Tony Fernandes aims to create a new legacy at Lotus
The principal of team Lotus, Tony Fernandes hopes that 2011 will mark the beginning of a new era for the team. He expressed his feelings after the launch of the Lotus car for the 2011 Formula One season.
Fernandes stated, “Colin Chapman created the last dynasty and it's one that inspires me and all my team to do more, think more, be more every day. But now it is time for us to create our own legend.”
He further added, “I remember when I was a boy, running a hole in the carpet with my model Lotus Formula One car. I had dreams then, I still do, but what I hope to inspire is the belief that if you dare to dream, you can achieve great things.”
The team had been the best amongst the newcomers in the 2010 season. The aim for the Lotus team next season will be to score points and remain in the mid-field. Lotus claimed that the design of this year’s car was a big step forward, and that they would
be more aggressive than last year. The team has retained both the drivers from last year.
Lotus had a very little time last year and their goal was to just make it into the sport and complete all the races. The team had halted the development of the 2010 car and started working on the next model. There have been several claims by the team that
the car will be a lot smoother in 2011 compared to last year.
The team will be running with the Renault engine this year. Last year, all the debutant teams used the Cosworth engines but most of them were unable to score points in any of the races. The only team with Cosworth engines to finish in the points was Williams-Cosworth.
Last year saw some off-field problems for Lotus as well including the naming issue with Group Lotus. Both parties failed to settle the issue and the matter had to go to court. However, the team is looking forward to focusing on performance in the upcoming
season rather than other issues. The team’s chief technical officer, Mike Gascoyne said that nothing has been carried forward from last year’s design.
He stated that the team has a totally different set-up and will be much more competitive next season. However, these claims will only be verified once the season starts. Pre-season testing will kick-off at Valencia from 1st February and the season will start
in Bahrain on 13th March.
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