Summary of my trip to Lotus Racing F1 factory
The Lotus factory is located in deepest darkest Norfolk which is as far cry from the ‘F1 corridor’ near Silverstone. The factory itself is located on a small industrial estate and looks pretty plain apart from the words Lotus Racing on the side wall. I thought it odd as I walked through the car park that not one member of staff seemed to actually own a Lotus sports car (surely they get a discount?) even though there were several Porsche Boxsters around.
The reception itself was big enough to fit Jim Clarks 1965 winning race car in and I took great pride in touching his seat and steering wheel. As I bent down to look at the very basic instrument panel I got a sudden whiff of petrol and oil – lovely. A very nostalgic moment for me.
All cameras and mobile phones are banned inside the factory but Mable (my guide) promised to take a picture and email it to me (see below). The tour itself started with a trip to the board room where I was greeted with a Lotus Racing energy drink!?! (very Red Bull) and a short video explain how and why Lotus were venturing back into F1.
The main thing that staggered me about the video was the fact that at the end of last year Lotus Racing had 4 members of staff and only 5 months in which to get a qualified team together, design, build and test a fully fledged F1 car! A feat that even they admitted was probably impossible, but they succeeded none the less.
I was then led into the very quiet design room where as you can imagine a large team of youngish looking fellas were all hunched over and starring hard at their computer screens. Mable explained that they rented a wind tunnel in Italy of all places and they have the parts made and tested there with the results sent back so they can make adjustments. A far cry indeed from the likes of McLaren.
After showing me a few subtle changes to the front end fences the tour continued to the body shop where they were preparing a race tub. The gold plated insulation was clearly visible around the back of the driver’s seat and I had a good nose around, even in the fuel tank! Again another shocking fact – Lotus actually paint their cars! What’s so bad about that? You pick up a tin of paint and tell me how much it weighs – in F1 terms, a lot. Lotus simply didn’t have the time or money to have their cars ‘film wrapped’ like the other teams do.
Onto the car bays where the cars are put together and worked on etc. 3 bays in total, 1 each for Trulli and Kova and a spare (for me?). Two brand new Cosworth V8’s sat waiting to be fired into life but alas this wasn’t going to happen today. The cost of each engine is £175,000 pounds so I walked gingerly around them and tried not to knock them off their stands.
Next was Trulli’s race gearbox complete with FIA seals to ensure no tampering would take place before the next race. I spoke to Trulli’s chief engineer who informed me that this was an ‘off the shelf gearbox’ and was much bigger and heavier than they would like. This size issue runs right down to the shape of the rear end of the car thus affecting aero dynamics, something they are looking to address.
The tour continued to the parts and trim centres and it amazes me that just about everything is made on site with over 6,000 parts going onto the car, not including the engine. The two racing green Lotus trucks were parked outside and we had a quick look at the inside of these. Impressive as always, these high- tec workshops on wheels would put most garages to shame.
I had some brief chats with other members of staff and a final meeting with Graham Watson the Team Manager and my tour was nearly over. I cheekily asked ‘So how do I get invited to a GP with Lotus?’ and I was told to get my company to sponsor the rear wing and I can go to all the GP’s I want! After saying my goodbyes I was handed a generous Lotus F1 goody bag.
The Lotus factory had a very relaxed and happy feel about it and I’m sure many teams are much more regimented, but this is not always necessarily a good thing.
A lot of people have said that Lotus has come back to F1 and their performance has been disappointing so far. I strongly disagree. Lotus had 5 months in which to design and build an F1 car with limited money and resources, and against all the odds they done it. They are now concentrating completely on the 2011 car and no further improvements will be made to the current car. There were so many obvious things as to why their car is slower than the rest, the paint job, major parts are made of titanium rather than carbon fibre, the stock gearbox to name but a few.
The top teams try to find a few tenths of a second be tweaking this and adjusting that but Lotus can change their wishbones for carbon fibre ones and they will improve their time guaranteed. One thing is for sure, Lotus has a long way to go but they also have a long list of things that will improve their car.
I honestly think they can do it, and hopefully, with some more time and money they will be worrying the mid range teams next year.
If anyone can, Lotus can.
Thank you Lotus for a fantastic and informative insight into what goes on behind the scenes.
Welcome
Guests: 169
Hidden: 0
Users: 1
Users Online:
