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Lotus Formula 1 Team technical director Nick Chester talked about the preparations for 2015's Lotus E23.
The 2015 project started a long time ago.
“We started working on the 2015 project in January this year. We have various cut off dates throughout the year: when certain parts need to be released by the aero department to go to design and then from design to production. Our first chassis is being laminated now and we will gradually produce all the parts for the car. We will be starting to build the E23 in early January,” Chester explained.
The design of the Mercedes-powered E23 requires massive work from the engineers, but less than it was for the E22.
“The E23 project is somewhat reduced due to more stable regulations and although we have a new power unit the architectural changes are much less challenging than changing V8 to V6 turbo,” he declared.
“There are still a few rule changes for 2015 like the front of chassis dimensions, which also has a bearing on suspension installation and also a significant change to nose regulations”.
Switching engine suppliers - from Renault to Mercedes - means integrating a brand new power unit to the chassis.
“There are a number of differences that we need to take into account like the packaging, the heat rejections, and the cooling requirements'. Chester said.
“In some ways, it will be relatively painless as Mercedes are quite fixed about what they need for their power unit installation. It means that there won't be too much iteration, at least less than when the V6 was introduced last year. It is a more defined programme,” the British engineer said.
He also confirmed that the new car would look different than the current E22.
“The nose will look different as we could already see during the practice session test we did in Austin last week. I guess that it can be described as more conventional. The bodywork of the E23 will be a bit tighter: the engine cover and the rear wing will be different. The front wing should look quite different too by the first race,” he declared.
The 2015 project started a long time ago.
“We started working on the 2015 project in January this year. We have various cut off dates throughout the year: when certain parts need to be released by the aero department to go to design and then from design to production. Our first chassis is being laminated now and we will gradually produce all the parts for the car. We will be starting to build the E23 in early January,” Chester explained.
The design of the Mercedes-powered E23 requires massive work from the engineers, but less than it was for the E22.
“The E23 project is somewhat reduced due to more stable regulations and although we have a new power unit the architectural changes are much less challenging than changing V8 to V6 turbo,” he declared.
“There are still a few rule changes for 2015 like the front of chassis dimensions, which also has a bearing on suspension installation and also a significant change to nose regulations”.
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| The Lotus E22 sporting the new nose at Austin. (Photo: René fagnan( |
Switching engine suppliers - from Renault to Mercedes - means integrating a brand new power unit to the chassis.
“There are a number of differences that we need to take into account like the packaging, the heat rejections, and the cooling requirements'. Chester said.
“In some ways, it will be relatively painless as Mercedes are quite fixed about what they need for their power unit installation. It means that there won't be too much iteration, at least less than when the V6 was introduced last year. It is a more defined programme,” the British engineer said.
He also confirmed that the new car would look different than the current E22.
“The nose will look different as we could already see during the practice session test we did in Austin last week. I guess that it can be described as more conventional. The bodywork of the E23 will be a bit tighter: the engine cover and the rear wing will be different. The front wing should look quite different too by the first race,” he declared.