2012 Lotus E20

LOTUS F1 TEAM UNVEILS E20 AND SETS CHAMPIONSHIP TARGETS

Lotus F1 Team today unveiled its 2012 FIA Formula 1 World Championship challenger, the E20, on its website www.lotusf1team.com at 17:00 CET. Continuing with the evocative black and gold livery, the E20 heralds a new nomenclature to commemorate the twentieth chassis designed at the team's Enstone base through its Benetton, Renault F1 Team and Lotus Renault GP history.
E20 – new name, new concept
The E20 incorporates ground–up redesigns and optimization of previous Enstone design philosophies. Most notably, the forward facing exhausts of 2011's R31 have been abandoned, both through regulation and necessity. The E20 also features a 'step' on its nose, this layout also being the result of a regulation change.





The E20 has been designed utilizing the team's new 60% scale wind tunnel as well as its enhanced CFD facility, with both resources located on site at Enstone.

Clear Progress
Rexona and CLEAR, two of the world's biggest personal care brands, are the latest partners to join the Lotus F1 Team. The brands, part of the Únilever portfolio, represent a perfect fit with the high levels of competition and performance associated with Formula 1 as a sport and more specifically with the Lotus F1 Team.



Toleman Motorsport entered Formula 1 in 1981 and started 57 Grands Prix, until in 1986 the team was renamed as Benetton. In this guise 260 races were contested, until in 2002 the team became Renault F1 Team. As Renault F1 Team, 159 Grands Prix were started, with the team becoming Lotus Renault GP for 2011, contesting a further 19 events. The current total of Grands Prix stands at 495.

Driving forwards
Kimi Räikkönen, Romain Grosjean and Jérôme D'Ambrosio comprise a strong driver line-up which includes a world champion in Kimi, and two success-hungry hungry young guns in Romain and Jérôme. Kimi returns to Formula 1 eager to put the talents which have won him 18 Grands Prix and a World Championship to good effect in black and gold.

Source - Lotus

The E20 in numbers

0
The time taken in seconds for the gearbox of the E20 to change gear (drive is never lost during the gearshift).

0.1
How much faster in seconds the E20 goes each lap due to the reducing weight as the car burns fuel (not accounting for tyre degradation).



3.0
The average time for the pit crew to change all four wheels and tyres at a pitstop.

4.9



5
The number of consecutive races each gearbox must survive before it can be changed without suffering a five-place grid penalty.

6
How many hours it takes for a complete rebuild of the car at the track with 12 mechanics (assuming sub-assembly is already complete). From scratch at the factory it would take 150 people seven days.

6.67
The number of seconds per lap that the KERS electric motor can be activated at full power.

7
The number of gears in the E20's gearbox.

8
The number of engines allocated to each driver in 2012.

10
The weight of a Pirelli front tyre in kilograms.

18.5
In psi, this is the average pressure for an F1 tyre.

30
The weight of a driver's head and helmet in kilograms during maximum braking of 4.5G (the same as a heavy suitcase).

42
The number of revolutions per second by a tyre when the E20 is travelling at 300 km/h.

60
The amount of water dispersed in litres per second by a wet Pirelli tyre travelling at 300 km/h.

87.75
The impact energy in kilojoules that must be withstood by the nose of the car when it is crash tested by the FIA. This is the same amount of energy as would be required to stop a 4 tonne elephant moving towards you at 25km/h.

90
The operating temperature in degrees Celsius of each Pirelli tyre.

130
Measured in decibels, this is how loud the RS27-2012 engine is at full revs.

400
The amount of braking energy in kilojoules that the KERS generator can place into the KERS battery in a single lap.

500
The temperature in degrees Celsius reached by the clutch during a race.

640
The minimum weight of the car in kilograms

900
The temperature in degrees Celsius of the exhaust gases when the car is on full throttle.

1,100
In degrees Celsius, this is the temperature a brake disc can reach during the race.

1,500
This is the total number of moving parts in each RS27-2012 V8 engine.


2,500
The number of gear changes the drivers have to make during an average Grand Prix.

4,000
The total number of parts that make up each RS27-2012 V8 engine.

11,000
The number of technical drawings produced by the time of the E20 car build (28% more than any previous car).

10,000
The number of aero parts tested annually in the wind tunnel.

30,000
The number of individual parts that make up each E20.

250,000
The amount of man hours that have gone into the design of the E20.

Source - Lotus

MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX – RACE REPORT

Kimi Räikkönen drove a strong race at Sepang to convert his tenth-place start into fifth place and ten points. It was a tough race with mixed weather conditions, made tougher by a gearbox change penalty that put the Finn five slots back on the grid from his impressive qualifying time.

On Saturday, Kimi set the fastest time in Q2 and the joint fourth fastest time in Q3, a 1:36.461 shared with Mark Webber. It highlighted the raw pace of the Lotus E20. Team-mate Romain Grosjean, meanwhile, delivered the seventh fastest time and was promoted to P6 on the grid due to Kimi's penalty.

Romain had a very strong start, bursting through the field and taking third at Turn 1. However, as rain fell and visibility was compromised, he had contact with Michael Schumacher and the two were sent spinning out. A few laps later, stuck out on intermediate tyres as the rain lashed down, Romain aquaplaned off into the gravel. His race was over.

Kimi fell to 13th after switching to extreme wets on Lap 5, just before the Safety Car came out and, finally, the race was red flagged. After nearly an hour sheltering under gazebos on the grid, the race was restarted.

On Lap 13, Kimi was back in for intermediates. With the track drying he made his third and final stop on Lap 40 having scythed his way back up the field to P6. On dry tarmac, Kimi set the fastest lap of the race and when Sebastian Vettel lost a rear tyre he was promoted to fifth place behind Mark Webber.

Kimi Räikkönen: 'It was my first time on wet weather Pirellis - I didn't know how they would react. I just tried to stay on the road and pushed as hard as I felt comfortable. When I changed to dry I could push much harder. The conditions changed a lot today so it was always a case of adapting and looking for grip. A fifth today is okay but we're always looking for better results.'

Romain Grosjean: 'It felt like the perfect start off the line. With KERS I managed to weave through the cars in front without touching anybody. Coming out of the first two corners I was up to third, which was an amazing feeling. In Turn 4 Mark Webber edged in front. Michael Schumacher tried to follow him through but there was not enough space and we touched, and both spun. From there things were really tough. The visibility was so poor. There was far too much water. I had a massive aquaplaning into Turn 5 and went backwards into the gravel.'

Source - Lotus