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Lotus in the Peak |
| 28th - 30th June 2024 |
Lotus F1 Team
Lotus F1 Team Racing news and discussion
554 topics in this forum
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Nick and Vitaly began their Chinese quest today as free practice got underway at the Shanghai International Circuit. Alan Permane, Chief Engineer - Technical programme notes A fairly typical Friday session for us today – running hard tyres in the first practice session, and both hards and softs in the second, some long running with both cars on high fuel. Very unusual for Nick to have two incidents like that, which put us back a bit but we'll recover from that tomorrow. There was a little too much understeer on Vitaly's car in the morning and oversteer on Nick's car so we had some set-up work to do on both cars and improved things throughout the day.…
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As circuits go, they don’t come any more impressive than Shanghai International. For me, it’s on a par with Abu Dhabi as the venue with the best facilities for the teams. Whether it’s the spacious garages, comfortable hospitality lounge, or enormous engineering office, they look after us rather well here. Both Nick and Vitaly were at the track this morning for their track walk at 11:00am sharp, while for the afternoon it was time to complete a busy session of media interviews. Following our back-to-back podiums, there’s been plenty of demand to speak to the men in black. In fact, Nick’s media session turned into a proper media scrum with around 10 film crews…
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LRGP is pleased to announce the signing of a collaboration agreement with Ordos, the Chinese city situated in Inner Mongolia. Ordos is one of the most prosperous cities in China, with a strong economy built around natural resources, mining, petrochemicals and cashmere. As part of the collaboration, LRGP plans to organise a roadshow in the province. The team will also help promote local road safety campaigns in the area, and the team’s reserve driver, Ho-Pin Tung, will act as an ambassador for motorsport. LRGP Team Principal and Managing Director, Eric Boullier: “We are delighted to be partnering with Ordos in what we hope will be a very successful pr…
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James, Two podiums in a row for LRGP – you must be a happy man? I’m happy for the entire team. It’s been a mega effort and I feel we’ve really got the most out of the car in the last two races. Also, the car has scored podiums on two very different tracks and has performed well in the temperate conditions of Melbourne and the heat of Sepang. It all bodes well for the season ahead. We saw the R31 demonstrate good race pace in Sepang - arguably stronger than its qualifying pace – what is you verdict? We’ve seen that twice now. It was a characteristic of last year’s car that it performed well on high fuel and the same seems to be true of the R31. But we still …
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After his first podium in two years, and following what was an unpredictable race, Nick took time out of his celebrations to stop for a chat with the LRGP Press Office… Nick, you just got your first podium for LRGP. Tell us about your race… NH: The start was fantastic. Good fun, in fact. In Australia I made up quite a few positions at the start but I didn’t expect the same to happen when starting from sixth rather than 18th. I actually found myself actually fighting with Sebastian (Vettel), who watched me in the mirror and just paced himself to keep me behind. After that I did the best I could but Sebastian was quite a bit quicker. Then, in the first stint,…
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LRGP secured its second podium in as many races to give the Enstone team a flying start to the season • Second podium in a row podium for LRGP • Both drivers were on three stops: soft, soft, hard, hard • Vitaly went off track on lap 49, and after his car hit the curb and took off, the steering column mount broke when landing • LRGP is now placed fourth in the Constructors’ Championship, 26 points ahead of nearest rival Nick Heidfeld, P3, R31-04 “I had a great start just like in Australia, and did not expect to make up so many positions. I moved up to P2, making up four places. After that I did my best to follow Sebastian (Vettel) but he was much quicker. T…
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The Executive Committee of the Formula One Teams Association held its first 2011 meeting in Sepang and confirmed Martin Whitmarsh, Team Principal of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, as its Chairman for the year 2011, who will be supported by Eric Boullier, Team Principal and Managing Director of Lotus Renault GP as Vice Chairman of the association. Christian Horner, Team Principal of Red Bull Racing, will maintain his role as Chairman of the Sporting Regulations Working Group while Aldo Costa, Technical Director of Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, will be the new Chairman of the Technical Regulations Working Group. All members placed on record their thanks to Stefano Domenica…
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Formula 1 legend and Group Lotus ambassador Jean Alesi presented Vitaly Petrov with a very special bespoke Montegrappa pen at the Sepang circuit earlier today. The special edition pen was a present from Group Lotus and Montegrappa – Italy’s premier pen manufacturer – given to Vitaly as a result of becoming the first ever Russian to stand on a Formula 1 podium in Melbourne two weeks ago. The gift, which was numbered Number 3 because of Vitaly’s recent 3rd position in the Australian GP, was given in timing with the 50th anniversary (April 12th) since Russian Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space in 1961. Jean Alesi said: “As owner of Montegrappa, and to mark …
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It was a strong recovery from LRGP after the team showed improvements in final practice before both drivers qualified in the top eight. • Nick qualified on third row (6th) and Vitaly the fourth row (8th) • Both drivers did one run for Q1, Q2 and Q3, allowing tyres to be preserved for tomorrow’s race • The two cars ran on option tyres (soft for the whole of qualifying) and times got faster in each of the qualifying sessions Nick Heidfeld, P6, R31-04, 1:36.124 “I’m very satisfied as I think it’s the maximum we could have achieved, especially looking back at Friday where we didn’t do many laps at all and didn’t have a lot of time to set up the car. It got…
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What we learned today? Both cars encountered problems with their front suspension uprights in the first free practice session. After careful analysis, the team identified a material defect linked to a specific batch of components. For the afternoon session, the team reverted to a different batch and ran without any issues. Alan Permane, Chief Engineer - Technical programme notes It was difficult to learn anything today. The issues this morning limited our mileage in both sessions and it’s difficult to draw too many conclusions. Due to the lack of running, neither driver was able to make much progress with their set-up programmes and we have a lo…
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The day before the first practice session of the Malaysia Grand Prix gets underway, and LRGP went en masse to visit the headquarters and factory of Proton, the automobile manufacturer and parent company of Group Lotus. With Vitaly, Bruno and leading members of the LRGP team visiting the factory, Proton welcomed us with open arms. The visit to the plant included 3D screenings, viewings of the latest and future Proton cars and a fascinating look behind the scenes at the factory floor of one the leading automobile companies. As Team Principal & Managing Director, Eric Boullier said: “All the people here at Proton have given us a very, very warm welcome and…
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In brief: - The Team and Processia Solutions have been partners since 2005. - The new agreement runs until the end of 2012. - Processia specializes in the implementation of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions and provides advanced software development services. - By improving software communications, information transfer and data translation between departments, efficiency gains of up to 15% are predicted in some areas. Lotus Renault GP is delighted to announce a new agreement with Processia Solutions, a technical partner since 2005. Processia Solutions, with offices in France, UK and Canada, specializes in the implementation of Product Lifec…
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Lotus Renault GP's cars will have a makeover next week with the creation of special edition gold leaf bodywork in time for the Malaysia Grand Prix. The gold leaf elements will be made from 22 carat yellow gold and will appear on the front wing, sidepods and engine cover of the R31. Only two sets will be available for Nick and Vitaly, and will be used for qualifying and the race. Production of the bodywork took place in a secret location at Enstone with special security measure being put in place. The golden parts will be shipped to Malaysia this weekend by a specialist security firm to ensure their safe arrival. Eric Boullier: "I believe the R31 is …
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How did you rate Vitaly’s performance in the Australian Grand Prix? GL: It was a first class drive. Vitaly did not make a single mistake all weekend long, which was his priority this season. His podium was not the result of unusual circumstances: he’s beaten the Ferraris and a Red Bull fair and square. Nick has been unlucky, his car was quite badly damaged after the first lap, but he’s strong. The Australian Grand Prix has also be a real team effort. Is the team getting stronger and stronger? GL: There’s no doubt about it. We managed a podium here last year, but today’s result was much stronger. Vitaly earned his podium by right and our car looked even bett…
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Vitaly, congratulations: your first Formula One podium in your 20th grand prix start. Tell us how you are feeling right now? I feel ecstatic. It was a great feeling to be standing on the podium in front of my team, especially knowing what we have all been through over the winter with some very difficult moments. It shows that all the hard work and effort was worth it and I have to say thanks to everyone for giving me such a great car. I feel really good and I know we can have a great season. The car looked competitive right from the start of the weekend… It’s true. All weekend was pretty good for us and the new parts we brought here worked well. It was the …
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