أرشيف وسم ‘ E20 ’
Romain Grosjean is a potential grand prix winner. That is the claim of the Frenchman's first F1 teammate Fernando Alonso, who shared the Renault team with Grosjean in 2009. The Enstone based team, however, was imploding amid the crashgate scandal, and Grosjean struggled to perform after being drafted in to replace the sacked Nelson Piquet. He lost the drive at the end of the season and then found himself in the odd situation of farewelling his girlfriend, the French F1 presenter Marion Jolles, as she […]
Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean took to the track for the first practice sessions of the fifth round of the 2012 Formula 1 World Championship at the Circuit de Catalunya today in hot and dry conditions. The Lotus F1 Team drivers ended the sessions with the fifth and sixth fastest lap times of the day. Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director - Technical programme notes In FP1 we conducted aerodynamic evaluations, in particular of our different front wing specifications and also the latest floor modifications using […]
Kimi Raikkonen is not ruling out victory in Barcelona this weekend. If he does succeed on Sunday, the Finn will become the fifth different driver, driving for a fifth different team, to win the fifth grand prix of 2012 -- an almost unthinkable scenario for Formula One. Not only that, some believe that - despite McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull having fielded the winning cars so far in 2012 - Lotus is actually the favourite in Barcelona. Raikkonen and his teammate Romain Grosjean were […]
Jerome d'Ambrosio has revealed he could drive one of the Lotus cars during Friday morning practice sessions at some point in 2012. The former Virgin driver, who is managed by Lotus boss Eric Boullier's Gravity company, was appointed as the team's third and reserve driver for this year. But, until now, it was not known if the role would involve Friday morning practice duties. Asked by the La Libre newspaper when he will be seen on the grid once again, Belgian d'Ambrosio answered: "I hope […]
After a weekend which came agonisingly close to producing a real result for Kimi in China, the Finn puts the past behind him and looks ahead to his next opportunity for glory at the Bahrain Grand Prix. The Chinese Grand Prix was full of action; how was it from your position? It was good racing but we ran out of tyre performance during the final stint. I felt comfortable in the car and I could push well, but we lost out in the end. I […]
Romain Grosjean benefitted from an aggressive tyre strategy whilst Kimi Räikkönen ultimately lost out in a fast-paced and exciting Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit. Romain went from tenth on the grid to finish in sixth, whilst Kimi ran strongly in second place until his tyres could no longer deliver sufficient performance, finally finishing in 14th. Both cars started on the yellow-marked soft Pirelli P-Zero and used a further two sets of mediums. Romain pitted on laps 11 and 32. Kimi pitted on […]
Lotus technical director James Allison confirmed his team accepts the ruling of the stewards in China regarding the legality of the Mercedes DRS. Speaking in the Friday press conference Allison confirmed that his team will move on from the rejected protest and study whether or not to integrate a similar system into the Lotus E20. “[We will] get on with looking at what possibilities are open, having accept that this is a perfectly OK system to put on the car.” Allison added that for technical […]
Two publications are reporting strong rumours that Lotus is preparing an official protest against Mercedes' controversial F-duct system. Germany's specialist Auto Motor und Sport said the Enstone based team could file the protest in Shanghai on Thursday, following stalemate meetings last week between technical directors and the FIA's Charlie Whiting. The report said Red Bull has gone "surprisingly quiet" on the F-duct issue, "probably because they have been working on their own system". "Even Sauber's engineers are thinking about how to integrate the system on […]
Kimi Raikkonen has a simple theory as to why his return to Formula 1 was much smoother than fellow former champion Michael Schumacher's. After two less competitive seasons in 2010 and 2011, seven time title winner Schumacher, 43, is finally back up to speed this year. Raikkonen is more than a decade younger than his German rival and he was off the grid for only two years, not three. But he thinks there is a simpler explanation as to why he has returned immediately to […]
The pressure is on Romain Grosjean to have a clean race in China next weekend. The reigning GP2 champion has shown pace in his return to Formula 1 so far this year, making good use of the competitive Lotus E20. But in the actual races, the 25-year-old is yet to see much action in 2012, colliding with Pastor Maldonado in Australia and spinning in the Sepang rain. With Kimi Raikkonen also yet to enjoy a fully trouble-free race weekend on his own return to F1, […]
Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen insisted that he could have set a pole position-winning time in qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix had small errors ruined his final lap at Sepang today. As it is, the Finn will line-up tenth on the grid after setting the fifth fastest time and then taking a five-place grid penalty due to his team needing to change the gearbox in his Lotus E20. “The car was working well today,” he said. “Unfortunately, I made a couple of mistakes on my fastest […]
Romain Grosjean is hoping for a long stay with the Lotus team. Then known as Renault, the Frenchman made his troubled F1 debut with the Enstone based team in 2009 but has returned on much better form this year as the reigning GP2 champion. The E20 car was a standout of the winter season but Grosjean, 25, told Auto Motor und Sport that Lotus' target for 2012 is "fourth place" in the constructors' championship. "We want to go for the world title in 2015," he […]