Lotus team owner Gérard Lopez admits that the team have gone in the wrong direction in terms of how their chassis is designed.
The Enstone-based outfit have endured a difficult 2014 campaign on the track alongside battling financial woes, with the team having had a miniscule return of 8 points in comparison to the 191 points they accumulated this time last year.
Their last points-finish dates back to Romain Grosjean’s 8th place finish at the Monaco Grand Prix in May.
Lopez conceded that a fundamental error in the designing of the E22 chassis partly explains the team’s performance deficit to most of the field.
“We had a lot of issues at the beginning of the season with the drivetrain and then somehow midway through the season we have found out that we have some issues with the chassis, which are quite difficult to solve for this year,” Lopez said when interviewed by Formula 1’s official website.
“But it is good that we found out before we started to develop the next car, so for the rest of the season we try to save whatever can be saved – but yes, it will be a difficult season all the way to the end.”
Lopez likened the E22’s design flaw to their off-throttle exhaust system they had on the R31 chassis back in 2011 and believes Renault working closer to Red Bull will not help matters in the future.
“We’ve made one design mistake that we actually had hoped would help us,” he added.
“We are in the same situation as three years ago when we did the ‘forward exhaust’ and had a terrible season. It’s about the same situation again: we’ve made a choice and it is not paying off – actually it’s the complete contrary.
“That was a bad choice that translates into a bad season – regardless of the engine. Now the fact that Renault has a number-one team [Red Bull] – and now they officially say it – that is also part of our issue [too].”
