Frustrated Lotus to go Renault
Lotus F1 might be calling Red Bull Racing counterparts, ‘sister-cars’, as they appear to be on the brink of installing a Renault engine next year. The team is currently powered by a Cosworth V8 at the back of their cars.
There are a lot of cars in Formula One that use a third party engine instead of making their own. Presently, Red Bull Racing is on a Renault engine, Force India opting for Mercedes, BMW Sauber and Toro Rosso use a Ferrari engine while Williams, Hispania and Virgin, have a Cosworth engine at the rear-end.
Could this wish to change mechanical muscle be a ploy to be differentiated from lower end competition in the form of HRT and Virgin? Hoping to acquire some of the magic contained within the French V8’s by opting for the Red Bull choice seems a rather ambitious. However, if the Lotus team believes that shedding its Cosworth connections can ensure an escape from mediocrity, then it’s probably worth a shot sneaking a peek into the Williams’ garage who have done relatively well with their Cosworth marriage.
The catalyst for the switch is understood to be the lack of reliability offered by the current stock of Lotus' on the track this year, cars have often failed to complete races due to mechanical problems and that has really put the team under a lot of pressure with competitors doing better. Majority of the mechanical failures have been related with gearbox hydraulics rather than any problems with the team's Cosworth engines themselves. It is believed that the supply of a Renault gearbox is also part of the package.
"We would have been much happier being more reliable. That has been a disappointment to us. Some of it has been out of our control through outside suppliers and we have got to make sure we put that right for next year” commented Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer team Lotus F1
"Gearbox and hydraulics have been a particularly weak area. We haven't had the resources to put all the fixes in place and I think we have been let down by some suppliers who have not done as good a job as they should have done. But you cannot make excuses. You have to put things right."
The comments may seem nothing less than a direct assault on the manufacturers even to the most naïve of Formula One fans, and perhaps Gascoyne was tactless enough to not realize that. Adopting a rather conservative approach, the chief technical officer commended the Cosworth engines and added that he was happy with their marriage this season. He pinned the prevailing speculation to the team’s quest for achieving efficiency which makes it sensible to evaluate ‘every’ option that is available in the short and long run.
Although the Renault handshake is supposed to be a done deal, Lotus is understood to have a 3 year contract with their current suppliers. Since lower end teams do not have the same financial backing as the Formula One elites, the only way for teams like Lotus, HRT and Virgin is to spend their scarce resources wisely; constantly on the lookout for a fair bargain. Violating their contract on the other hand, would mean incurring a monetary penalty that could further dent the team’s spending kitty next season.
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