With F1 currently scheduled to arrive en masse in Bahrain next week, a crisis surrounding the possible cancellation of the island Kingdom's race is continuing to deepen. The teams have now denied Bernie Ecclestone's claim that they can simply choose to skip the event. "That would not be possible," said a statement issued by the teams association FOTA. "Teams are unable to cancel (a) grand prix." Bahrain, meanwhile, stepped up its campaign, accusing some of deploying "scare-mongering tactics" designed to force the race's cancellation. The […]

F1's Enstone based team will keep the 'Lotus' name until at least 2017. It emerged late last week that the sponsorship agreement between the team formerly known as Renault, and the Proton-owned carmaker Group Lotus, has ended. But the team will at least keep its new chassis name for the foreseeable future, the French sports daily L'Equipe reveals. "We are pleased to keep the name," said team owner Gerard Lopez, "because it's a great brand for F1." Group Lotus confirmed: "The F1 team uses the […]

Group Lotus will no longer sponsor the Formula One team that bears its name. But - as F1's perpetually bizarre 'Lotus' saga takes another twist - the Enstone based team, formerly Renault, will continue to be known as Lotus in the coming years. Last year, and in 2010, 'Lotus' was the name of the team that is now called Caterham, but a bitter dispute soured that relationship as the Proton-owned car company Group Lotus ended the naming license and made its own bid to enter […]

Just two races into 2012, Kimi Raikkonen has already sat at the wheel of Lotus' car for 2013. His race engineer Mark Slade revealed that the Finn was at Enstone on Wednesday to sit in "a basic mock-up" of the single seater for next season. "There's some rethinking in terms of the driver position for 2013, and we wanted to test it out before committing any further to the concept," said Slade. "It may seem early, but it's better to do these things sooner rather […]

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 […]

Lotus team ambassador Jean Alesi has tipped Lotus to shine this weekend at Sepang. The black and gold E20 car was a standout of the winter pre-season, but Kimi Raikkonen qualified 18th in Australia while Romain Grosjean was punted into early retirement by Pastor Maldonado. "The car should suit Sepang well," said the Frenchman. "In testing in Jerez and Barcelona it was particularly good in the fast turns, which is what defines the Malaysia track. "Lotus appear to be quicker than everyone except McLaren," added […]

Red Bull and Ferrari have decided to modify their plans for the third and final pre-season test in Barcelona next month, with both teams deciding to start their testing a day later than the rest of the field. The final pre-season test was originally planned to take place on March 1-4, however Ferrari decided to change their plans and join the test a day later, from March 2nd to March 5th. Red Bull asked the Italian outfit if they could join them, and Ferrari agreed. […]

Lotus is grappling with a major problem less than one month before the start of the 2012 season. The former Renault team has sensationally abandoned this week's Barcelona test and returned to its Enstone headquarters, after an unspecified chassis fault was detected on the new E20 car on Tuesday. "We'll put the right measures in place and we will be able to fix the problem before next week," said technical director James Allison. But Gary Anderson, formerly the designer of Jordan and Jaguar cars, believes […]

Lotus F1 Team will not run for the remainder of the second test at Barcelona, scheduled from today until Friday. During initial runs this morning with Romain Grosjean at the wheel, the team identified an issue with the chassis. After investigation at Enstone, initial plans to bring out chassis E20-01 to Barcelona have been held in order to give the team enough time to rectify the situation. Lotus F1 Team will be back on track next week in Barcelona (1-4 March). James Allison, Technical Director:“Before […]

Lotus' impressive start to the 2012 season hit a speed-bump on Tuesday. While the former Renault team's new E20 car set the pace at Jerez, Romain Grosjean had to retire early when the Barcelona test kicked off on Tuesday. "I was very quickly aware that the car wasn't responding as it should," said the Frenchman. Grosjean was shaking down the second E20 chassis, but it will now be sent back to Lotus' Enstone headquarters for investigation. "Fortunately (on Wednesday) we will have the chassis which […]

Lotus team owner Gerard Lopez has revealed that he contacted Kimi Raikkonen personally before contract negotiations began between Lotus and Raikkonen's management. "I called Kimi directly. Without management, without anybody knowing anything. And I got the feeling very quickly that Formula 1 was again at the front of his mind," Lopez told Germany's Auto Motor und Sport. Lopez also revealed that he doubted Raikkonen was ready to return to Formula 1 last year. Previously called Lotus Renault GP, Lotus had talks with the Finn during […]

Lotus F1 Team concluded the first pre-season test of 2012 with Romain Grosjean completing 95 laps of the Jerez circuit today. Fast facts: Track: Jerez, Spain, 4.4km Chassis: E20-01 Weather: Sunny, air 0-15°C, track 0-26°C Programme: System checks, temperature monitoring, data correlation, evaluation of the performance of the car with its initial aerodynamic package. Laps Completed: 95 Classification: 5th, 1’19"729. Interruptions: Minor water leaks. What’s next? The E20 will head back to Enstone before returning to Spain for the second pre-season test at Barcelona on […]