F1 Madness

Tag: lotus f1

  • Adderly Fong Signed as Lotus Development Driver

    Adderly Fong Signed as Lotus Development Driver

    Hong Kong born driver Adderly Fong was announced as Lotus’ new development driver.

    Fong will join Jolyon Palmer and Carmen Jorda who also have development roles at the Enstone based team.

    The GP3 racer will undergo work in the simulator aimed towards improving the 2015 E23. Fong will still race in GP3 and in the GT Asia series which means this will be a very busy year for the young man.

    Fong drove for Sauber in October last year and made his F1 practice debut at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Lotus feel that that the experience he’s gained will be of much value to the team

    “This is a great opportunity to further my racing career,” commented Fong.

    I’ll be able to learn how an F1 team operates during race weekends as an integral part of the team and these invaluable experiences are going to lay the foundations of my future development as an F1 driver,” he added.

    “I am happy but I am not going to get carried away, for this is only the first of many steps.”

    “I aim to become the first Chinese driver to compete in a Formula 1 Grand Prix which will assist to promote the sport in China and also in Hong Kong. There is great potential for me with Lotus F1 Team so I can’t wait to get underway in my new role.”

    Lotus CEO Nick Carter added: “It’s great to have Adderly join the team. We have an aggressive development programme with the E23 so he will be able to both learn from our engineers and race drivers as well as contribute to our car through the course of the season.

    We have a very strong driver line-up which Adderly will join so he has a great opportunity to learn ahead of him. We are committed to moving back up the competitive order and Adderly’s work behind the scenes will be invaluable in assisting us to achieve this.”

  • Carmen Jorda Joins Lotus as Development Driver

    Carmen Jorda Joins Lotus as Development Driver

    GP3 driver Carmen Jorda was announced by the Lotus F1 Team this afternoon as their development driver for the 2015 season.

    Jorda will attend races and tests with the team and will embark on an intensive simulator program with the team with her sights set firmly to drive the E23 Hybrid during the course of the year.

    Jorda has been racing since 2001 and has raced around Europe and in America.

    “It feels like a dream come true to join Lotus F1 Team,” said the Spanish driver. “I’ve been racing since I was ten years old so it was my dream to drive a Formula 1 car since I was very young.

    “Joining Lotus F1 Team is a big step towards my goal. I will be working to improve myself as a driver as well as helping the team to develop the car by testing new developments in the simulator; it’s such a fantastic opportunity”

    ” I know this is just the beginning and the biggest challenge is yet to come but already being part of a team with such a history is a real honour. This is a great achievement, but an even greater opportunity which will lead to bigger and better things.”

    Lotus F1 Team CEO, Matthew Carter, added: “We are happy to announce Carmen Jordá as a Development Driver for Lotus F1 Team and we are looking forward to working with her over the course of the season and ultimately seeing her behind the wheel of the car.

    “Carmen will bring a fresh perspective to the team,” continued Matthew, reflecting on Carmen’s racing background which covers Formula 3 and Indy Lights, as well as the GP3 Series. “We have a strong programme for her attending Grands Prix as well as extensive time in our sophisticated simulation facility at Enstone. She is a unique addition to the team and we are looking forward to helping her progress her goals as well as receiving the benefit of her insights and contributions to the development of the E23 Hybrid.”

  • Video: EMC Jumps an F1 Transporter over a Lotus F1 Car

    Video: EMC Jumps an F1 Transporter over a Lotus F1 Car

    Watch a truck that transports the Lotus F1 cars jump over a Lotus F1 car in the crazy stunt by the Lotus F1 team and their commercial partner EMC.

  • Grosjean confirms 2015 Lotus F1 Team seat

    Grosjean confirms 2015 Lotus F1 Team seat

    Romain Grosjean has confirmed that he will be driving for the Lotus F1 Team alongside Pastor Maldonado in 2015.

    Grosjean has raced for Lotus since the start of the 2012 F1 season, claiming nine podiums along the way but. The Frenchman is yet to win a race and has endured a pretty difficult 2014 campaign.  who made his Formula 1 debut for the team under its Renault guise mid-2009, has raced for the squad since the start of 2012 and has since claimed nine podiums along the way.

    Grosjean had the option in his contract to leave Lotus for a larger team but has confirmed his decision to stay with Lotus as the team prepares for the new 2015 Mercedes Power Units.

    “I will keep racing with Lotus in 2015,” Grosjean said in a video which he posted on his Facebook page.

    “It’s been a long story with the team, ups and downs, 2013 was good, 2014 more difficult but next year is a new challenge with a new engine.

    “I’ve seen the E23 and its a beautiful car so hopefully [there will be] more podiums, hopefully on top of the podium one day!”

    Grosjean’s post was deleted after a few minutes and there has been no official word from the team.

    Photo credit: Lotus F1 Team – Facebook

  • Stig’s Incredible F1 Bungee Jump at the Top Gear Festival

    Stig’s Incredible F1 Bungee Jump at the Top Gear Festival

    The Stig headed for Durban earlier this year to find many temptations at the Top Gear Festival.

    None could be as tempting as a 300ft bungee plunge in a Lotus F1 car! Watch as the Stig makes the jump at the Moses Mabida Stadium. Can you imagine the adrenaline?! We’ve always known the Stig has to be crazy, but this is totally INSANE!

     

     

  • Lotus to Skip First Test of 2014

    Lotus to Skip First Test of 2014

    The Lotus F1 Team revealed that they will skip the first test in Jerez that is due to take place on 28 January.

    Lotus F1 Technical Director, Nick Chester, said that they plan to launch the E22 at the Bahrain test in more representative conditions.

    “We’re going to keep our car under wraps a little longer than some other teams. We’ve decided that attending the Jerez test isn’t ideal for our build and development programme. We are likely to unveil the car before attending the Bahrain tests, and in Bahrain we should really be able to put the car through its paces in representative conditions.”

    Although Lotus will miss the first test, Chester made it clear that the car is all but complete with just the nose crash test to complete.

    “We’ve made very good progress with the various homologation tests which took place before Christmas including chassis squeeze and side impact loading tests as well as the rear crash structure, meaning we just have the nose test to complete the car’s homologation.”

    “We’ve undertaken chassis fits for Romain and Pastor. Certainly, our partners who have seen the car have reported themselves to be very impressed with the layout and various solutions to the new technical challenges.”

    Missing out on the first test will put Lotus on the backfoot but Chester was optimistic that they will be able to get what they want out of the car at the second test in Bahrain/

    “From our perspective the figures look promising and development has been positive. That said, we are very much working with very little idea of what the other teams are doing. This is the first year of radically different regulations which means that all teams are developing their cars along potentially quite different avenues.”

    “It’s fascinating for us engineers and I hope it is fascinating for the fans too. We think we have a very good solution to the challenge and hopefully this will be seen when the E22 turns its wheels in anger.”

  • Video: Kimi Raikkonen: “I don’t have a Twitter”

    Video: Kimi Raikkonen: “I don’t have a Twitter”

    What more can be said. It’s just Kimi Raikkonen being Kimi Raikkonen.