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The Lotus F1 team ranks currently third in the constructors' standings and intends to fight hard against McLaren and Ferrari to at least maintain this place at season's end.
The Lotus E20s of Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean will sport several updated in the next two Grands Prix, one of them being the infamous double DRS.
“We used the summer shutdown to perform a comprehensive maintenance and upgrade programme at the factory,” said Eric Boullier in a Lotus press release.
“This involved the upgrading of a number of production machines and was no small investment. We've also made more investments in our wind tunnel and a new gearbox dyno facility is being built. These are all substantial developments to improve our performance potential and position ourselves as one of the very best teams in this highly competitive sport,” Boullier added.
“If we can produce just a slightly better performance for the rest of the season then we will be in a position to fight for the win,” he said.
“The team is impatient to be back at the track and racing the E20, but we have certainly welcomed the extra days of manufacturing since Hungary for the new parts we've been creating,” said Lotus F1 Team Technical Director James Allison.
“We'll have quite a lot of different bits. A big focus has been getting ready for Monza which is immediately after Spa and requires a unique downforce package. It's only one race but it requires a whole new set of wings and a disproportionate amount of work. We've also been focusing on ensuring that we have the capability to run the new device in Spa (the double DRS, or DDRS) should we be confident enough to do so,” he explained.
“It frequently rains at Spa, so we have to be prepared for that possibility. We've had various wet experiences so far this season, with the inclement weather coming mainly in qualifying. At Silverstone we were okay in wet conditions, but in Germany we struggled to get the wet tire into its temperature operating window.
“Should we have the same situation at Spa, the nature of the corners and the loadings on the tires should be sufficient to generate enough heat in the rubber, so we're not unduly concerned,” the engineer indicated.
The Lotus E20s of Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean will sport several updated in the next two Grands Prix, one of them being the infamous double DRS.
“We used the summer shutdown to perform a comprehensive maintenance and upgrade programme at the factory,” said Eric Boullier in a Lotus press release.
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| Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus (Photo: Glenn Dunbar/LAT Photographic |
“This involved the upgrading of a number of production machines and was no small investment. We've also made more investments in our wind tunnel and a new gearbox dyno facility is being built. These are all substantial developments to improve our performance potential and position ourselves as one of the very best teams in this highly competitive sport,” Boullier added.
“If we can produce just a slightly better performance for the rest of the season then we will be in a position to fight for the win,” he said.
“The team is impatient to be back at the track and racing the E20, but we have certainly welcomed the extra days of manufacturing since Hungary for the new parts we've been creating,” said Lotus F1 Team Technical Director James Allison.
“We'll have quite a lot of different bits. A big focus has been getting ready for Monza which is immediately after Spa and requires a unique downforce package. It's only one race but it requires a whole new set of wings and a disproportionate amount of work. We've also been focusing on ensuring that we have the capability to run the new device in Spa (the double DRS, or DDRS) should we be confident enough to do so,” he explained.
“It frequently rains at Spa, so we have to be prepared for that possibility. We've had various wet experiences so far this season, with the inclement weather coming mainly in qualifying. At Silverstone we were okay in wet conditions, but in Germany we struggled to get the wet tire into its temperature operating window.
“Should we have the same situation at Spa, the nature of the corners and the loadings on the tires should be sufficient to generate enough heat in the rubber, so we're not unduly concerned,” the engineer indicated.