An in-depth look at the profile of Formula 1 team, Lotus – Part 1
Lotus are one of the first and more established teams of Formula 1 as the team became a part of the sport back in 1958 and the team instantly secured great results as they scored the 6th place in their debut season followed by a
4th place finish in the constructors’ standings in 1959.
At first, the team was using Climax engines until 1965 in the sport and it seems that they proved to be quite efficient for the team as they secured the 2nd place in the constructors’ standings the following 3 years.
In 1963, the team secured its first constructors’ title and this was clearly the first of many as the team moved on strongly and maintained its performance throughout its “first phase” in Formula 1.
Lotus were one of those few teams that boosted its performance right after their debut and stayed in the team for longer than most of the teams of the sport and on top of that, they secured great results each year which is not easy in Formula 1 as there
is a lot of competition and consistency is nearly impossible.
Either way, the team was unable to defend its titles in 1964 as they finished in 3rd place with just 40 points in the constructors’ standings before winning their second title the following year with the help of 58 points after
scoring 6 wins and 6 pole positions.
After that, the team decided to move on and shifted to various engine suppliers including BRM and Ford mainly. 1966 was quite disappointing for the team as they were unable to defend their titles and finished in the mid-field in the constructors’ standings.
However, they shifted to Ford in 1967 and things started to get better for them once again as they secured the 2nd place in the constructors’ standings before scoring their third constructors’ title in 1968. This was
a massive blow to most of the top running teams of the sport at that time as Lotus were proving to be an active and dangerous competitor for them.
Once again, Lotus were unable to defend their title but the team proved that it is consistent as they finished in 3rd place in the constructors’ standings before scoring another title the following year.
Their journey is more like a ‘roller coaster ride’ with many ups and downs and the following years of their career were no different either.
The team scored the 5th place in the 1971 season before scoring their 5th championship the following year. This was the first time in Lotus’ career that they successfully defended their titles as they won the championships
in the years 1972 and 1973.
However, this was the team’s major bang for the next couple of years as they scored some disappointing mid-field results for the following 3 years before getting back into shape.
The team scored the 2nd place in the constructors’ standings in 1977 and as expected, the team secured its 7th constructors’ title the following year before heading into a major downfall.
After that, the team was unable to secure a single title throughout its career despite the fact that they had drivers like Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet on their side but they still secured some pretty decent results.
Continued in Part 2…
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