Lotus reserve driver Fairuz Fauzy will make four more appearances during Friday practice sessions in 2010.

The team announced on Tuesday that the 27-year-old Malaysian, who practiced at the wheel of the T127 in Malaysia, will be back in the car this weekend at Silverstone.

Fauzy will also be driving in the Friday morning session in Hungary, Singapore and Abu Dhabi, Lotus said in a media statement.

“I did the shakedown of chassis 04 at Snetterton a couple of weeks ago, but obviously couldn’t really push there, so it’ll be great to get back out and add whatever I can to help the team keep moving towards the midfield,” he said.

(GMM)

Lotus Racing has today announced that it is throwing open the doors of its factory in Hingham, UK, for fans to take an exclusive look behind the scenes of the inner workings of the fastest new team in the Formula One™ World Championship. Paying guests now have the chance to take a tour of the team’s Norfolk home in 1½ hour tours, where they will see each of the key areas of the factory, including the Design Office, Composite and Machine Shops, Race Bays and the Race Team workshops – everything needed to build and run a modern F1™ team. In addition, guests will also have the opportunity to see the T127 race car up close and meet the people who make it all happen.

Guests will be shown around by dedicated tour guides, who will ensure that every visitor will be leave with a detailed understanding of all the processes that go into making a modern Formula One™ car¸ as well as a unique gift bag that will add to the lasting memories of their day at the team’s home. The factory is less than ten minutes from the original Lotus factory in Hethel, only 15 miles from Norwich and 105 miles from London, so it can be reached in less than three hours from the UK capital. As they are already experts in travelling to and from their UK base to races around the world, the team can also provide advice and assistance with transfers to and from Hingham, and local accommodation requests, at additional costs.

To ensure the race cars are in the factory, limited dates are available right now, and requests will be accommodated on a first-come, first serve basis. Three tours will take place each day, for groups of ten, and times can be arranged to suit each group. The first dates available now are listed below – more dates from August and through to the end of the year will be announced shortly:

Wednesday June 30th, Thursday July 1st, Friday July 2nd, Monday July 5th, Tuesday July 6th

Tuesday July 13th, Wednesday July 14th, Thursday July 15th, Friday July 16th

Wednesday August 4th, Thursday August 5th, Friday August 6th

Prices are £80 per person, with under-17’s half price at £40, and under-12’s go free – fantastic value for a once in a lifetime opportunity to take a look at the inner workings of a modern Formula One™ team.

Jarno Trulli insists he remains committed to Lotus.

The Italian, who switched to the new Malaysian backed team after several years with the big-budget Toyota, admitted recently that 2010 had so far not met his expectations.

He told the Italian press in late April that he will judge Lotus’ debut season “at the end of the year”.

Some interpreted that comment to mean he would consider his options for 2011, but the 35-year-old revealed at the weekend that he is already signed up through 2012.

And before shaking down his new T127 chassis at a Lotus event at the Snetterton circuit, he told BBC Radio Norfolk: “We’re getting stronger and stronger.

“Once the results start coming, people will realise how important Lotus was and how serious Lotus Racing is now.”

Trulli has had a dire campaign so far in terms of reliability, but he insists the car’s designers “had to make some compromises” with the 2010 car because it was penned so quickly.

“I signed a three year deal because I strongly believed we were going to go through a hard season but it’s basically a preparation season.  From next year, we will start being more and more serious,” he said.

Trulli said he and his mechanics are “desperate” for better luck, but “I knew before the beginning of the season that this would be a hard season — this is only preparation for the future.”
(GMM)

With formula one between grands prix, many familiar faces spent their weekends in a slightly different racing environment.

Sports lover Mark Webber was F1′s most recognisable face in the paddock of premier motorcycle racing MotoGP’s Silverstone round.

But also at the British circuit was Mercedes’ Nick Fry, HRT driver Karun Chandhok, commentator Martin Brundle and occasional steward Johnny Herbert.

“I like to watch bike racing on TV,” Australian Webber told sport1.  “I don’t live far away, I have seen many friends here, and there are also many Australians working in MotoGP.”

Elsewhere, despite the ban on in-season testing, more serious business was taking place.

At the UK’s Snetterton circuit, the Classic Team Lotus Festival was taking place, but among the cars in action was the brand new T127 ‘Chassis 4′, to be debuted by Jarno Trulli at Valencia next weekend.

And at Ferrari’s own Fiorano test circuit, Fernando Alonso was driving the F10 for the “promotional and filming” reasons as permitted by the test ban.

But, as confirmed by Italian media sources, the 2010 car was in its full Valencia specification, including Red Bull-style low exhausts, designed to channel more air to the double-diffuser.

“You have to make the most of any opportunity in this era of the testing ban,” the Italian team said.

(GMM)

The Canadian Grand Prix made good on its promise of providing the best race of the season so far, and Lotus Racing put in a great day’s work to see Heikki Kovalainen finish the race 16th, ahead of Petrov’s Renault, after a great battle on track in what proved to be punishing conditions for the tyres for the whole field. Jarno Trulli, who had been showing quick pace right from the start, pulled over on lap 42 after a vibration at the front end led to a problem with the braking system that put paid to his race.

Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus Cosworth T127-01) 16th, best lap 1.20.654 “It’s been a great weekend, and I’m really pleased for the whole team with the result today. We finished ahead of Petrov and lapped the other new guys, and although it was hard work managing the tyres, it’s still great to show what we can do. The race itself was tough, but it’s all about the result – I didn’t have any technical problems with the car, but the rear wasn’t working quite as I’d have liked, and I think that was down to the tyre wear.”

Jarno Trulli (Lotus Cosworth T127-03) DNF best lap 1.20.791 “It’s such a shame I had to pull over – I had a great start and then I was really flying during the race. We got the strategy right on the tyres, and my pace was good – I was keeping up with the boys in front, and I was overtaking our other rivals. But then I felt a vibration that caused a problem with the braking system and I had to pull over. Still – we have to move on. It’s another learning curve for the team and I think it’s great to see that in the race I could really push and was putting in some very good lap times.”

Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: “I think overall we can be very happy with the race, and the whole weekend. The one disappointment was obviously Jarno’s problem – we will have to look at it in more detail, but it looks as though the vibration put paid to his race. Before he pulled over he was absolutely flying and the strategy would have really paid out for him, so that’s a plus. Heikki drove a fantastic race, fighting all the way with the guys in front, and kept it up right to the end to keep Petrov behind him.

“I think this weekend has been a massive step forward for the whole team. Rather than being just one of the new teams, we actually got stuck in and raced the teams ahead, which is what we wanted to do, so congratulations and thank you to the whole team for getting us to this position. In the end we lapped both of the other new teams, so it was a great effort, and again, well done!”

Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: “I’m very happy with the result today, and the whole weekend’s work. We got 42 laps from Jarno and Heikki drove an absolute cracker – beating a Renault was great, and Heikki did really well to hold him off, but the main aim for us is to get both cars home, and we’ll keep working on that back at the factory and at the track. Now we go to Valencia where we’ll be celebrating the 500th F1™ race Lotus has competed in, and the ninth for Lotus Racing.”

Source: Lotus

Force India’s newly-appointed technical director is switching teams to Lotus, it was announced on Wednesday.

Lotus, F1′s new Malaysian-backed team, said in a statement that Mark Smith will become technical director “at the end of his Force India notice period”.

The news is an embarrassment to Silverstone based Force India, who promoted Smith to the role of technical director in late February as the Sauber-bound James Key’s replacement.

The teams are set to battle one another in the courts, with Force India accusing Mike Gascoyne and Lotus of basing the T127 on a model left behind in an Italian wind tunnel.

Smith has previously worked with Renault and Red Bull.

He joins Force India colleagues Lewis Butler (chief designer) and Marianne Hinson (head of aerodynamics) in also defecting to Lotus.

Lotus’ technical boss Gascoyne has previously worked with Smith at Jordan, Renault and Force India.

“Lewis and I were together at Force India, and Lewis also worked with Mark Smith at Red Bull, and Marianne and I have known each other since 1999 when I gave her her first job in F1 at Jordan, so we all know each other very well,” said Gascoyne.

(GMM)

Force India on Wednesday confirmed it has instigated legal action in the UK against rival F1 team Lotus.

In a media statement, the Silverstone based team said the Malaysian-backed team’s technical boss Mike Gascoyne and Italian wind tunnel Aerolab are also being sued.

It has been reported that Force India claims a wind tunnel model of its 2009 car left in the Aerolab facility was used as the basis for Lotus’ current T127 racer.

Before working with Lotus, Briton Gascoyne also worked alongside Aerolab with Force India.

A Lotus spokesman on Tuesday said Aerolab “vigorously denies any wrongdoing and has provided Lotus Racing with a full indemnity in relation to the claim”.

Force India said on Wednesday: “(The team) states these are very serious claims and therefore it would not be taking such action if it could not provide supportive evidence.”

The team said a complaint has also been filed with Italian authorities.

It has been speculated that the dispute is actually about money, after Aerolab said late last year that it is pursuing Force India for “serious and persistent breaches of contract”.

Force India added that “it is now for the competent courts to decide whether, indeed, this outstanding amount should be paid to Aerolab given the seriousness of these current allegations”.

(GMM)

Lotus is almost ready to begin fighting with F1′s established teams, according to Heikki Kovalainen.

The Malaysian backed outfit has been the most impressive of the sport’s three new entrants this year, particularly in the wake of a recent upgrade for the T127 car.

And despite Kovalainen retiring in Monaco with a steering problem, the Finn thinks Lotus is getting ready to make its next step.

“For a time I was able to drive at the same pace as the Renault of Petrov,” he is quoted by France’s Auto Hebdo after the famous street race.

“We showed in Monaco that we are clearly the best of the new teams and that we will soon be able to fight with the teams in front of us.”

28-year-old Kovalainen’s was the fourteenth fastest race lap in Monaco, ahead of the Saubers and even Rubens Barrichello’s Williams.

(GMM)

Apr.30 (GMM)  Drivers’ and constructors’ championship leaders McLaren are also winning the race as F1′s most reliable team.

The British outfit, whose Jenson Button leads the drivers’ table by 10 points over Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg, completed every single lap with both MP4-25 cars at the initial Bahrain, Australian, Malaysian and Chinese grands prix.

In second place, a 100 per cent record for Ferrari was tarnished only by Fernando Alonso’s engine failure in the closing stages in Malaysia.

Red Bull is third with a 92.4 per cent finishing record in 2010, despite the RB6 appearing to have suffered from several reliability glitches so far.

In fact, Sebastian Vettel’s wheel nut problem in Melbourne was the team’s only DNF, while teammate Mark Webber has completed all four races within the top 9.

Similarly, only one Mercedes car – Michael Schumacher’s in China – has failed to reach the chequered flag, but the German team is fourth in the list with a 89.2 per cent record due the stoppage occurring early in the race.

Williams’ single DNF culminates in a 86 per cent reliability record because Nico Hulkenberg was taken out on the first lap in Australia.

Renault is sixth of the ten teams with 75.1 per cent, for while Robert Kubica has finished every race with the R30, rookie Vitaly Petrov’s first race finish was in China.

In Bahrain the Russian damaged the suspension by hitting a kerb too hard, in Melbourne he spun into the gravel, and in Malaysia he had to stop with a gearbox problem.

Impressively, the new team Lotus also has a 75 per cent finishing record, even though Jarno Trulli was not actually a classified finisher at Sepang because he was ten laps behind.

And in Melbourne, the Italian’s T127 was not even on the grid due to a pre-race hydraulics problem.

Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari has finished all the races, but teammate Sebastien Buemi was taken out on the first lap in both Australia and China — first by Kamui Kobayashi and then Vitantonio Liuzzi.

Force India is now increasingly mentioned as a serious F1 competitor, but its reliability record so far in 2010 is just 65.9 per cent.

Liuzzi crashed in China and had a throttle problem in Malaysia, while Adrian Sutil had a Ferrari engine problem in Melbourne.

HRT’s F1 career started badly with only one car crossing the line in the opening two races.

But the Dallara-built cars of Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok both finished in Malaysia and China, giving the Spanish team a 65.2pc finishing record.

Virgin and Sauber are at the bottom of the pile, with Virgin achieving a mere 33.8pc reliability record with only Lucas di Grassi able to cross the line in Malaysia by aggressively saving fuel.

Sauber is last, with only Pedro de la Rosa recording a race finish in Melbourne for a reliability record of just 25.5 per cent.

“We’ve suffered too many reliability issues on both the chassis side and with our engines,” team founder Peter Sauber said on Thursday.

“That’s very unusual — we’ve always been one of the best teams in this respect over the years.

“We’ve closely analysed all the chassis-related problems and already put measures into effect.  Our engine partner Ferrari is doing the same,” he added.

Apr.30 (GMM)  The logo of team boss Tony Fernandes’ AirAsia airline could soon feature on the 2010 Lotus car.

We reported last month that because the logos are already seen prominently on Williams’ FW32, Fernandes was instead content to advertise his investment firm Tune Group on the green T127.

But according to a report in Finland’s leading newspaper Turun Sanomat, the situation might be different when the heavily updated cars emerge from the pits in Barcelona next week.

The report said the AirAsia logo “will be displayed” on the Lotus in Spain.

Meanwhile, we also reported in March that the logos of the Brazilian oil company Petrobras might be added to the T127′s livery in Barcelona.

But Turun Sanomat said the deal has not been done in time to debut at the Spanish grand prix.

Yesterday, Kovalainen completed 30 laps prior to the accident where his front wing broke and forced him to leave the circuit, because there was no spare part to replace it.  However, he was not distressed and even though he admitted the single-seater lacks aerodynamics, he assured that the T127 has great potential.

“I think the potential is there.  The initial sensation this morning was good,” explained Kovalainen.  “With enough grip in the slow curves, the car is behaving quite well.  But it does lack adherence in high speeds [curves] where we lose time, probably too, because of configuration issues [set-up].  But, overall it is alright and I enjoyed it very much.”

After running for McLaren since 2008, Kovalainen has great experience in races with the Formula One champion team and is used to utilizing Mercedes engines – considered as the best in the grid.

When asked to compare the Lotus’ V8 Cosworth with Mercedes’ engine, he said: “In terms of sheer power, it is not very far from Mercedes’, although it is probably not as good, but on the whole, the sensation is quite positive.  The ease with which you drive it was very competitive when compared with Mercedes.  The power is located at different areas, but I feel it is one of the strongest parts of the car.”

Kovalainen has remained in Jerez to test his car today, Friday.  The new front wing was delivered last nigh to the racing team.

Today, Thursday, the unveilings have restarted with rain after yesterday’s unpredictable day.  A of 10 AM, rainstorm limited the unveilings at Jerez; none could complete 30 laps.  A little while after 11 AM, the severe storm caused stagnant water in the racetrack generating a red flag.

As a result, times are even more diverse than yesterday’s, with Felipe Massa leading the timesheet previous to the rainfall.  The only team that made a remarkable progress was Virgin, with Timo Glock driving up to 26 wet laps.

On its part, Lotus, seems to have stepped backwards and no time has been registered up to now.  For a few moments, at the Lotus box, fire was seen coming out from under the engine’s cover, but the team has not yet announced the reason.

Renault has not established a lap time neither at the beginning of the session.  Vitaly Petrov continues his second consecutive testing day under the rain.

The teams gathered again on a wet racetrack on the second testing day and more precipitation is expected for tomorrow.  The programs were fractured yesterday by two severe rainstorms and five red flags, and it seems that today is not going to be different.

Felipe Massa went directly to the top part of the timesheet with a time of 1:28.879 at the beginning of his second successive testing day.  The only teams that changed their UPS line were Mercedes, with Nico Rosberg behind the steering wheel, and Lotus, that made the first test with Heikki Kovalainen with the el T127.  Paul di Resta continues in Force India, but it is expected that in any moment, he will be substituted by Tonio Liuzzi.  Lucas di Grassi, today will share his single-seater ,Virgin with Timo Glock.

Just before a break for lunch, the racetrack began to improve and that allowed some time modifications.  Barrichello placed himself first at one thirty with a best time of 1:28.499 in a rather long session (he remained in the track for 20 minutes straight.) Hamilton clocked his best personal time of the day with 1:31.833, but very far from the morning’s best times.  Afterwards, the Brazilian in his Williams stopped the chronometer in 1:27.145, using all the fuel.

Right now, Petrov with his Renault went back to the racetrack and placed himself second with 1:27.891.  The track is drying, although there are still some pools.  Ferrari has not explained its long stop at the boxes.  It has been rumored that it had an electrical problem.  At the end of the morning session, only the Russian pilot, Petrov and Barrichello have dropped off from 1:28.9.

Michael Schumacher led the way in the opening hour of Wednesday’s Jerez test as two red flag situations kept running to a minimum.

Overcast skies and a damp track greeted the drivers on the first morning of this week’s four-day Jerez test.

Felipe Massa was the first to venture out, followed by Fairuz Fauzy, who was given the honour of getting behind the wheel of the new Lotus T127 in its first official test.

Following a brief break after the installation laps, which were completed by all the teams excluding Virgin Racing within the first 20 minutes, Fauzy hit the track again to put in his first timed lap.

The Lotus test driver clocked a 1:46.652 in his brief two-lap run. However, the team had no complaints.

“Fairuz just did a couple of laps on a wet track with no problems, he’s in now for some adjustments,” Lotus reported on Twitter.

The Malaysian driver’s time, though, was over 16s off the lead time set by Michael Schumacher.

While his rivals were lapping in the 1:33s to start with, Schumacher’s first flying lap of the day was a 1:30.549.

It wasn’t a good start to the test for Lewis Hamilton and McLaren as the Brit brought out the red flags when he stopped out on track.

After a 16 minute hold-up the session was resumed only to be stopped four minutes later as Paul di Resta spun his Force India.

Schumacher therefore ended the opening hour in the P1 slot with Pedro de la Rosa 0.214s behind and Felipe Massa in third place.