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Lotus off the pace

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Deslotted
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Lotus off the pace

Post by Deslotted »

After the first qualifying efforts for the Year in F1. The following has become obvious. Red Bull are still fast (although reports are that they may eat up their tyres on longer runs) Ferrari are back, Mercedes (AKA Brawn) are quick, Renault are not quite there as are Sauber the rest of the older teams are still Midfield and the new teams are nowhere, as much as 5 seconds off the Pace.
It's a travesty that someone can take a great name such as Lotus and make a mockery such as this of it. Ok Proton own the Lotus name fair enough, but gee if You're going to run around 5 seconds off the pace (with good experienced drivers) call 'em Protons because thats what they are. Theyv'e even nicked the Green and Yellow paint job from the pre Gold Leaf days.
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Cyph
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Re: Lotus off the pace

Post by Cyph »

Just remember though, with how little time the new teams were actually given with all the bullshit that the established teams were going on with - you know, the whole 'oh hey we'll breakaway and start our own championship, oh wait, no we wont, oh wait, yes we will' etc, the new teams were severely compromised in their time to get a car built.

To make matters worse, Lotus have the Trulli train, who is probably the most useless driver on the grid, alongside Heikki Kovalainen, who hasn't really achieved anything even when he was with McLaren.

And just remember, they (Lotus) got permission from whomever to use the Lotus name in F1.

It's first race, pre-season testing showed little really due to how stupid the whole no refuelling issue is so you didn't know how much they could possibly be running in their tanks, etc.

They will no doubt improve with time.

Additionally with them being so far off the pace, is also because all the established teams have raced at Bahrain before and no doubt had specific requirements in mind in terms of aero and suspension setup.

In all truth it's a pretty damn good effort to get on the grid in like 4 months or whatever they had.
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Deslotted
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Re: Lotus off the pace

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Don't forget that despite all the breakaway nonsense, that the FIA was going to run the Championship anyway, with or without the Manufacturers and Teams like Campos (Hispanic Racing) and Proton - sorry Lotus, had come on board long before the breakaway talk started. Remember Williams got kicked out of the GPMA because they signed for the FIA championship and broke ranks. So it was a fair bit longer than 4 months.

Also the further reduction in Downforce again this Year, narrower tyres and a revamped Bahrain Circuit negates much of the setup gained previously.

I agree with You that anyone who has actually got their cars to the grid has made a huge effort, but if the 107% rule that stood for decades still applied, they wouldn't have raced on Sunday. It's back for next year by the way.

They sidestepped their way into the Lotus name with the Proton buyout of Lotus roadcars, Proton is owned in part by the Malaysian Govt. and the F1 effort is Govt. backed. In point of law they are called Lotus by association with the Roadcar buisness. Lotus GP engineering is still owned by Classic Team Lotus run by the Chapman family. I believe that is a misrepresentation and the casual observer may believe that it's the old Lotus reborn, when Clive Chapman has publicly stated that there is no connection. The Green and Yellow is a bit rude.

Kovalainen is a GP winner but was overshadowed by Hamilton 2 years ago (no shame in that) and last years Mclaren was a dog.
Trulli - no arguments.

At least "Lotus" were classified as finishers. If they don't improve, the 107% rule will soon sort them out. If the Manufacturers , Who at least 3 have pulled the pin in recent History , hadn't been so bloody minded We would have been all enjoying cheaper closer racing and US GP wouldn't have dropped out, all the new teams signed with intent (as did Williams) for the Formula 1 that would have been more cost effective. So I agree that they have been stiffed in that regard.
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