that would provide valuable data for the engineers.

[Shiroo]

I believe it isn't the car is slow, but they totally went mad with missing a test.

 

They are few thousand km behind Mercedes, and at least few hundred km behind anyone