- Lotus
Lotus to test 2015 nose in Austin
Lotus will test a non-forked nose during practice for the US Grand Prix as it starts to gather on-track data for its 2015 car.
The Lotus' nose design is unique this season and features two unequal-length prongs, one of which satisfies this year's regulations regarding nose height. However, further changes to the regulations next year should make the noses more visually appealing and Lotus will use first practice in Austin to test its 2015 design on one of its cars.
"This will be for evaluation and aero data logging," technical director Nick Chester said. "It's something we're doing as part of our preparations for the E23 Hybrid, next year's car.
"It won't be the definite launch E23 nose but it is an E23-style nose that we are putting on an E22 for evaluation. We don't expect it to perform as such on the current car as it hasn't been optimised for the E22 but it will still be an interesting comparison."
Chester said the team is already quite advanced in the design of next year's car and has started to build its first chassis.
"Nearly all of the resources are on the E23 now and a good chunk of them have been for some time. We are starting to laminate the first race chassis which is on schedule. Gearboxes have been cast and will be machined shortly. We have pretty much finalised the cooling system. We have also been discussing various aspects with Mercedes while we finalise the power unit installation. Most of the suspension is designed now, so we are really a good way along."
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
