Lotus appoints John Iley head of aerodynamics and CFD – Formula 1 news
Formula 1 team Lotus have appointed McLaren’s John Iley as performance director.
“We are absolutely delighted that John has taken up the challenge we have offered him, to help take us to the next level on and off track in one of the key areas of performance in Formula 1,” Lotus Group CEO Riad Asmat said.
“It is a real sign of our growth and development as a serious contender for long-term honours that we can attract someone of John's calibre and we are all very excited about the contribution he will make to our future success from the moment he starts work
with our team,” he further added.
Iley was head of aerodynamics at McLaren and has had experience working with Ferrari and Renault. Lotus soon to be Caterham is looking to gain a lot from the experience of Iley and hope that he former colleague Mike Gascoyne and he together can benefit the
team.
McLaren made good strides with Iley as head of aerodynamics and that Caterham will be looking to gain the same as they beef up their team using the big prize money they secured by finishing 10th in the 2011 constructors’ championship.
It is almost like Lotus is trying to reinvent itself. The name change was the start and now they are looking to add big names to the team so that they can come with a competitive car to fare better than the 10th position.
On another note Caterham F1 is also looking to sign up Daniel Ricciardo to replace Jarno Trulli. It is another good move to bolster their chances of a better showing. Ricciardo will suit Caterham as they are going to be using Red Bull gearboxes and KERS
and the Aussie being a driver for Toro Rosso will be accustomed to them.
Although Ricciardo downplayed chances of Caterham to be able to score points in 2012, but said that the team is on its way up and improving fast. It would be interesting to see how Caterham performs in 2012. It would be best for the sport and the fans to
have more competition on the grid from the weaker teams.
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