A fight is on to keep history of the Lotus name alive
Lotus suffered another poor result during the German Grand Prix at the Hockenheim ring the team were looking to continue their good form from the previous race at the British Grand Prix. However instead of continuing the good run both drivers failed to reach the finish of the German Grand Prix with mechanical gremlins becoming a recurring problem.
Although being at the back of the grid both drivers had produced one of their best qualifying sessions of the year with Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen starting the race 17th and 18th respectively. The drivers start to the race was also positive as both held their nerve in the early stages to avoid the early impacts and incidents.
However by lap 9 it was all a case of Déjà vu for Trulli as gearbox problems ended another race prematurely for the Italian. The team have struggled all year with reliability and the 2011 car will need to present some radical improvements if the team have any real long term ambition in the sport.
Team-mate Heikki Kovalainen would fair slightly better completing 61 laps at the Hockenheim ring before colliding with Pedro De La Rosa’s Sauber, ending the Finn’s race with terminal damage.
The demands for a reliable car have taken their toll on the team and both drivers’ have been perennial non-finishers, particularly Jarno Trulli with a catalogue of failures on the car. The prospect of back to back races will put extra pressure on the team to improve with a race weekend at the Hungarian Grand Prix being the new priority.
The poor result in Germany will have undoubtedly given Lotus further concerns about the overall resilience and reliability of the T127 chassis with recurring faults being the major issue.
Although finding their rhythm during free practice and qualifying the team still need to calculate the race in terms of the strength of car and driver. With the immediate journey to Hungary looming the team need to find a return to their good form, despite having limited time to prepare.
Although Lotus are blessed with a previous winner of the Hungarian Grand Prix with Heikki Kovalainen it counts for little in their fight for survival. Although both drivers have the experience in the sport they are hindered by an inconsistent car, something which could prove very damaging for the future of Lotus in Formula One.
The teams first season back in Formula One was always guaranteed to be a dramatic affair and the future could be just as uncertain for the Anglo-Malaysian outfit in their bid for a return to Formula One dominance.
The desire and determination of the team is clear to see and the squad will undoubtedly continue fighting for their place in Formula One and keep the history of the Lotus name alive.
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