Lotus reveals the E20

Sun, 05 Feb 18:13:00 2012

Lotus has revealed its 2012 Formula 1 car, the E20.

otus E20 - 0

It will be given some demonstration runs at Jerez on Monday ahead of the start of winter testing on Tuesday.

The car is outwardly one of the more traditional designs unveiled so far, though it features the stepped nose design now commonplace, and reverts to a traditional exhaust layout - as mandated by the 2012 regulations - after last year's experiment with a forward exiting exhaust.

Team boss Eric Boullier hinted that the design featured plenty of subtle innovations.

"It's true that the team's reputation is good in terms of innovation and we brought through the last years some nice ones, and let's say some more delicate ones, but definitely we have some this year," he said.

The car is the first to be entered by the ex-Renault team under the Lotus title after the end of the branding dispute with rival team owner Tony Fernandes, whose erstwhile Lotus squad now runs as Caterham.

The E20 keeps the traditional black and gold colours used by the original Lotus F1 team in the 1970s and 80s, and features prominent new sponsorship from Unilever brands Rexona and Clear.

Lotus has brought 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen back into F1 to drive one of the cars, with '11 GP2 champion Romain Grosjean as his team-mate and ex-Virgin race driver Jerome D'Ambrosio acting as reserve.

Boullier said the priority was to bring a winning spirit back to Enstone, which had claimed championships in its Benetton and Renault eras, most recently in 2006 with Fernando Alonso.

"My biggest hope is obviously to bring this positivity back again and to make sure this team is again at the front of the grid and for many years and a long time," said Boullier.

"Also, to have all the people in Enstone enjoying life here and enjoying their passion for motor racing and F1.

"The fear is that we can have anything wrong which you cannot expect or handle and which would slow down this process."

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  1. Yeah good to see the Lotus name back in F1. I ­ wouldn't mind seeing Tyrrell again, although the­ ancestry is sort of there in the likes of Mercedes­ Petronas AMG.

    From Williams FW14B, on Mon 6 Feb 21:10

  2. i saw sauber car on the web with similar nose concept­ and it looks cool i think. to compare with other­ uglyducklings.

    From Ioseb, on Mon 6 Feb 18:56

  3. All the bits and pieces are there from cockpit to crew­ pit - but lets see if it jells. Pity we cant have a­ "Pole" ( pun intended) sitter in Kubika in­ one seat.. Kimi and Robert would be a fabulous pair.

    From Yelena, on Mon 6 Feb 18:27

  4. i would rather see the LOTUS name on the grid no matter­ who's car is sat under the skin, than not see the­ name at all. Its no different than the ammount of mass­ produced production cars that are the same vehicle re­ badged , The first that comes to mind is the 1995 Ford­ fiesta / Mazda 1 . same car different badge . VW Sharan­ / Seat Alhambra / Ford Galaxy, all the same vehicle , ­ There are loads of examples. Pleased to see LOTUS name­ out there i am

    From Bev, on Mon 6 Feb 17:57

  5. carlo.apcar - do you know anything about aerodynamics?­ as a designer from another sport, one that has to deal­ with aerodynamics every moment, I see the MacClaren­ nose as faster and the stepped noses as a compromise­ to house new front suspension designs on other 2012­ cars - I should wait and see which works better before­ opening your mouth - testing will tell who has it­ right!

    From eyrec45, on Mon 6 Feb 17:31

  6. to me all these "ugly" noses look much better­ than Bernie's 6 wheel monster

    From Dr?mais, on Mon 6 Feb 15:06

  7. Felice - Lotus ran the black with gold color scheme­ under Olympus sponsorship, as well. It is not the­ colors, but the wording that is relevant..

    From Yorgos, on Mon 6 Feb 12:25

  8. The original Lotus team used british racing green with­ yellow wobbly web wheels in the 1950's a yellow­ center stripe was added at the 1963 Indy 500 which the­ team kept until he sold out to the Players Tobacco­ concern in 1968 when his cars turned red and yellow­ with a thin gold stripe separating them. Black &­ Gold did not come along until 1972. Why is a Formula­ One team still running tobacco colours in 2012 ?

    From Felice Tedechi, on Mon 6 Feb 6:21

  9. Is this the first Proton that runs on Ethanol ? There­ does not seem to be much space for Kimi's Flake­ 99 cone in the cockpit.

    From Felice Tedechi, on Mon 6 Feb 6:15

  10. know it all......

    no one is disagreeing, so no need­ to repeat yourself for our benefit!

    Problem is you­ don't "know it all" .... suggesting that­ someone who has been dead for 30 years is running a­ British company that is owned by Malaysians does not­ show a lot of insight .....

    From Sam B, on Mon 6 Feb 6:13

  11. Go and earn your own reputation ! you can't buy­ credibility , how pathetic, "we are called Lotus­ so we must be great"

    From know it all, on Mon 6 Feb 6:10

  12. LOTUS my @rse !

    From know it all, on Mon 6 Feb 6:04
  13. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    PS: what did Chapman ever do for Lotus cars,,,nothing,,­ why are we even bothered.. since Merc insnt a Merc,­ Ferrari insnt Italian and Williams is bloody Arab. Who­ ever pays the bills gets the glory ,, or the money,­ assuming the car wins, not with standing that Red Bull­ isnt even a car company- Go sugar filled Juice.

    From C, on Mon 6 Feb 5:46

  14. Lotus haven't been anything to do with Chapman for­ 30 years- its only a brand- its still just an F1 team­ using a label.

    From C, on Mon 6 Feb 5:41

  15. @ know it all you state "run­ owned and operated­ by colin chapman"

    Did you know Colin Chapman died­ on 16 December 1982?

    So its unlikely he will be­ running and managing Lotus in Norfolk, which is­ actually owned by Proton, a Malaysian company.

    From Ogiwumptimuf, on Mon 6 Feb 5:33

  16. this team & car have no conection what so ever to­ LOTUS, - lotus is a british brand based in Norfolk, run­ owned and operated by colin chapman an Englishman, it­ is sad what some pepole will sell and what others­ think they are buying, LOTUS MY @rse !

    From know it all, on Mon 6 Feb 5:25

  17. Naming it E20 underlines that this team has no true­ connection to Lotus. Might as well have called itself­ Mugwuppet or something.

    From MARK, on Mon 6 Feb 3:46

  18. Red bull too will almost certainly have a platypus nose­ like most but I think MacLaren have blown it with a­ conventional nose that has too much drag.

    From carlo.apcar, on Mon 6 Feb 3:29

  19. what is going to happen in 2013?

    From sigman_1998, on Mon 6 Feb 3:21

  20. What puzzles me is how all the cars are going to turn­ up with this rather ugly nose when each
    manufacturer­ designs their new car behind closed doors inside wind­ tunnels. Who came up
    with this design first and how­ come everyone else copied?Lotus used to be the team­ of
    invention with their ground effect cars but it took­ a season for everyone else to copy!
    Can't wait to­ see the new Red Bull.

    From Mike Lennard, on Mon 6 Feb 2:56
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