This morning Lotus’s Technical Director Nick Chester has stated that they will be making significant changes on next year’s car compared to the E22 which has scored just four points in 2014.
Since missing the first test of the season, Lotus has struggled with both reliability and performance in the Renault-powered E22. Points from Romain Grosjean in Spain and Monaco remain the only times the team has finished in the top ten this season, but Chester promises big changes are planned – including to the team’s unique ‘twin-tusk’ nose concept.
In his interview with the media today, Chester stated the following on the changes that Lotus will be making to their car for next season compared to the car they have now:-
‘There are rule changes to the front of the chassis and the nose, so all the cars will look different next year. On top of that, our engine installation and cooling layout will change quite a lot meaning that the car will be significantly different under the bodywork. It will be quite different.’
From what Chester has stated, it would seem that the cars will be looking different once again next year in regards to the chassis and the nose. But with the changes to the engine layout and cooling, it would seem that Chester is making steps to ensure that the car is a better step forward from this season while also making sure that they meet the demands for the 2015 season too.
Despite Lotus’ limited points haulage this season, Chester is not writing off the team’s chances of scoring more before the end of 2014. In the latter stages of his interview, Chester added the following:-
‘I think we have a good chance for more points this season. The car has improved since Hockenheim when we took our front-rear interlinked suspension off and lost a chunk of performance. We have gradually fought back since then so we are in a position where we think points can be scored, if the races go the right way.’
In regards to Chester believing that they can score points this season, I really hope that this is the case for the Lotus team as it would be great to see them score points in what has been a difficult season for them. As Chester points out, we have seen Lotus making small steps of improvement since Hockenheim, but the gap is still significant to their rivals and they will not be able to fully recoup or catch that gap up until next season.
But if Lotus can get themselves into a position in the last remaining races and has the car underneath their drivers, then they should acquire some much needed points but I feel it will difficult for them to achieve this especially with their rivals already ahead of them in pace and also with performance too.
But overall, it would seem that Chester already is working hard on the 2015 car and has already seen some changes to their car or has predicted that there will be changes to the way the cars will be as a result. It is imperative that Chester works on the 2015 car and ensure that the car will be better than this year’s and it has to be. Because with all the troubles circulating around Lotus, they need a competitive season and they deserve one too, they really do. And I hope 2015 is the season where we see Lotus back fighting for podiums and wins and that is where they belong.
