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The Lotus F1 Team, also referred to as
1Malaysia F1 team, is a partnership between the Malaysian Government (investment
is only through Proton) and a consortium of Malaysian entrepreneurs such
as Proton (who owns Lotus Cars), Sepang International Circuit (SIC),
AirAsia, Naza Motors, the Motorsports Association of Malaysia and
Automobile Association of Malaysia. The team is known under the name
Lotus Racing.
With this new team we did see the
return of the Lotus name as a constructor to Formula One for the first
time since 1994, when the original British company Team Lotus stopped
competing in Formula One. The team gained its entry after BMW announced
they would withdraw from Formula One at the end of the 2009 season. They
where joined by Manor Grand Prix, Campos Grand Prix and Team USF1 as new
teams for 2010.
The team is managed by Tony Fernandes, founder and CEO of the
Malaysian-based Tune Ventures and owner of the Air Asia airline, as the
team principal. The team's technical director is Mike Gascoyne.
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Riad Asmat is the chief executive officer of 1Malaysia F1 Team Sdn Bhd
(1MF1T). Riad Asmat (1971) was formerly working as general manager of
Proton Holdings Berhad . He was tasked with the development of Proton's
motorsports programme. Mr. Asmat also managed the company's involvement
in A1 Team Malaysia.
Keith Saunt is appointed as chief operating officer of the team and has
been selected to manage the technical organisation in Britain reporting
directly to chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne. His previous
experience includes senior roles with Team Lotus International,
Benetton, Renault and Red Bull Racing.
The team will initially be based at the RTN facility in Norfolk, UK, 10
miles from the Lotus Cars factory. The team’s design, R&D, manufacturing
and technical centre will be at Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit.
windtunnel model
HQ at Higham, Norfolk
The team will be working with Fondtech on aerodynamics. The engines
will be supplied by Cosworth and gearboxes will be from Xtrac. The
design was revealed in October 2009 at the start of the wind tunnel
programme.
The drivers in 2010, the first year:
Jarno Trulli
Heikki Kovalainen
Fairuz Fauzy
The car in 2010, Lotus Cosworth T127:
 Lotus
Racing press releases are available
. Some history: Lotus
Racing was officially born on September 12th 2009 when the FIA granted
the new team its entry into the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship.
Headed up by Team Principal Tony Fernandes, supported by Chief Technical
Officer Mike Gascoyne and Chief Executive Riad Asmat, the team made its
base in Hingham, Norfolk, near to the home of Group Lotus, a few miles
up the Norfolk roads in Hethel.
Lotus Racing’s origins began before September, with Tony and fellow
shareholders Kamarudin Meranun and SM Nasarudin leading a consortium of
Malaysian business interests who joined forces to provide initial
funding for the nascent team under the parent company 1Malaysia Racing
Team banner. Tony immediately began appointing key senior management
positions, including Riad Asmat joining as Chief Executive Officer and
Lee Chung Han as Chief Financial Officer, while Mike Gascoyne began work
on the technical program in the UK and across Europe.
As the team moved into its new Hingham, UK home work began immediately
on building the 2010 cars, with Mike directing the technical efforts
across centres of excellence in design, wind tunnel, composite
manufacturing and a host of ancillary support services throughout Europe
in an intensive effort to be ready for the rapidly approaching season
ahead. With the car build process under way, a similar effort was also
being undertaken in creating the team itself, with new staff being taken
on every day, and the fabric of the team’s identity being created from
scratch.
In December one of the first major milestones was reached, with a
ceremony in Kuala Lumpur unveiling the first Lotus Racing drivers -
Italy’s Jarno Trulli, Finland’s Heikki Kovalainen and Malaysia’s Fairuz
Fauzy. The combination of race winning experience, youth and passion
give the team a good platform from which to establish the true pace of
the car and have a fighting chance of exceeding expectations in the
season ahead.
December brought the UK’s worst winter for 30 years and as staff numbers
at the Hingham factory swelled work continued apace. Jarno, Heikki and
Fairuz all spent time in snowy Norfolk, having their seats fitted and
familiarising themselves with their new Race Engineers, pit crews and
support staff. Chassis 01 passed all its crash tests in early January
and soon afterwards arrived at the factory for the engineers and
mechanics to get to work on the actual build process. As the team’s
hours in the factory increased, the car itself began to take shape, and
by early February a few all night sessions saw the months of hard work
culminate in the first Cosworth engine fire up in the factory.
Two days later the now 130 strong staff gathered in the factory’s race
bays to see the car in its final build specification for the very first
time. As the final pieces of bodywork were fixed in place, the Lotus
Racing team saw, for the very first time, the car’s green and yellow
livery, bringing to mind some of motor racing’s most iconic images and
leaving everyone involved with the impression that not only was the car
technically beautiful, but also would exceed the expectations of motor
racing fans around the world.
The next day the team moved to a very cold and snowy Silverstone for
shakedown – a day where system checks and engineering procedures worked
in harmony to finally see the Lotus Cosworth T127, as it had by then
been designated, break cover on track for the very first time, with
Malaysia’s Fairuz Fauzy at the wheel.
As the car’s speed built up so did the atmosphere amongst the 65 people
amassed on site – five incredibly intensive months of hard work and
pressure had paid off handsomely, with a stunning car on track, and the
wail of the Cosworth V8 screaming around the Northamptonshire
countryside. |
