Lopez wants to see Lotus fight for the Top 3
The Lotus F1 Team has changed direction for 2012 with the arrival of a world champion, Kimi Räikkönen. The team wants to continue growing, and Gérard Lopez hopes it will be able to compete with its top rivals to be present in the top 3.
Gérard Lopez, the head of the Lotus F1 Team, hopes that his team will be able to improve compared to 2011 and thus fight at the front. The team finished in 5th place in the constructors’ championship in 2011, with only two podiums. But with the loss of Kubica and a mixed front-blowing exhaust concept, the 2011 season was not easy.
Last year, we started really well but then we suffered a setback when we had to stop our forward diffuser concept because of the uncertainty of the technology and of course with Robert (Kubica)’s injury, it wasn’t an ideal year, Gérard Lopez told the site YallaF1.
But for Lopez, exit 2011 (and Robert Kubica as well), the season must be better, and he hopes that the arrival of Kimi Räikkönen in the team will be a valuable help in achieving the goal of a Top 3 in the world.
« We are not one of the big teams, but we are the best private team and with Kimi by our side, our intentions are clear: we want to compete with the top 3. It will be hard to catch up with them because they have resources and experience. »
Alongside the Finn, the Lotus F1 team has decided to field Grosjean for his return to F1, two years after his debut with Renault F1. The recent GP2 Series champion has the full confidence of his management.
Romain deserves his chance. We knew we needed an experienced driver in the team, so we have Kimi. Unfortunately, we are not like Red Bull, which has Toro Rosso to try out young drivers without disrupting the main team.
«We have decided to give Romain a chance because he is more mature, he won the GP2 Series in 2011 and we believe he is capable of doing a good job.»
The Lotus team also relies on its engineers to find good solutions for the F1 car – and this has been quite successful with the implementation of a concept to adjust the ride height for /f1/actualite/12226-lotus-disposerait-dun-systeme-pour-corriger-la-hauteur-de-caisse-en-course.html, deemed legal by the FIA.
« I am not sure that everyone will copy our braking system. From our point of view, it’s not a single element that makes the car fast, but the whole package, and obviously we are working to have a good car for this season, » added Gérard Lopez.
