Formula 1: Team Lotus launch car for 2011 season
Team Lotus revealed their 2011 Formula 1 car on Monday with a new design amid hopes of doing well in the season.
The team was confident that they will feature in the mid-field and will score points throughout the campaign.
Although Lotus did not win any point in 2010, the team was the best amongst all the newcomers. They also had a relatively experienced driver line-up in the shape of Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen.
The team admitted that their previous car was not manufactured to win races or points but the aim was to finish ahead of the new teams, which they did.
The chief technical officer of the team, Mike Gascoyne stated, “I think that basically this car looks like a front-running car in every area. We said very clearly that we want to start challenging the established teams and I think that's very achievable.”
Team principal, Tony Fernandes said, “The launch of the T128 is a big step forward for Team Lotus and I want to thank the whole team for the amount of hard work that has already gone into T128, and I want to thank Renault and Red Bull Technology for their
tremendous support in helping us make this step forward and for being such great team partners.”
In 2010, the team used Cosworth engines but this time around, they will have Renault as their engine suppliers.
There have been some off-field issues for Lotus which have troubled them of late. The team has been involved in a naming issue with Group Lotus and the matter is being resolved through courts.
However, Team Lotus claimed that the naming issue has not affected their preparations for the new season.
Lotus have become the second team to launch their car for the 2011 season after Ferrari who launched their car on Saturday.
Apart from Lotus and Ferrari, Mercedes launched a computer-generated image of their car which will be unveiled on 1 February, 2011 at Valencia.
Tags: