- Lotus
Lotus expects 'big step' from E23 Hybrid
Lotus thinks the combination of the lessons learned in 2014 and the arrival of Mercedes power will make the E23 Hybrid much more competitive than its predecessor.
Lotus scored just 10 points in 2014, prompting a switch from Renault to Mercedes. The team unveiled its 2015 challenger on Monday and technical director Nick Chester expects big improvements after the team assessed exactly where it went wrong on the aerodynamic side last season.
"The E23 Hybrid represents a massive step forward for us," Chester said. "It's no secret that we struggled with last year's car so we've targeted every area that caused us an issue. We've made strong progress in the wind tunnel as well as in areas such as packaging and cooling. We expect the E23 to perform far, far better than its predecessor.
"In terms of what's new, obviously a massive change for us is a new power unit supplier. We made this change as it looked and looks to be the one area of the car which could bring us the greatest performance gain. It's not just performance, but reliability and driveability as well as packaging and cooling too. The E22 did deliver good figures in the wind tunnel, even if it was difficult to unlock its potential, so we've paid more attention to making the characteristics of the car more adaptable."
A bad season was made even more challenging mid-way through 2014 when the FIA banned Front and Rear Interconnected (FRIC) suspension. However, Chester says the team has worked extensively to refine this area of the car for the coming season.
"In terms of the suspension, we were delivered something of a blow last year when the front-rear interconnected suspension was outlawed mid-season. The E23's suspension design is specific to the updated regulations so we're not trying to update a system originally intended to work a different way.
"We learnt a lot in many areas of the car over the course of 2014 so there are many lessons which have been applied. We know we've made a big step. We won't know how our car will fare in relative terms until we're out in action at a Grand Prix, but we certainly expect to be much more competitive than last year."
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