Lotus F1 team profile – Formula 1
Lotus F1 team have been one of the most successful teams in the history of F1. In 1981, the team made its debut for UK-Toleman Motorsport which was founded by Ted Toleman and Alex Hawkridge. In its first season, Lotus only qualified for Italian and Las Vegas
Grands Prix.
In the following couple of years they gradually improved their form. In 1982, Derek Warwick set the quickest lap at Dutch Grand Prix and finished fourth at the same race in the next season after scoring team’s first points. The team took ninth position in
constructors’ ranking in 1983.
With the entry of an amazingly talented Brazilian newcomer, Ayrton Senna who was the runner up in the Monaco GP following Alain Prost in 1984, the team finished seventh in the constructors’ championship.
In 1985, the team failed to score and dropped to sixteenth position because they faced financial problems which restricted them to only one car entry at most of the races during the season. Moreover, for the next season the team was bought by the sponsors,
Benetton.
In 1986, the redesigned team joined as Benetton with BMW’s engine and finished sixth at the end of the season while Gerhard Berger scored the team’s first victory at Mexico. Later in 1987, the team managed to secure two podiums and finished fifth in the
championship standing and in the following year, they improved their ranking and finished third overall.
In 1989, Senna was disqualified because of his conflicts with Prost while the team finished fourth in the championship ranking overall. During the next couple of seasons they ended at third and fourth in the constructors’ championship standings.
Michael Schumacher joined in 1992 and gave the team a competitive edge. He won at Belgium GP for the first time while they ended at third place in the standings. The next season was quite complicated but Schumacher won at Portugal and the team secured the
third position once again.
In 1994, Schumacher dominated the season and claimed the drivers’ title. In the next season, they secured both the championship titles while the German remained dominant throughout the year.
In the following year, Schumacher left the team which proved out to be quite hard for the team and they fell on the third place at the end of the season. In 1997, regardless of a win in Germany, they kept on struggling throughout the season and again finished
third in the constructors’ standings.
From 1998-1999, they ended at fifth and sixth overall in the ranking. Later in 2000, Flavio Briatore returned as the team principal. Furthermore, Jenson Button joined the team in 2001 and they secured one podium in Belgium.
In 2002, they came up as New Renault and enjoyed the debut season while finishing fourth in the constructors’ ranking. In the subsequent year, they emerged as a strong team for the top contenders while Fernando Alonso took two pole positions including a
win at Hungary GP. In 2004, they were the runner up in the championship with a victory in Monaco.
In 2005, they won the constructors’ title while the Spaniard, Alonso claimed the championship title and became the youngest ever champion at that time. In the next year, they were successful in securing both the titles before the departure of Alonso.
During 2007, the team’s performance declined because of the exit of Alonso. Nevertheless, he came back in 2008 and they made progress during the season with ending at fourth position with 80 points in total. Season of 2009 was quite struggling one for the
team while during the next season the team ended reasonably well at fifth position.
Lotus Group became the title sponsor in 2011 with Bruno Senna joining the team while the team ended the season with a disappointment because of innovative forward exhaust failure in R31.
However, the hopes are high for the team Lotus with the drivers, Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean, in the upcoming 2012 F1 season starting on March 18, 2012 at Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia.
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