First pictures: Lotus E23 takes to the track in Jerez

15 comments on “First pictures: Lotus E23 takes to the track in Jerez”

1. 

   Daniel (@tamburello)
   2nd February 2015, 9:35

   Good looking car to be honest.
2. 

   the limestream
   2nd February 2015, 9:38

   That Front wing looks like its about to fall off at any moment. Really Flimsy
3. 

   zak misiuda (@)
   2nd February 2015, 10:01

   I think; by far the best looking car and the livery this year is so much nicer than previously.
   1. 

      Polo (@polo)
      2nd February 2015, 19:10

      Tbh, to me the car itself (though it still looks very nice) just seems like a slightly fatter and less sleek version of the Mercedes. I agree that the livery looks much nicer than last year though, despite only a few changes.
      Overall I would probably still put this in my top 3, but the Mercedes is my favourite so far.
4. 

   vjanik
   2nd February 2015, 10:17

   whats with the fancy camera angles? just take a normal picture of the car so that we dont have to tilt our heads to see it.
   1. 

      Andy
      2nd February 2015, 10:27

      It’s on a “wall of death” somewhere…
5. 

   BaKano (@bakano)
   2nd February 2015, 11:11

   So yesterday they said wouldn’t run until Tuesday, and then it is running today. why the bluff? Maybe they did it just for fun…
   1. 

      christopheraser
      2nd February 2015, 11:16

      Under promising and over delivering. I like it.
6. 

   Mach1 (@mach1)
   2nd February 2015, 13:19

   Is it not [the nose] actually a very similar concept to ther Mercedes?
   1. 

      Polo (@polo)
      2nd February 2015, 19:02

      Yep – you have Mercedes and Lotus with this approach, William and Red Bull with the stub/thumb approach, Ferrari and McLaren with the “platypus” approach.

      The advantage of the Mercedes/Lotus nose is that it’s as far back on the front wing as possible so it allows good airflow around the car, but it’s very hard to pass crash tests. In that respect Lotus have done a very good job to get this through the crash tests – probably thanks the masterful crashing skills of Maldonado! (just kidding!).

      The Williams and Red Bull noses follow a similar approach (as far back as possible) but by adding the stub it’s not quite as on the limit as the Merc/Lotus one, but it will have been easier to pass the crash test so they might have been able to save weight by not putting as much reinforcement into the nose to strengthen it. Regardless, this nose design is still difficult to get past crash tests.

      The Ferrari and McLaren one would have been the easiest to pass crash tests so they may have been able to make it lighter. Having the lower nose also can help with front downforce (but not as good for rear downforce). I have heard that Ferrari are trying to get a shorter nose through crash tests so they may bring a new shorter nose for Melbourne, or near the beginning of the season (like how Mercedes switched to the shorter nose last year after the third race, when they had got it past the crash tests).
7. 

   Mach1 (@mach1)
   2nd February 2015, 13:24

   Wow, just compare the back end of this shot (the one witht the blue tarmac) of the Lotus, with that of the Mclaren.

   It just shows how tightly the Mclaren is packaged!
   1. 

      Polo (@polo)
      2nd February 2015, 19:17

      Yeah, McLaren’s tight packaging is almost Red Bull-esque.
      Which might explain why they are having similar reliability problems to what Red Bull had in last season’s testing. Hopefully they can end up doing more laps than Red Bull did.
      I’m pretty sure they can, since as far as I’m aware almost all of McLaren’s issues have been software based, rather than the overheating problems Red Bull had, so they should be easier to fix.
8. 

   The old man at home
   2nd February 2015, 14:28

   Photography is creative, nothing wrong with the angle it makes a more dynamic composition, well taken Will.
9. 

   Sham (@sham)
   2nd February 2015, 19:35

   The fairing around the rear suspension looks very elegant, will be doing some air channelling too. Lotus being creative again – I really hope this is a return to the podium.
10. 

    William Stuart (@williamstuart)
    2nd February 2015, 19:37

    Definitely the best looking car, if the air box bulges were removed it would be one of my favourite F1 cars. The McLaren is also nice, but the livery lets it down.

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