Lotus has officially revealed the car it will return to F1 with in 2010 at a launch ceremony in London.
See below for pictures of the Lotus T127 – the first Lotus since 1994.
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malaysianf1
12th February 2010, 17:49
beautiful car.. nice one!!
MigueLP
13th February 2010, 16:42
the nose wing is very similar to last years toyota but the wing is very complex i like the car but the color scheme but its obvious it will be 20th something
jef
20th February 2010, 18:56
i think so too
epi
12th February 2010, 17:50
Those flat top sidepods look really ugly to me. Makes it look like a huge bathtub. Apart from the front wing which is a combination of various other car’s front wings the entire car looks remarkably basic.
Having said that, I do like the colours on it, especially the yellow wheels.
Damon
12th February 2010, 18:32
“Those flat top sidepods look really ugly to me.”
Wow, you must be very new to F1.
sato113
12th February 2010, 19:09
the sidepods are alot flatter than other recent F1 cars.
Damon
12th February 2010, 19:20
Doh.
Scribe
12th February 2010, 20:57
To be fair, no matter how good they used to look, (subjective) those sidpods look hella ugly to me.
but wow, they seem to have gone for the exact reverse phillosophy that Virgin went for, complicated front wing, basic everything else.
An me oh my, FINALLY, launch photos that show us the money shot! Is it me or have they got a BGP01 diffuser on the back of their car?
Simply from taking a look at that car I get the feeling Virgin has got one over them, still they had a lot less time on that car, an it looks better than USF1 an Campos so far doesn;t it?
Ned Flanders
12th February 2010, 21:02
Yeah, I don’t like the flat sidepods either. A lot of the aesthetic changes to F1 cars in recent years have made them uglier, but the move towards curved sidepods was a big improvement
Cube
12th February 2010, 17:50
Gorgeous! utterly gorgeous! so true to the old livery!
Pete Walker
12th February 2010, 19:22
I disagree. For a true ’67 style livery the yellow stripe should spread at the tip of the nose and wrap around, Red Bull style. Hope it looks better on TV under the Bahrain sunshine.
Don’t get me wrong, its great to see British Racing Green back on the grid, but I hoped for a much nicer looking car than this.
That said, I have a lot of faith in Gascoyne and I hope the team does well. :)
Cube
12th February 2010, 20:24
With a new twist of course…. they couldnt really to that because it would look too similar to the red bull at a distance… nothing worse than mixing up two cars… like Midland & McLaren
Clay
12th February 2010, 23:06
Think of the ’05 Toyota which looked a lot like the ’04 Toyota… which was rubbish and looked like a 2003 Toyota. In ’05 with no tyre changes everyone else had different looking cars – but yet Toyota did very well. And who oversaw that car?
Our man Gazza. I don’t for one minute think this will be a winner out of the box but it will not embarass itself.
Dr. Gonzo
12th February 2010, 23:42
That was a later iteration of the livery, on the groundbreaking Lotus 25 the stripe was straight to the nose.
http://i31.tinypic.com/106iik0.jpg
sato113
13th February 2010, 4:26
anyone notice the new Lotus logo? it’s different from the old one.
Dev
12th February 2010, 17:50
toyota nose, last years force india’s front wing
Simon Hull
12th February 2010, 17:51
first car since 2010?
Jimos
12th February 2010, 17:52
Lotus only in name!
Maciek
12th February 2010, 18:10
In a sense you could say that about Ferrari and McLaren, too, since their founders aren’t there anymore. Lotus give credit where credit is due on their website – not much more they can do.
RandomChimp
12th February 2010, 19:07
In a sense I’m not me anymore because most of my cells are only a few days old.
The relationship between this rebooted ‘Lotus’ and Colin Chapman’s team could arguably be analogous to someone using another person’s identity and reputation after their death.
matt90
12th February 2010, 19:07
But Ferrari and McLaren can still be traced back to their founders, whereas this Lotus team can be tracked back to Malaysia last year.
A-Safieldin
12th February 2010, 19:43
No to be honest Matt. Mclaren and Ferrari have been Mclaren and Ferrari since they began, this is called Team Lotus if im not mistaken, which isnt the real Lotus brand. If they were real Lotus they wouldnt distance themselves from the road car firm. I wish they had made this team from the lotus road cars company like jaguar did a few years ago, but they just havent won me over, its like a really good chinese gucci bag, no matter how good or real it looks, even if people believe that its real…… you’ll always no its chinese.
A-Safieldin
12th February 2010, 19:53
i meant to be honest i agree with matt.
Scribe
12th February 2010, 21:03
I’m not massivley patriotic, an I live in London etc so I really hope this doen’t come out wrong but something rubs me the wrong way that the car is going to be Malaysian flaged.
Nothing against Malaysian but surley they could have called it Proton. I feel i’m on thin ice here, an i’ll probably change my name if the real lotus buys into the company, i’ll be happy with that as a rubber stamp. But Lotus is the eponymous British racing team. Racing Green, Colin Chapman, Graham Hill and Jim Clark. I think Malaysian involvement in F1 is great but I do feel they could have used a brand that wasn’t so close to our hearts.
Icthyes
12th February 2010, 21:17
Team Lotus is the original brand, this team is Lotus Racing or something.
I think!
f1 fan
12th February 2010, 22:45
Ford purchased Stewart GP and rebranded it Jaguar, with no technical input from Jaguar cars, just marketing support.
Jim N
13th February 2010, 12:16
But Proton own Lotus Cars….. If you want the Lotus to be badged Proton, why not badge the Ferrari’s, Fiat !
gpfan
12th February 2010, 23:54
Two words: Jimmy Clark. I’m happy! :)
Ned Flanders
12th February 2010, 21:09
Maciek- I have no problem with the team taking the name Lotus, but that comparison is daft.
McLaren and Ferrari didn’t vanish from F1 and return 15 years later in a completely different factory with a new set of employees and brand themselves as ‘1team Malaysia’
Scribe
12th February 2010, 21:14
To be honnest I’d be fairly annoyed if some unrelated British team bought the name and decided they where going to be Team Lotus.
Team Lotus was glorious, but now it’s a glorious memory, If the car company that came from Lotus decided it wanted to run a team again, it would be fine for it to use the name, but not a bunch of other guys.
To be clear I do quite like Fernandes and Gascyone an the way they’ve gone about running things an I don’t feel as vehmentley opposed to the idea as I did, still feel like in the original post that they’re (an this is the first an last time I will ever say this) ransacking a British insitution for personal gain.
Maciek
12th February 2010, 21:47
Wow, I really got everybody going here. I was, of course, exaggerating to make a point. What I meant was that given the link to “Classic Lotus” they put on their website, they’re obviously not just taking on the name without acknowledging the history behind it.
Jarred Walmsley
12th February 2010, 23:20
F1 fan, quick note in case you weren’t aware Ford owned Jaguar then and so it would be comparable to the rumoured VW buyout of Campos and calling it Lamborghini, they just used a more racy name than Ford for the team name. So i’m not quite sure what you are getting at here.
Kovy
12th February 2010, 23:36
Thank you! People seem to be forgetting this.
Salut Gilles
12th February 2010, 17:54
T127? What’s the story behind that?
Jimos
12th February 2010, 18:09
the only thing i can think of is lotus cars where named mk1 to the lotus 121. there are 5 others with names puts it at 127…if you forget the m250
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_Cars
Ilanin
12th February 2010, 18:09
That is a good question.
The last Lotus Type anybody saw was the Lotus Type 123 (the Federal Exige), but it isn’t entirely implausible that Lotus Type numbers are up to 127.
Why they haven’t just called it the Type 127 I’m not sure, possibly to distance themselves slightly from both Team Lotus and Lotus Cars neither of who they have any actual relation to.
But the halfway house seems strange…well it’s just like the team I guess. It’s kind of a Lotus, and it kind of has a type number.
Flibster
12th February 2010, 20:24
Type 124 is the Evora GT4 race car.
It’s not unusual for Lotus to have type numbers assigned that don’t get revealed.
Dingle Dell
12th February 2010, 18:25
Oh… I was thinking of Tony-127 at first thought, since Tony Fernandes is the team principal… LOL, now I was proven wrong :P
Jimos
12th February 2010, 18:31
lol he wouldn’t be that egotistical….would he?! :) what i mentioned previously falls apart as it forgets current cars…umm…
Jarred Walmsley
12th February 2010, 21:17
Well, Ross Brawn did name an entire team after himself so a car model wouldn’t be any where near as egotistical would it?
DanThorn
13th February 2010, 12:34
As did Enzo Ferrari, Bruce McLaren, Frank Williams, Jack Brabham, Chris Amon and many others!
Jarred Walmsley
13th February 2010, 18:12
That is true DanThorn, Enzo was even more Egotistical as he named an entire company after himself
Vince
12th February 2010, 17:56
It’s probably the only car on the grid that will look good
with the green option tires. Does look very simple in design but maybe that will work for them!
three4three
12th February 2010, 19:23
Actually I think the Force India looks good with the ‘eco’ green striped tyres too.
Scribe
12th February 2010, 21:26
I’ve never really noticed the green stripes as a problem, bit hypocritical but meh.
All this furore about the asthetic calamity that is two green stripes on a tyre, well I missed that meeting.
ajokay
13th February 2010, 13:41
The Mercedes works well with the green striped tyres too, as it’s almost the same shade as the green Petronas flashes.
TommyB
12th February 2010, 17:56
I don’t like the green, I think its a bit dull. I also don’t like how from the front it looks like it says “Nazi Group”.
A big disappointment.
Vince
12th February 2010, 17:58
Lol!!
three4three
12th February 2010, 19:25
Lmfao!!
TomD11
12th February 2010, 19:58
Lol, kinda reminds me of when they do the slogans on the door thing on Top Gear.
Ned Flanders
12th February 2010, 21:11
Yeah I thought that too Tommy! Whoever came up with the name NAZA GROUP really didn’t think it through
7Teen
13th February 2010, 5:39
NAZA isn’t a name that was came up with…
it’s the founder’s name.. Tan Sri NAZArudin (TanSri is a Malaysian is an honorary thing, like Sir is for Brit…) and group bcuz the array of automotive related biznez things which include distribution of their own badge of cars, ducati , Ferrari and Maserati (the largest ever showroom and distributor outside of Italy!)
So, none whatsoever to do with Nazis..
Hallard
16th February 2010, 15:11
Glad Im not the only one who noticed that…
Peter
12th February 2010, 18:01
I thought it was supposed to be unveiled in some event center in London. But this just looks like a white wall to me. Something I should know about London?
Rits
12th February 2010, 22:05
These are just studio pics, no hall or such. It was supposed to be at the Royal Horticultural Hall but whatever happened to that!
f1 fan
12th February 2010, 22:52
500+ guests, world media and a good start to an exciting season.
f1 fan
12th February 2010, 22:50
they did in London tonight, the photos are from the press pack shots and not from the event
F1 Outsider
12th February 2010, 18:02
The car is beautiful! With Renault and Lotus, F1 has officially gone retro.
The level of development of the front wing should be indicative of the funding they have.
bradderz
12th February 2010, 18:05
WOW. Beautiful. now all we need is a full orange car and a full black car and it’ll be like 2001 all over again :D. It is beautiful although does look rather square…?
Peter
12th February 2010, 18:06
I did a google on T126 to see what the previous car looked like. I found a resistence, a radio transmitter, a weddingdress or a babycarrier.
To me it looks good. Simple but good. No shark-fin. We’ll see next week if they are better built then the Virgin.
Dan Bigham
12th February 2010, 18:06
Front wing is practically identical to the Force India’s. Odd, especially considering all the legal issues surrounding them using the same aero companies.
epi
12th February 2010, 18:33
I thought it looked a little familiar
http://images.gpupdate.net/large/134154.jpg
Oliver
12th February 2010, 18:53
Its a different colour so it has to be a different wing. :-)
Scribe
12th February 2010, 21:33
Does that company still work for Force India, because look at them one after another and they are exactly the same, to a tee.
Still if that is the same company then well just compare the launch pictures. Simular routes have undoubtably been taken.
https://www.racefans.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/lotus_t127-1.jpg
https://www.racefans.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/forceindia_vjm03.jpg
sato113
12th February 2010, 18:10
I take my virgin comment back, THIS is the best looking livery on the grid now!
Lenny
12th February 2010, 18:11
Mr Branson put on that air hostess uniform!
Maciek
12th February 2010, 18:13
Design is simple (and the front section really borders on ugly, shape-wise), but we can’t expect anything else from a new contender. Livery looks good from the front, but kinda dinky from the side.
malaysianf1
12th February 2010, 18:13
its naza group not nazi group lol…their new website is up and running too.. go and check it out
TomD11
12th February 2010, 19:56
Yeah but with the A partially obscured it definitely looks like Nazi Group from the front.
PJA
12th February 2010, 18:15
It seems pretty much the same as from the Autosport spy photos which makes sense.
The car looks okay considering it is a new team, though they are supposed to have quite a few former Toyota personal so that might explain why the front nose support struts remind me of the 2009 Toyota. The top of the side pods look very flat especially considering what we have become used to recently.
Unless that isn�t their final diffuser they seem to be the only team to actually show photos of the back end like that, all the other teams have been covering their diffusers up.
I like the classic Lotus green & yellow livery especially the yellow wheels, but I feel it could be improved with a few tweaks here and there although I am not sure what changes I would make, but I would move the car number from in front of the rear wheels to the side of the rear wing unless they are planning to keep that area free for sponsors they may attract in the future
Chippie
12th February 2010, 18:15
My dreams have come true – It looks gorgeous, love the BRG, it looks so much better with a good camera angle. Now lets go and win a rain soaked Malaysian GP!
7Teen
13th February 2010, 5:53
just for the record…
the Malaysian organizers had warn them countless times about the risk of rain,
But leave it to Bernie to show the world of his “genius” idea to go with the thing that almost made teams almost leaving…
Good Thing he is gone now!
Myles Woerner
12th February 2010, 18:20
I’m not gonna lie, I love this livery. Best looking car on the grid, hands down.
Leaf
12th February 2010, 18:25
Beautiful looking car. Must say though, it’s cetainly not as “swoopy” looking in design as the other cars on the grid. However, it looks a lot better that the car USF1 has presented. (They have not broken cover yet of course.)
Bartholomew
12th February 2010, 18:29
Quite good looking ! I am only missing a touch of gold, could be in the WHEELS, where the yellow is
Cheers
James
12th February 2010, 18:37
Looks ugly as sin, worse than the Mclaren. It’s mainly due to the colour of it, but also because of the huge buck teeth it has at the front!
Still… for as long as it works better than the Virgin (which I did have high hopes for…)
fabio pellim
12th February 2010, 18:38
hahaha James I didn’t see you post, taste it is something unique, very funny read my post after your, cheers
Damon
12th February 2010, 18:43
The car is the second prettiest this season after Renault.
It does look vintage – makes me feel like it’s 1998 again ;-)
And…
NO SHARK FIN!!
James
13th February 2010, 0:49
It just looks awful to me. My opinion… The Mercedes, Ferrari, Sauber and Virgin car(s) look the best of the bunch so far. But then looks aren’t everything, or so they say…!
SteveH
12th February 2010, 21:26
The front wing looks like it’s ready to be broken off, IMHO.
fabio pellim
12th February 2010, 18:38
Maybe it won’t win a race, but definitely won my heart, the most beautiful car on the grid on 2010
Aleksandar Serbia
12th February 2010, 18:52
It’s got British all over it, i cannot decide between Jaguars F1 entry and this one, they are both distinctive to rest of the field but i wouldn’t say more appealing.
Andreas
12th February 2010, 19:00
This is the first thing that comes to my mind:
http://www.publiquip.com/photo/John-Deere-7720.jpg
Aleksandar Serbia
12th February 2010, 19:21
Andreas, sweet ;)
Ned Flanders
12th February 2010, 23:06
Haha! It’s even got the yellow wheels!
Fabio Pellim
13th February 2010, 1:10
hahaha very good, but I still find it great, reminds me Grand Prix flick
Leaf
13th February 2010, 7:06
Beautiful man. I do believe that pic says it all!
epi
13th February 2010, 12:17
The real question is which is faster…
My money isn’t on the Lotus
Myles Woerner
12th February 2010, 19:04
Oh and Keith, can we get the forum back up and running? I’m really missing it.
GeeMac
12th February 2010, 19:09
That looks mega, I love the livery, and I love the lack of a shark fin!
Just an observation: Didn’t Lotus only add the letter “T” to their turbo powered cars?
Tim
12th February 2010, 19:19
The Lotus turbo cars had the “T” designation after the number, e.g. 97T. The new Lotus is T127.
GeeMac
13th February 2010, 14:14
I can see that, so why have they named it “T127”? It should just be “127”. So have they strapped a turbo to that Cosworth engine without telling anyone?!?
three4three
12th February 2010, 19:22
Looks pretty good, if a little basic. I do like that yellow stripe though and the front wing is vastly more developed than the Virgin’s. And it’s good to see another car that suits the green ‘eco’ striped tyres (along with Force India).
Any reason there’s no AirAsia on the livery, or is that part of the Naza Group on the rear wing?
f1 fan
12th February 2010, 22:57
Air Asia are a still a sponsor of the Williams team.
7Teen
13th February 2010, 6:00
the TUNE on the sidepods are under Air Asia
three4three
13th February 2010, 11:22
Ah right, thanks.
Say 'no' to shark's fin.
12th February 2010, 19:25
Best looking car with Virgin.
McLaren = awful and giant shark fin.
Renault = nice colors, but again the awful and giant shark fin.
Red Bull = the shark fin strikes back.
Sauber = the WORST looking car on the grid by far.
Peter
12th February 2010, 20:46
I like the Ferrari best (no fin) but I am almost regretting to say that I quite like the Sauber with its fin. Maybe bacause it is so ugly that it becomes appealing again?
Dingle Dell
13th February 2010, 1:55
Well, out of 11 cars launched, 5 of them are without shark’s fin. I do hope that if USF1 & Campos make the grid, they would be without the ugly shark’s fin.
McLaren, Renault, Sauber, STR, Force India, Red Bull – these have SHARK’S FIN…
and oh, I pretty much dislike outboard mirrors too!!! Ferrari started it.
This year majority of the cars have them – Ferrari, Williams, Force India, STR, Red Bull, Sauber.
Thank God McLaren, Mercedes, Renault, Virgin, Lotus are running inboard mirrors.
Can’t wait for both shark’s fin and outboard mirrors and that appendage to support the outboard mirrors being banned in near future :D
LewisC
12th February 2010, 19:37
I think this looks like a car that’s been developed very quickly, and on a very tight budget. Air doesn’t create downforce by flowing in straight lines, it needs to flow around sculpted curves to create lift/drag as desired – so I worry that this will be a bit of a mobile chicane.
-A-
12th February 2010, 19:43
Very nice to see British Racing Green back on the grid. It’s interesting to see an official promo picture giving away at least a launch configuration of the car’s diffuser, which seems rather unheard of to me, compared to the relative secrecy the other teams did at the launches…
Sporting-wise, this is essentially a new operation, so while the team is obviously trying to market itself with the legacy of the Lotus brand in Grand Prix racing, it would make some sense to dismiss expectations for the moment and appreciate whatever results the team can achieve in the season coming up…
doncakes
12th February 2010, 20:22
Funny that so many teams go out of there way to not show you the diffuser, and here is Lotus with a high res shot WITH the press release.
Another no Shark fin car. Will be interesting to compair fin vs no fin for GP wins this season.
three4three
12th February 2010, 20:51
Yeah I thought that too, but then realised that no one would copy it anyway so they may as well!
BNK Racing
12th February 2010, 20:31
well thats better….the spy shot earlier this week ddid it ZERO justice lol. with that said….i think we will have a harder time predicting the bottom 3 cars of each race than the top 3 lol (not incl accidents etc)
Marc Connell
12th February 2010, 21:04
looks like its been pulled from a typical British garage. Thats what i like about it!
Ned Flanders
12th February 2010, 21:15
Well everyone seems to love this livery- and to be fair I think it’s alright too- so let me be a pessimist and point out a few things which are wrong with it:
o The shade of green is too dark
o The yellow stripes going down the car are too thin
o Those yellow wheels look ridiculous
o It has very few sponsors (though I suppose you could argue that’s a good thing)
HG
12th February 2010, 21:49
i like the green, any lighter and it would look like a fast pepermint
Rits
12th February 2010, 22:17
LMAO…
Dingle Dell
13th February 2010, 1:59
Wrigley’s DOUBLE MINT!!! :P
Rits
13th February 2010, 2:56
Well. Wrigley�s Doublemint on wheels!
Hope the car is better than the livery.
Rits
13th February 2010, 2:58
btw, did you know they are a sponsor for Force India, Doublemint!
Look on the lower end of the diffuser… :)
DanThorn
13th February 2010, 12:41
Might end up with a car that chews its tyres…
Ned Flanders
12th February 2010, 21:19
Oh, and out of curiosity I’d love to see what this car might have looked like if the green was lighter.
If any photoshopper happens to read this could you do me a favour and create a Lotus in either a Jaguar green, or even Force India green? It would be much appreciated!
Jarred Walmsley
12th February 2010, 23:21
I think we have another job for Jezson :)
HounslowBusGarage
12th February 2010, 21:21
Why were they using what looked like intermediates on a dry track?
Stealthman
13th February 2010, 0:53
They can’t run slicks on shakedown tests due to tyre restrictions. At least that’s what I’ve read in other places on this site.
Icthyes
12th February 2010, 21:25
Nice livery, maybe could have been a little better, car looks quite basic but maybe it wasa rush job and they have a few more things to come.
F1Yankee
12th February 2010, 21:25
if i had my choice of fake lotus, i’ll take a caterham.
SamS
12th February 2010, 21:38
if you look on F1 website the car looks pretty advanced, Lotus have my vote as the best of the newbies!
HG
12th February 2010, 21:51
i like it a lot. It looks a little bit more old school, with the straight sidepods and and the colour scheme, and i like the yellow wheels.
HG
12th February 2010, 21:51
and no shark fin, a big tick for that
graigchq
12th February 2010, 21:59
thanks so much Keith, i now have access to pretty much a full set of this years cars for comparison. No other site offers this kind of service… absolutely fantastic work.
And if my reading memory serves me right, you’re doing all this from a hotel in Spain.. great work!!!
Metallion
12th February 2010, 22:10
I like the colors, but as for the actual design of the car I think it’s far from the best looking. The short nose makes it look very strange. Like Kovalainen has said, there is a lot to improve. They had to put it together very quickly so it won’t be very advanced. Kovalainen said that by the Spanish GP they’ll have significant improvements to the car.
Rits
12th February 2010, 22:26
The green on the drivers’ suits looks better than the one on the car to me.
rampante
12th February 2010, 22:29
colours don’t make a fast car. This is as much of a Lotus as I am Queen Isabel of Castille in the 15th century. A complete joke to use such a name.
James
12th February 2010, 22:44
You call that HQ?
ad3
12th February 2010, 23:42
there seems to be a third exhaust behind the fin
ad3
12th February 2010, 23:46
scratch that. the dark colours and picture angle threw me
Rits
13th February 2010, 2:54
Well. Wrigley’s Doublemint on wheels!
Hope the car is better than the livery.
charles fox
12th February 2010, 23:47
quite funny that everyone seems to believe the front wings a force india copy, to me it seems to be a rather well developed higher downforce design than some, yes in some ways very similar to the Force india design, as well as a bit like sauber/williams and Brawn, quite different to the Ferarri/Mclaren stylee. And of course the Red bull/Torro Rosso which is similar but even more extreme.
IMO if they manage to keep it attached to its mounds(unlike the VR01s obviously less developed variant), i’d bet this is a better front end, mid and rear i wouldn’t know yet. but im sure Wirth will drop a V-bomb and bust out an awesome front wing at some point once their sure the all CFD VR01 is working as predicted.
maybe they wanted to take no risks from the offset with chassis design, anyone else notice a similar straight-edgedness to the USF1 tub in the electrical wiring video. easier to make a simple shape pass crash tests… maybe it’ll get rounded with new bodywork.
Also the diffuser, the bottom half is very visible in their press photos, but… two key points:
1. Its the upper levels/double/triple decker areas which are most significant at the moment
2. You can see their upper level much less than in the many, many images of the current cars at the tests so far, photographers and tv crews are going to see them and there’ll be a lovely article with many pretty images in autosport and on various websites/blogs. so it doesn’t really matter.
Although i’m sure some advanced geeky photo analysis could use the light visible to understand partially the upper level of their diffuser.
The Last Pope
14th February 2010, 0:46
Of course some of the aerodynamics parts are a close copy of last years Force India. The lotus was designed in the same wind tunnel as the 2009 Force india by the same man (Mike Gascoyne). Yes, the original design belongs to Force India but no one can expect Gascoyne to forget all he knew from Force India and design a car from scatch in such a short time. Look closely at the Lotus and Force India front wings and you can see slight diferences which shows that it isn’t a complete rip off of the Force India design, Gascoyne knew that design worked and just designed the same thing again.
Same with the parts that look similar to previous Toyotas designed by Gascoyne, he knows how those shapes work and has reused them on the Lotus. As long as he doesn’t have a big book with technical designs of all his previous cars, there is no problem.
Remember Adrian Newey’s first Red Bull design looked just like a McLaren.
theRoswellite
13th February 2010, 0:25
I called this car more than a bit simplistic, based only on that first Pop-photo; it now looks rather developed, if straight forward in design.
Having worshiped at the alter that was Lotus-Chapman-Clark, I’ll just enjoy seeing a green machine back on the grid; and the yellow wheels are a nice touch…but then I would, having the Lotus 25 as my all time F1 icon.
Hope they’re quick beyond expectation.
percy chan
13th February 2010, 2:33
Well over the years and in this flat world especially the heritage or rather the blood-line is bound to change and blurred.
Why is Fiat buying over Ferrari more acceptable? Or VW owning Lamborhgini which was at one time also owned by Malaysians? Is Chelsea less English or London with Russian ownership or MU for that matter?
Malaysian money has supported Lotus cars and kept it a viable business and a significant employer in that neck of the woods. Mclarenites claim it is a British company but in actual fact it has New Zealand parentage with Middle Eatern money. The list goes on.
Let’s just enjoy the racing
Jarred Walmsley
13th February 2010, 22:00
You make very good points in that comment some people have selective memories in order to further their point.
wasiF1
13th February 2010, 2:44
The front nose is too small.
BritishRacing
13th February 2010, 3:00
why there was no British company like British Petrolem or others to support this ‘British’ team?
Rits
13th February 2010, 3:03
Now that’s a lame question! Are you new to F1 or to the idea of sponsorship?
BritishRacing
13th February 2010, 6:00
they dont have any pride anymore about British
Ylan Marcel
13th February 2010, 3:05
A beauty model!
bob
13th February 2010, 4:47
wow the green is amazing! LOVE THE COLOR we need some bigger pics so I can use as a desktop!
Ketaq
13th February 2010, 21:55
there are a lot of pic on their official website..you ccan download from there
Invald Character
13th February 2010, 5:34
Same as the “Lotus 25”.
Lotus’ 1st World championship crown with Jim Clark (1963).
http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/images/large/267/Lotus-25-Climax_2.jpg
And one of the most significant F1 car of the 60s for having the first fully stressed monocoque chassis indroduced in F1.
http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2008/11/17/va1237341308769/Racecar-6354006.jpg
http://www.thechicaneblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/71384_0_original.jpg
Reading these comments, I was left with the impression that most of the comments come from people who are clueless as of anything that happened prior to 2007 (or 2008?).
hell1994
13th February 2010, 8:33
Don’t really like the colour (I prefer the black colour scheme) & the car design, but I reckon this car will be faster than Virgin
Macca
13th February 2010, 9:56
It’s a very narrow nose.
speedster
13th February 2010, 12:24
Just to say for the record that cosworth built the most successful engine ever the ford cosworth dfv v8.Lotus done amazingly well with that engine so i can’t see why they can’t do it again cosworth are so underestimated and at lest they are makeing f1 more excessable.
DanThorn
13th February 2010, 12:31
Extremely pretty, that has to be one of the best colour schemes of the last 10 years or so. I don’t care whether or not people think it’s worthy of the Lotus name or not, but I’ll be supporting them.
Ketaq
13th February 2010, 21:53
thats the spirit DanThorn ;)
peacemy
15th February 2010, 7:46
Malaysian F1 Team show how they commit themselves to stand tall with the rest of the world! With the Green British branding, it shows a comeback with enthusiasm by the different nations but they work as 1! Congrats 1MF1 Lotus Racing Team!Put a good challenge!
Jraybay-HamiltonMclarenfan
17th February 2010, 22:58
I thot maybe they would go in another direction of livery colors but they stuck with the racing green and gold/yellow. Old school lotus : D cool. Looks good.
Chaz
28th February 2010, 15:32
This car looks awful. It’s like the ols cheap plastic boxed toy race cars one used to buy in toy stores many years ago. But then again its all about performance and time will tell…
Jovan Griffie
3rd March 2010, 18:42
Thank you for writing valuable post about the topic. I am an admirer of your writing. Keep up the good work.
mii
13th March 2010, 7:43
nice rim but kinda basic car body design for me compared to ferrari, mclaren and the new boy mercedes
Librada Essa
4th April 2010, 20:03
Extremly helpful… I will be back again!
LOTUS+PROTON
20th July 2010, 4:21
Lotus is good…. hopefully its will be a world brand.. Not just British or Malaysia Brand. If you so love the lotus.. just buy it ..LOL