Team Lotus Launches Their 2011 Formula 1 Car

Team Lotus, formerly known as Lotus Racing F1 Team, unveiled their latest F1 car online on January 31st 2011. Christened the T128, the new machine was completely new, with a split airbox design similar to the one seen on the Mercedes Petronas GP's 2010 car. The Lotus T128 will be the one of only two teams this year to use this airbox design (the other is Force India. Mercedes Petronas GP has reverted back to the conventional design for this season). It is also interesting to note that the T128 will run on Renault engines with Red Bull Technology gearboxes, which should boost their chances to achieve the team's aim to get around 50 points this year. Here is a sampling of what the people involved in the build of this project has to say:-

“I think that basically this car looks like a front-running car in every area. We said very clearly that we want to start challenging the established teams and I think that’s very achievable. The 2011 challenger is almost a totally new car.” – Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer.

“We’re definitely going to take a step forward with this car. Quite how much we’ll close the gap to the teams in front of us we’ll see, but my hope is we’ll be competing with the teams that were a second or two ahead of us last season.” – Elliot Dason-Barber, head of R&D and vehicle dynamics.

“You can just see that this car will be faster than last year’s. It’s got the right sweeps and curves on it – it’s the very latest iteration of what an F1 car should be.” – Keith Saunt, chief operating officer.

“The biggest design challenge was trying to package everything a bit smaller. We were trying to get that area around the driver really tight so the aerodynamicists were happy with it.” – Lewis Butler, chief designer.

“I think the front half of the car is quite a big step away from the 2010 car. Last year’s car was a bit blocky in the sidepod area, but this one looks a lot racier – it’s a lot smoother and curvier around the sidepods.” – Marianne Hinson, head of aerodynamics

“T128 takes Team Lotus in exactly the right direction. We have said since day one of the Team Lotus dream that the plan for our second year was to take the fight to the midfield, and with this car we are all confident that is what we will be able to do.” – Riad Asmat, chief executive officer.

And of course, let’s not forget the man.

“There has been so much focus off-track, it’s a thrill to be able to get back to talking about racing. The launch of the T128 is a big step forward for Team Lotus and I want to thank the whole team for the amount of hard work that has already gone into the car, and I want to thank Renault and Red Bull Technology for their tremendous support in helping us make this step forward and for being such great team partners.” – Tony Fernandes, team principal.

Lotus Racing F1 Team Race Report: Abu Dhabi GP

After 18 races and 4 drivers fighting for the Driver's Championship title, a surprise winner emerged. The Abu Dhabi GP on the 12th to 14th November once again plays host as the final race of the year. Newly-crowned constructors Red Bull Racing, fresh from their one-two finish at the last round in Brazil, wasted no time to show why they deserve the title by qualifying at the top spot again. Sebastian Vettel started the race from top-spot while team-mate Mark Webber qualified to 5th on the grid. Another driver in contention to take the driver's title, Scuderia Ferrari's Fernando Alonso stopped the clock at 3rd place. McLaren Mercedes's world champion duo of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton took 4th and 2nd spot respectively. Lotus Racing F1 Team's Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen qualified to 19th and 20th respectively. The race on 14th November got off with a bang when Mercedes Petronas GP's Michael Schumacher came in contact with team-mate Nico Rosberg and spun his car on the 6th corner. An incoming Vitantonio Liuzzi of Force India could not avoid the former world champion's car and crashed hard into it, the impact of the crash causing the latter's car to lift off the ground and nearly missing Schumacher's head. This incident brought out the Safety Car for 5 laps, which is when most midfield drivers decided to pit for fresh tyres. One the re-start on lap 6, Vettel pulled ahead and successfully build a decent gap between him and Hamilton, with Button in hot pursuit in 3rd, who jumped Alonso after a cautious start by the Spaniard. In 5th was Webber, who in his efforts to chase those in front of him, gave the wall at turn 19 a warm kiss with his right rear tyres on lap 8, causing minor damage and bringing him into the pits three laps later. The Australian rejoined the race down in 16th in heavy traffic. Alonso pitted on lap 15 on what seemed to be a calculated strategy to baulk Webber's race progress, and rejoined the huge crowd in 15th. These moves by both Ferrari and Red Bull backfired as both Alonso and Webber could not really do much to improve their positions and finished in 7th and 8th. Alonso, furious at being unable to get past the Renault of Vitaly Petrov ahead of him, pulled up alongside the Russian rookie and gestured angrily on the wind-down lap. Meanwhile up ahead of the pack, Hamilton was the first among the top three to take his pit stop before Vettel did his. Button, who had started the race on the softer compound rubbers, ran a longer than expected 32 laps before taking his pit. At the end of the day, a surprise winner emerged. Sebastian Vettel drove a flawless race to take the chequered flag and also the Driver's Championship title. Coming in second and third in the race is Hamilton and Button respectively. Meanwhile, Lotus Racing F1 Team did well by finishing 17th (Kovalainen) and 21st (Trulli) to clinch 10th place in their first season, ahead of the three new teams. And with this the 2010 Formula 1 season draws to a dramatic finish.

Lotus Racing F1 Team Race Report: Brazilian GP

F1 goes back to South America. The Interlagos Curcuit plays host once again to the Brazilian GP from 5th to 7th November. This year's edition saw yet another wet qualifying Saturday when overnight rain drenched the track with water. The session began under light drizzling conditioning, where Lotus Racing F1 Team's drivers Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen qualified 19th and 21st respectively. But the shock of the day came from an unlikely driver in the form of Williams F1 Team's Nico Hulkenberg when the young German took pole position ahead of the five drivers in contention of taking the driver's championship title. Hulkenberg raced to the front of the pack with a time of 1:14.470, more than a second ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, both of Red Bull Racing. McLaren Mercedes's Lewis Hamilton started 4th while his team-mate Jenson Button ended qualifying on a lowly 11th, citing the car's brake balance as the main problem for his disappointing performance. Scuderia Ferrari's Fernando Alonso began the race next to Hamilton in 5th. Race day on Sunday witnessed Red Bull Racing taking the constructor's title with yet another Vettel-Webber one-two finish while Button, current champion and one of the five title contenders, conceded his chances of defending his title after finishing 5th and saw the other four drivers extending their points in the title race. Current championship leader Alonso has 246 points to Button's 199 with once race remaining and 25 points up for grabs, effectively ending any of his hopes and chances of taking the title back-to-back with two different teams. The race was a pretty straightforward affair with Force India's Vitantonio Liuzzi the only racing casualty of the day after getting into an accident on lap 49. The race saw Hulkenberg, who finished 8th, getting overtaken by the others on start-up at the first corner. Alonso, on the other hand, raced a brilliant race to keep his hopes for a 3rd title alive with a 3rd place finish. Hamilton, who ended up 4th and has a total of 222 points remains mathematically still in contention but logically he is already out of the running unless the remaining drivers all did not finish the next final race at Abu Dhabi in a week's time. 2nd in the driver's championship is Webber with 238 points and team-mate Vettel a place behind, 7 points down. Webber could still take the title if the Red Bulls finishes the Abu Dhabi GP with another one-two, only this time with him ahead of his team-mate. Lotus Racing meanwhile finished 18th and 19th, with Kovalainen ahead of Trulli as the team edges closer to 10th place in the constructor's standings.

Lotus Racing F1 Team Race Report: Korean GP

22nd October saw the inaugural Korean GP took place at the newly-completed Korean International Curcuit. Though the race has already been confirmed at the start of the season, the curcuit itself was only completed on the day before the race. A highly-contested qualifying on Saturday the 23rd saw Red Bull Racing's duo of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber sweeping the front row once again with Scuderia Ferrari's Fernando Alonso a close 3rd. The McLaren Mercedes team drivers, 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton and current world champion Jenson Button started their race from 4th and 7th respectively while Lotus Racing F1 Team qualified 20th (Jarno Trulli) and 21th (Heikki Kovalainen). Race day on Sunday got off to a wet affair. Heavy rain delayed the start by 10 minutes, and when the green lights went off drivers have to start behind the Safety Car. Due to bad isibility and traction reasons, the race was suspended after drivers lapped the curcuit for 4 times. The race was restarted when the rain has subsided after 45 minutes, again behind the Safety Car for traction reason. When the Safety Car came in at the end of lap 16, the Red Bull duo began building a good lead between them and Alonso. On lap 18, the unthinkable happened to then championship leader Webber. He spun when he hit a wet kerb and taking out Mercedes Petronas GP's Nico Rosberg in the process. He has since taken the blame of the crash and apologised to Rosberg. The incident brought out the Safety Car once again, during which many drivers quickly dived into the pit lane for fresh tyres. When the Safety Car period was over, Vettel speared off into the horizon and build a healthy lead over now 2nd placed Alonso. But luck was not on Vettel's side that day, as his car's engine blew 9 laps from the end. That gifted Alonso the lead, who ran a faultless race the whole time and took the chequered flag almost 15 seconds ahead of Hamilton. Button, who desperately needs a good result to remain in contention for this year championship, ended his race in a lowly 12th place and out of the points zone due to a botched race strategy. Towards the end of the race visibility became another problem when the sky was getting dark as the night came. Alonso now leads the championship table with 231 points ahead of Webber, who slipped to second with 220 points and Hamilton in 3rd with 210. Button, who is 42 points behind Alonso remains mathematically in contention, but common sense renders him out of the race to defend his title. Lotus Racing meanwhile suffered mixed luck when Trulli stopped his car in the garage on lap 18 with yet another hydraulic failure. Kovalainen on the other hand could have finished higher than 13th had he not come in contact with Jaime Alguersuari of Scuderia Toro Rosso and spun on the final 10 laps.

Lotus Racing F1 Team Race Report: Japanese GP

F1 flies to the holy land of motorsport, where drama started early. Saturday's qualifying was postponed 10 a.m morning the next day before the official race due to heavy rain. Red Bull Racing once again proved their dominance on high-downforce tracks when their drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber swept the front row in 1st and 2nd respectively. Sunday 10th October saw more actions when Virgin Racing's Lucas di Grassi crashed his car at the famous 130R corner on the formation lap but walked away without injuries. Renault F1 Team's Vitaly Petrov tangled with William's Nico Hulkenberg on the main straight once the lights went off, resulting the Russian rookie to spin and hit the Armco barriers hard and ending his race as well as Hulkenberg's. A little further up ahead, Felipe Massa drove into the side of Force India's Vitantonio Liuzzi, also forcing the retirement for the both of them. This series of accidents brought out the Safety Car for six laps, during which Petrov's quick starting team-mate Robert Kubica, who splitted the Red Bull duo in 2nd place right from the start, retired with his rear right wheel missing. Later once the Safety Car came back into the pits and the race resumes, Vettel and Webber sped up and built a decent gap between them and the cars behind. McLaren Mercedes's defending champion Jenson Button, who started from 6th with the more durable harder tyres while the rest of the field ran the softer slicks and drove up to 4th on start-up, was very quick and also managed to grab the lead when Vettel and Webber pitted. When Button struggled with his now degrading rubbers which is causing the car to skid at the exit of corners and had to pit for fresh ones, the trio behind him, Vettel, Webber and Scuderia Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, winner of the last 2 races zoomed past and once again Vettel takes the lead. From there on Vettel led Webber for the team's 3rd one-two finish of the season with Alonso in 3rd. Button's team-mate and 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton, who at one point was ahead of his senior racer had to slow down due to a gearbox problem and let his fellow countryman pass him at the Hairpin turn. Button finished in 4th and Hamilton in 5th. In the midfield, Mercedes Petronas GP's former seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher and Sauber Ferrari's Kamui Kobayashi were the heroes of the day. Schumacher, who started in 10th was racing the best race of his season which saw him chasing down his team-mate Nico Rosberg and finishing 6th after Rosberg gifted him the position by crashing at the Esseesse corners. Kobayashi meanwhile jumped from 14th to 7th with some awesome and daring overtaking maneuvres ever, taking down Scuderia Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari, Liuzzi's team-mate Adrian Sutil, Hulkenberg's team-mate and F1's senior driver Rubens Barrichello and also team-mate Nick Heidfeld all at the Hairpin corner. Further down the grid, Lotus Racing F1 Team achieved their best result so far with a 13th place courtesy of Heikki Kovalainen and 14th from Jarno Trulli after starting the race from 20th and 19th respectively.

Lotus Racing F1 Team Race Report: Singaporean GP

The Singaporean GP, first of the last 5 fly-away races before the 2010 season ends was packed with close bumper-to-bumper action, with the Safety Car intervening the race a few times. The 26th September night race saw a triumphant Fernando Alonso trumped his competition and strengthen his bid for this season's championship. Scuderia Ferrari driver Alonso, who started on pole drove a flawless and commanding race for his second Singaporean GP win. Lewis Hamilton of McLaren Mercedes on the other hand saw his race once again ended after tangling with Redd Bull Racing's Mark Webber on lap 35, threathening bid to regain the titled he lost last year to fellow team-mate and compatriot Jenson Button, who finished this race in 4th. Webber and team-mate Sebastian Vettel took the other two spots of the podium respectively. This race meanwhile proved to be a bitter-sweet one for Lotus Racing. While the team celebrated the fact that they would be renamed to the historic Team Lotus name for next season after team principal Datuk Tony Fernandes announced that he had bought the rights to the name from David Hunt, the brother of the late former racing driver James Hunt, drivers Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen had their race ended in unfortunate circumstances. Trulli pulled out of the race on lap 27 due to hydraulic problems and Kovalainen's car went up in flames right in front of the pits, 2 laps from the end. Off-track, another saga unfolds when Lotus Group's owner, Malaysian car maker Proton Holdings claims that Lotus Racing does not have the rights to use the "Team Lotus" name and has terminated its current license to Fernandes, stating "flagrant and persistent breaches of the licence by 1 Malaysia Racing Team" as the reason and that It dismissed Fernandes' acquisition of Team Lotus Ventures, saying "there is and always has been only one Lotus" and that its Group Lotus was the owner of all rights in the brand, including those relating to Formula One. Fernandes has now taken the case to the British court.

Lotus Racing F1 Team Race Report: Belgian GP

After a 3-week summer break, the F1 circus returns to one of the legendary curcuits that all drivers love: Spa-Francorchamps. Rain played its full hands and the race was peppered with carnage as well as two Safety Car periods. Saturday's qualifying saw Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber claiming his 5th pole position of the the season and also Red Bull's 12th in 13 races with Lewis Hamilton of McLaren Mercedes next to him on the front row. Lotus Racing F1 Team drivers, Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen meanwhile qualified at 18th and 16th respectively, but were promoted with Kovalainen in 15th and Trulli to 16th when several drivers were handed penalties for various reasons. In conjunction with Malaysia's Independence Day on the 31th August, both Lotus cars carried the Malaysian flag on the engine cover. The race on Sunday saw Kovalainen raced home to 16th while Trulli ended up 19th when the latter spun in the dying minutes of the race. Drama begun on the first lap itself when light rain fell. Up front, Webber suffered from a slow start, which Hamilton took full advantage of and rocket up front to the first corner, with the Briton's team-mate Jenson Button coming up second from 4th on the grid. William Racing Team's Rubens Barrichello, racing in his 300th career race, saw his milestone ended in a bitter note when, on the final corner, his car couldn't brake in time and he droved straight into Scuderia Ferrari's Fernando Alonso. Alonso escaped unscathed while Ruben's car suffered heavy nose damage. The McLarens were dominating the race until Webber's younger German team-mate Sebastian Vettel ploughed into Button on the 15th lap while trying to overtake the 2009 champion on the final corner, effectively ending the Briton's hopes of challenging for the win and also re-igniting his title chase. Subsequently, Vettel was handed a drive-through penalty for being at fault of the crash, dropping the him back further to into the pack before finishing 15th and out of the point scoring zone. The Safety Car was deployed for the first time and Ferrari, seeing the rain is starting to get a little heavier brought Alonso in to change to intermediate tyres, only to find the rain slowly fading and the new tyres burning themselves up quickly. Rain clouds with even heavier and longer rain visited the circuit at the late stages of the race which on lap 37 caused Alonso to spin out and stop in the middle of the track with front suspension damaged. The Safety Car then came out for the second time. Throughout all these, 2008 champion Hamilton ran an almost faultless race in 1st until the end, with a heart-stopping moment on lap 33 when his car went off-track and came narrowly close to the wall at the in-field hairpin. With this victory, Hamilton now mans the driver's standing with 182 points and Webber in second with 179 points.

Lotus Racing F1 Team Race Report: Hungarian GP

A year after Scuderia Ferrari's Felipe Massa freak accident that nearly cost his life during qualifying, the F1 party continues to Hungary. The 1st July race was quite a dull affair, as the race result was already decided on Saturday's qualifying. Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber took the front row for their 11th pole out of the 12 races this season. The race, won by Webber in his 150th outing and gifting him the championship lead, was interrupted on the 16th lap after a minor accident left debris on the track. While Webber stayed out on the track, Vettel was called in for a pit stop on the lap 18, a move which effectively ended his chance to challenge for the win and took second on the podium. It was during this Safety Car period that saw many incidents in the pit lane. A wheel rolled off Mercedes Petronas GP's Nico Rosberg's car and bounced wildly down the pits, hitting a William's pit crew. Another pit lane incident occured when Renault released Robert Kubica too soon, which caused him to collide with Force India's Adrian Sutil. McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, who was leading the championship table prior to the race, was taken out by a gearbox problem on lap 24. Another drama unfolded near the end of the race when Mercedes GP's Michael Schumacher and Williams Rubens Barrichello got tangled in a dangerous overtaking maneuvre. Schumacher appeared to force Barrichello into the pit wall when the Brazilian was attempting to overtake him for 10th place, but Barrichello held on to his nerves and sped through trouble. After the race, a livid Rubens condemns Schumacher's driving, saying that the former world champion should have been black-flagged for it. Schumacher has since apologized to his former team-mate. As for Lotus racing F1 Team, the team was in an ecstatic mood as all new teams finished the race. Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen finished 15th and 14th rescpectively. Technical chief Mike Gascoyne said, "That was an excellent two-car finish and once again we're the best of the new teams. Both drivers drove strong races and Trulli had a particularly good start. Once the safety car came out we made a strategy call to keep Trulli out as we knew it would be a short period behind the safety car and this was the right strategy for the team. Unfortunately this meant Jarno lost a place to his team-mate, so apologies to him, but we got the call right for the team. Kovalainen drove a good strong race to the end. Kovalainen said, "I think that was the maximum we could have hoped for, so we're all really pleased." Trulli added, "All weekend I've been strong, and today's two car finish shows how hard the team's been working." The F1 circus will take their 3-week summer break before resuming with the Belgian GP on the 27th to 29th August.

Lotus Racing F1 Team Race Report: German GP

Controversy reigns supreme in this year's German GP. The 25th July race was won by Scuderia Ferrari's Fernando Alonso ahead of his team-mate Felipe Massa, the team's first one-two of the season. But the victory was shrouded by controversy of team orders within the famous scarlet team when Massa, who was leading for 49 of 67 laps, was ordered by team boss Stefano Domenicalli and chief engineer Rob Smedley to let Alonso pass him. "Alonso is faster than you. Can you confirm you understand the message?" Smedley radioed to Massa. After the move 18 laps from the end, Smedley radioed Massa again, "Good lad - just stick with it now, sorry." A stony faced Massa told the media after the race that he would not comment on the messages, but said he was just helping the team. On the other hand, a jovial Alonso commented that the car was perfectly set-up and that he thought that Massa was having gearbox problem and that he was just doing what was natural: overtake his team-mate. During the start of the race, pole-sitter Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel tried to block off a charging Alonso, who started 2nd. Massa, directly behind Vettel in 3rd, took advantage of the front duo's antics and ran to the front without much problem. From then Massa was leading the race until the controversial overtaking move. Vettel finished 3rd from the sluggish start and was emotional for taking a spot on the podium in his home race. Lotus Racing F1 Team on the other hand endured another disappointing race with both Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen retiring due to gearbox problem and accident damage respectively after a strong qualifying performance on Saturday, with Trulli starting from 18th and Kovalainen on 19th.

Lotus Racing F1 Team Race Report: British GP

Controversy, team favouritism and unpredictable weather became the focus of the British GP on the 11th of July. Race winner Mark Webber of Red Bull Racing had an unhappy weekend as he believed his team was treating him as a number two driver after team management decided to take his car's new rear wing and hand it to team-mate Sebastian Vettel after the German damaged his on Friday practice seesion. To rub salt to the wound, Vettel managed to qualify ahead of him on Saturday afternoon. But all that changed from the start of the race. Vettel had too much wheelspin upon acceleration and lost his position to Webber on the first corner and struggled throughout the race, finishing his race in 7th place. Current championship leader Lewis Hamilton of McLaren finished in 2nd with Mercedes Petronas GP's Nico Rosberg behind him. Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa of Scuderia Ferrari had a race to forget after finishing 14th and 15th respectively, with the Spaniard running afoul with the Safety Car again after the previous round in Valencia of the European GP. Lotus Racing F1 Team, meanwhile managed to get both cars to cross the chequered flag for the first time since the Australian GP in March.

Lotus Racing F1 Team Race Report: European GP

Once again, the F1 circus returns to Spain on the 27th June for the European GP round. Held at the streets of Valencia, Lotus celebrated their 500th race in a race full of controversy. In the race won by Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel, his team-mate Mark Webber was involved in a huge accident when he ran into rhe rear of Heikki Kovalainen's Lotus on lap 8, flipping his car into the air before ending up in the tyre barriers. Kovalainen's race was effectively ended with his rear spoiler flew off in the incident. Soon the Safety Car was called into action for 4 laps, during which 2nd place man Lewis Hamilton of McLaren Mercedes pitted for fresh tyres and was deemed to have overtaken the Safety Car illegally when he was exiting from the pits. Lewis was handed a drive-through penalty 15 laps down the road but still kept his 2nd position until the end of the race. Jenson Button had a tough battle with Sauber Ferrari's Kamui Kobayashi for 3rd place, which saw the defending world champion grabbing the final podium spot when Kobayashi had to pit with few laps remaining for tyres. Kovalainen's team-mate Jarno Trulli suffered steering problems early in the race, but managed to soldier the car on, albeit down 4 laps from the race winner. Kovalainen said after the race, "First of all it's good news that both of us are ok. Mark had a hardcore flight, and it could have ended up much worse, so it's good we're both fine. It's such a shame the race ended that early - I was going really well, pulling away from the guys behind by about half a second a lap, and with Mark we were racing for position so I was always going to defend. I didn't do anything wrong and he just ran into me. I think he missed his braking point and he ran into me at a very bad angle - his front tyre hit my right rear and he took off. I had to make a mandatory visit to the medical centre, and shook hands with Mark there, but I'm absolutely fine, and glad Mark is too." Trulli was equally disappointed too. "Obviously it was a very disappointing end to our 500th race. Jarno got hit at the start, and we had to change the nose. He also took a hit at the back, and that caused a gearbox problem. We were able to fix that and send him out again, although he was three laps down. He was held up by some of the other slower cars, but at the end of the race he was able to push and really show the car's pace. Heikki had an accident with Webber - he was defending his line and racing for position, and that's what we will always do in that situation. It's just a great shame, and we're very glad that neither driver was hurt." Team boss Datuk Tony Fernandes sums up the teams feelings, "Heikki's accident is part of racing. It's a shame as both cars are coming on really well, but there is some good to take out of this. Despite being hit, Jarno managed to finish the race, and at the end it was great to hear him say 'the car is bloody good!'. Overall it's been a very positive weekend, with a good Qualifying session and lots of very positive meetings and good decisions made for next year. It's also been a pleasure having the Chapman family here, and now we're all looking forward to bringing Lotus Racing back to the UK and racing in front of the British fans."

Lotus Racing F1 Team Race Report: Canadian GP

The Canadian GP marks its return after a year's absence on 13th June. Team Vodafone McLaren Mercedes reinforces their title contender status with their second consecutive one-two finish, the third for the season. Lewis Hamilton drove a superb pole to victory race while team-mate Jenson Button was pretty much untroubled during the whole race. Nearest rival Red Bull Racing finished fourth and fifth after struggling with tyre degradation and gearbox problem, hampering their bid for another win. Fernando Alonso of Scuderia Ferrari finally returned to the podium since the season-opening Bahrain race by taking third. Meanwhile, Lotus Racing F1 Team was having good evening as they became the first of the new team to lap the other new teams. But the happy mood was once again marred by Jarno Trulli's failure to finish after suffering brake problems. In a post-race interview, Trulli said, "It's such a shame I had to pull over - I had a great start and then I was really flying during the race. We got the strategy right on the tyres, and my pace was good - I was keeping up with the boys in front, and I was overtaking our other rivals. But then I felt a vibration that caused a problem with the braking system and I had to pull over. Still - we have to move on. It's another learning curve for the team and I think it's great to see that in the race I could really push and was putting in some very good lap times." Chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne said, "I think overall we can be very happy with the race, and the whole weekend. The one disappointment was obviously Jarno's problem - we will have to look at it in more detail, but it looks as though the vibration put paid to his race. Before he pulled over he was absolutely flying and the strategy would have really paid out for him, so that's a plus. Heikki drove a fantastic race, fighting all the way with the guys in front, and kept it up right to the end to keep Petrov behind him. I think this weekend has been a massive step forward for the whole team. Rather than being just one of the new teams, we actually got stuck in and raced the teams ahead, which is what we wanted to do, so congratulations and thank you to the whole team for getting us to this position. In the end we lapped both of the other new teams, so it was a great effort, and again, well done!" Team principal Datuk Tony Fernandes was in an equally upbeat mood. "I'm very happy with the result today, and the whole weekend's work. We got 42 laps from Jarno and Heikki drove an absolute cracker - beating a Renault was great, and Heikki did really well to hold him off, but the main aim for us is to get both cars home, and we'll keep working on that back at the factory and at the track. Now we go to Valencia where we'll be celebrating the 500th F1 race Lotus has competed in, and the ninth for Lotus Racing."

Lotus Racing F1 Team Race Report: Turkish GP

The Turkish GP on the 30th of May looks to be a sort of a title-deciding race. After qualifying for pole on Saturday's qualifying, Red Bull's Mark Webber looks like the favourite to take the winner's trophy following on his 2 consecutive wins at the Spainand Monaco. Team-mate Sebastian Webber took the 3rd spot with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button qualified at 2nd and 4th respectively. Webber kept his position from the start of the race with Hamilton chasing him close behind until the first pit-stop. Vettel pitted first before Webber and Hamilton did so on the next lap, which gave Vettel 2nd place upon the leading duo' exit from the pits. Button, who was enjoying a quiet afternoon in a not-so-distant 4th after earlier being overtaken by Michael Schumacher at the start, caught up with the three and together with Hamilton piled the presure on the Red Bull drivers. Webber and Vettel finally cracked under the pressure, with the duo colliding with each other on the 4oth lap, which costed Vettel's race and Webber slipped to 3rd after needing to pit for damage. A few laps later, Button tried to pull the same overtaking maneuvre on his team-mate which he succeeded for a few corners only to be overtaken again later down the main straight leading into the first corner. In the end though, McLaren still dominated the afternoon with their second 1-2 finish of the season with Hamilton first and Button second. A bitter Webber came home a distant 24 seconds behind in third. While the McLarens celebrated their victory, it was yet another heartbreak for the Lotus Racing team. A double hydraulic failure ruled Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen out of the race. To make matters worst, Force India is now suing them for alleged breach of intellectual property, citing "components and tyres exclusively licensed by Bridgestone to the Force India F1 Team, on its wind tunnel model design for the current Lotus T127 chassis without permission from the Force India F1 Team.

Lotus Racing F1 Team Race Report: Monaco GP

Easily one of the most anticipated races on the F1 calendar every season, the 2010 Monaco GP on the 16th May has tonnes of close wheel-to-wheel action at the famous narrow and tight street curcuit, known for its difficulty to overtake at ease. In the race where only 12 vehicles made it to the finish, Red Bull Racing made their first one-two finish of their season with pole-sitter Mark Webber taking the chequered flag ahead of team-mate Sebastian Vettel. Taking third spot on the podium is Robert Kubica of Renault F1 Team, who made created a few surprises in qualifying with some fast lap times. Michael Schumacher, who is notorious for his 2006 season's qualifying fiasco, created headlines once again when he overtook Fernando Alonso during one of the four Safety Car periods. Elsewhere, Lotus Racing failed to finish their race for the first time of the season Jarno Trulli winding up in an accident and Heikki Kovalainen suffered a steering problem.

Lotus Racing F1 Team Race Report: Spanish GP

9th May 2010 marks the start of the European races in the 2010 season of Formula 1. The Spanish Grand Prix sees a closely battled qualifying session, which sees Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, both from Red Bull Racing, slugging it out for the pole position. Going for pole position here is vital as for the past 5 years the winner of this race started from pole. At the end of the qualifying Mark Webber took the coveted spot, which saw him won the race by a massive 24-second margin ahead of Scuderia Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, who is racing in front of his home crowd for the first time in the scarlet machine. 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton, who was ahead of Alonso and poised for the second podium spot, was dealt a cruel hand when his left front tyre suffered a puncture and caused him to crash. This gifted Alonso 2nd place. Taking the final podium spot is Sebastian Vettel. Former world champion Michael Schumacher, who was criticised for his unimpressive performance in the first 4 races, had a better afternoon and finished 4th in a car made to his requirements, ahead of defending world champion Jenson Button. Lotus Racing's Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen qualified at 19th and 20th respectively, but a gearbox failure ended Kovalainen's race on the first lap. Jarno Trulli, who failed to finish a race since the Australian GP, did the team proud and finished 17th. Trulli said after the race, "I'm pleased we finished comfortably ahead of Virgin even though the car felt a bit difficult to drive! I don't really know why but it didn't feel the same as it did on Friday. We achieved what we set out to do and we showed good race pace and finished well." Technical director Mike Gascoyne is confident that the team will do better at the next race, the Monaco GP.

Lotus Racing F1 Team Race Report: Chinese GP

The Chinese Grand Prix proved to be the most exciting race of the season so far. Race day on 18th April was a wet affair, as heavy and erratic rain wrecked havoc on most teams' race tactics. The race was won by defending champion Jenson Button with team-mate Lewis Hamilton coming in second, thanks to some great race strategy. This gives the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team their first one-two finish since the 2001 Italian GP. Mercedes Petronas GP's Nico Rosberg took up the final spot on the podium. In this race littered with accidents and two Safety Car periods, Team Lotus driver Heikki Kovalainen drove a superb race and finished the race at 13th place, ahead of the established team of William's Nico Hulkenberg while team-mate Jarno Trulli's run of bad luck continues when another hydraulic failure cost him the race on lap 26.

Lotus Racing F1 Team Race Report: Malaysian GP

In its own home race on April 4, Lotus Racing made a surprising qualifying result by making it into Q2 for the first time of the season. The qualifying was hit with heavy rain and saw many big names like Ferrari and McLaren dropping out in the Q1. Heikki Kovalainen did the team proud by making it to the second session and finds himself starting the race at 15th place while team-mate Jarno Trulli started at 18th. After prediction of heavy rain that would wreck havoc of the race on Sunday, the sky held themselves and the race sees Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing crossing the line first ahead of Mark Webber, also from Red Bull Racing. But luck wasn't with team Lotus as Kovalainen suffered a hydraulic problem and had to retire after 46 laps. Trulli meanwhile suffered power steering failure abut managed to soldier the car on and finished the race at 17th place, 5 laps down from the winner. Team principal Datuk Tony Fernandes was disappointed with the result, but remained in an upbeat mood. "We can take a lot away from this weekend. In the end, it is a major achievement to finish," said the founder of budget airline AirAsia.

Lotus Racing F1 Team Race Report: Australian GP

The Australian GP on the 28th of March proved to be an exciting race. In a race won by last year's world champion Jenson Button, the track was wet with water due to an early rain. The exciting race saw a great start at the first corner where current championship leader Fernando Alonso came into contact with Button and former world champion Michael Schumacher and spun his Ferrari. 10 other drivers had their races ended in accidents and spinning out due to the track's slippery conditions. But all these proved no obstacle to our local F1 team, the Lotus Racing F1 Team. Qualifying saw Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen took up the 20th and 19th spot respectively, but hydraulic problems before the start of the race saw Trulli not making it to the grid. After a hectic race ridden with blue flags and even a safety car period, Heikki finished at 13th place, ahead of fellow newcomer Karun Chandhok of Hispania F1 Racing Team. Once again, Lotus has achieved their target of finishing their races with Kovalainen.

Lotus Racing F1 Team Race Report: Bahrain GP

Malaysia's Lotus Racing F1 Team did the country proud on the 14th of March at the Bahrain GP. After drivers Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli qualified at 20th and 21st position respectively, both cars managed to finished the 49-lap race. While Kovalainen finished at 15th place, team-mate Trulli was hit with a hydraulic problem towards the end of the race, although the Italian managed to nurse the car to the end at a much reduced pace to grab 17th place. In the process, Lotus also made headlines as they were the only newcomer to finish the race. The other two new teams, Virgin Racing and Hispania Racing had their cars retired due to mechanical problems. Team Principal Datuk Tony Fernandes said after the race, "I'm completely over the moon. I cannot describe the feeling. Six months of work and to have both cars finish is just unbelievable. We're thrilled. We wanted to finish the race and to do so ahead of established teams is fantastic. Before the race Clive Chapman gave me Colin Chapman's old Lotus cap and said 'when you win the first race you'll be the man to throw this up in the air like my Dad used to.' That meant a lot to me. It was a wonderful gesture and it's like handing over the mantle of one of motor racing's great dynasties."

Lotus Officially Unveils Their Formula 1 Car

February 12th of 2010 marks a significant milestone for British automaker Lotus when they unveiled their Formula 1 car for the motorsport series's 2010 season, marking their return to F1 after a 16-year hiatus. The Lotus Cosworth T127, powered by Cosworth's CA2010 V8 engine will be piloted by Italian Jarno Trulli and Finnish Heikki Kovalainen with reserve and test driver Fairuz Fauzy Malaysia. The team, backed by Malaysian entrepeneur and team principal Datuk Tony Fernandes as well as the Malaysian government and Proton Holdings Berhad, the current owner of the Lotus company will challenge for top honours with established teams such as Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren and Renault.

Datuk Tony Fernandes said during the launch, “I am extremely proud to be here today and to be able to show the world the fruits of the team’s hard work over the last five months. It’s humbling for me and my fellow shareholders, Kamarudin Meranun and SM Nasarudin to see how a team that five months ago didn’t even exist is now a thriving workforce, full of enthusiasm and passion for Lotus Racing and the challenges ahead and capable of producing such a beautiful machine in such a short time. Now we’ve achieved two major milestones; confirming our entry and unveiling our car, but now the real work starts. Next we move on to testing and the season ahead and I’m confident that the team will exceed expectations wherever we go, and will do so on a wave of support around the world that has been growing daily since we first unleashed Lotus Racing back in September 2009.”

“The last few months have been some of the most challenging of my career, but it’s been a challenge the whole team and I have thrived on since we first started work on the car up in Norfolk. I’m delighted that we’ve reached this point, and now we have a beautiful car that gives us a great base to work from for the season ahead and a fighting chance of going racing in the right way, with a winning mentality. The hard part starts now, and I know everyone in the team and I are up for whatever lies ahead,” said the team’s technical chief Mike Gascoyne.