We have had far too much jibber-jabber about Lotus in recent days. Thus today I am not going to mention it (after this!). Let’s concentrate on looking at the on-track activities in Spain and other positive things. As I have said before the whole Lotus question will be sorted out by blokes with black dresses and wigs on their heads… (and that is not a reference to anyone involved in any racing teams).
Onward and upward.
Here is an interesting off-track picture sent out by a Mr Fernandes from Valencia in Spain…
Karun Chandhok and Alex Yoong try a new range of fashion
And here is a picture of one of the new cars, not seen yesterday, running in Spain..
The new Lotus T128. © Sutton Motorsport Images.
Well, what can you do? News is news…
I expect a green car and a black car will soon collide.
lol yeah in my blog I’ve also talked way too much about the whole Lotus saga… But at least as a big Team Lotus fan from back in the day, I can rest a little easier having seen the innovative and good looking designs both teams are running.
Thus ensuring there wont be an armed guard at the Renault hospitality area all season to keep you away.
Seriously Joe… “No mention?” Sometimes you are worse than me.
John,
It is called a joke… but I do want to make the point that an awful lot of time was wasted yesterday with a bunch of comments that reall;y achieve nothing. I want a day free of that. There are other things to be done…
I notice on Autosport that ‘new’ Lotus (old Renault) are still be referred to as Renault and Team Lotus still called Lotus.
Joe you’re on a roll mate. You’ve had 2 or 3 of the top five articles I’ve read in the last week or so. I read a lot!
Any photos of the rear end of any green and perhaps yellow cars?
If they do collide Dr Evil will say it was Webber’s fault…
Joe – what is your take on the relationship between Lotus and Renault at the drivers/engineeers/mechanic level. Obviously at the top of the tree there is a lot of animosity, but do you sense that runs all the way through the teams, and do you think we might see that out on the track at any point (in terms of slow cars holding others up in qualifying or race).
Paul,
Team people are team people. They will be fine. There will be competition (as between all teams) but camaraderie as well.
The whole Lotus saga is boring. Honestly, I do not really care who owns the team, the brand, the patent, the [insert whatever you wish here]. I’m absolutely confident that they, both Lotus and HRT, will be out of the races, having in mind the 107% rule. And that’s what matters – what you do on the track. If you are 7 seconds slower – I don’t want to hear about you. However, if your sole intention is to make a PR noise, and you have a lot of friends in media, you got it, Lotus guys. There hasn’t been a single day without Lotus buzzword being mentioned. So, at some point, it really gets boring. So, once again, my appeal to Lotus team (or whatever the structure is) : if you read Joe’s blog (no doubt) – please, focus on your on-track activities and make sure to actually participate in all 20 races.
Joe,
Agreed (my comment was also filed under ‘joke’). I’ve already forgotten about the L word (Lampshades, was it?) and I’m concentrating on the things that really matter… i.e. How every entrant now has a car that is capable of 2- 3 positions higher in the tables… I seriously can’t wait for the season to start!
Ok then Joe. That’s good. (It also means I can get on with some work too without trawling through the mesages on here! You’re a bad influence!)
So, without talking about the shenanigans off track, on track Team Lotus…I thought that airbox was banned for this year? Any news on that?
Thanks in advance.
2011poems,
I don’t think it is banned. If it is someone screwed up!!
Nice to see Karun has managed to hang on in F1. Also nice to see some cars on the rack, finally.
I’ve woken up to what sounds like very positive news coming out of Egypt *and* we’re having a Lotus – free day? Very good. No, far better than just good. Maybe the latter should be dedicated to the former, well it is in my mind, anyhow.
snafuracer, your observation reminds me of the guy who banged his head against the wall, because it felt so good when he stopped. I does feel a bit that way. I hope there’ll be a broader sudden outbreak of common sense. Putting cars on a track seems to scracth the itch!
cheers,
– j
From Adam Cooper:
“The car also features a ‘spike’ roll hoop, although it is not as extreme as that on last year’s Mercedes, and is thus legal.”
I was kinda right…
Yeah I reckon that spike thing on the Lotus is being different for the sake of being different… Probably would’ve looked better with a normal airbox inlet [contemplative face].
Is Mike Gascoyne playing with fire?
FIA Article 15.2.4 The ‘spike’-style rollhoop has been banned for safety reasons.
I see no difference with the Mercedes W01 ‘spike’-style rollhoop.
British Racing Green with Lotus Yellow still looks good!
As opposed to the Black ‘n Gold.
Joe, what do you mean by “collide”? Fighting for the same position is realistically out of the question.
Snafuracer,
Why do you think the 107% will have any affect this year when it would have had effectively none last year when the teams were completely new. At the time people were complaining about really slow backmarkers no-one would have been outside a 105% rule never mind 107.
Team Lotus would be a big flop this season and will be forced to change it’s name. You only need performance to speak for you n justify big name like “LOTUS”;not any Copy Right!
Oh, I noticed this yesterday.
http://www.lotuscars.com/news/en/nigel-mansell
Dating from 17 December 2010, but still up on the website:
—–
Message from Nigel Mansell:
I am delighted to see the return of Group Lotus to Formula One through their acquisition of an equity stake in Renault F1.
—-
Guess Bahar fooled him too:)
Well if looks are anything to go by ( and I know mostly there not ) then in the flesh the Enstone team livery looks bland, but the Norfolk teams livery looks pretty crisp and cool ! …..but for me there will only be the one and only ….ALONSO …until my next hero turns up !