Going into the winter break ahead of the 2014 season, the anticipation was molecular in how it shaped up; with numerous variables and changes fans of the sport questioned and followed with interest, building their excitment. Aside from the technical and aesthetic, there was a constant that looked to develop into a real contender for Sebastian Vettel's crown- Romain Grosjean.
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| Romain Grosjean celebrates his 2nd place at the US Grand Prix last year. |
His displays in the final races demonstrated maturity, confidence and self-assurance, looking as if the Frenchman could assert himself as Lotus' Number One driver and lead the team to his first win on the step to challenging the top teams for both Driver and Constructors gold. But, those regulation changes have hurt Lotus and stifled Grosjean's success- with the spoils going to others in the paddock; Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo taking his first win, and Williams Valterri Bottas imitating the form Romain carried last year.
So what has happened to Lotus?
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| Ayrton Senna and Lotus. Both legends. |
The black and gold livery is as prestigious as the history it holds underneath its chassis; 7 constructors championships and 6 driver titles, these astounding feats almost lend Lotus to have unequivocal success. But, as Ferrari and Mclaren know all too well, the hands of time cannot be rested upon and are unbiased to the champions of the future to come, as Red Bull and Mercedes have risen to become the top teams in F1.
Ending the 2013 season 4th in the constructors table (315 points), Lotus find themselves 8th, with Romain Grosjean's sole 8 points keeping the team ahead on the finest of margins from Sauber and Marussia.
Financially, the cracks were evident last year as Kimi Raikkonen confessed the team hadn't paid him for numerous races and then Team Principal Gerard Lopez admitting Lotus were in £114 million debt. These money difficulties would unsettle any organisation and the ramifications from that are being seen on track. The loss of key personnel also, from Kimi leaving for Ferrari and former Team Principle Eric Boullier joining Mclaren just hours after the E22 was unveiled, further dislocated the team.
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| Nico Hulkenberg |
After Raikkonen's departure, Nico Hulkenberg was seen by many as the likely candidate to fill the Finn's boots due to merit. However, Lotus's money problems were the underlining reason they opted for reckless Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado, who brings vast resources and sponsorship courtesy of his connections with oil company PDVSA and ties to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. The prospect of receiving figures in the region of £45 million (which Maldonado brought to Williams in 2012) were surely not to be refused by Lotus' owners Genii Capital. So, instead of progressing forward with a solid driver partnership, Lotus found it a necessity to address being in the red at, arguably, the expense of aiming for gold...which shows the magnitude of the crisis.
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| Pastor Maldonado |
Switching from V8's to turbo V6's presented challenges for all teams, but Lotus once again have struggled in particular. Renault power is inferior to that of Mercedes, but Lotus have not been able to harness the potential and develop a reliable package, with both drivers suffering numerous DNF's or failures throughout a race weekend. Pastor Maldonado said,
''When you have a big transition like that in terms of technology you always have some problems, but we didn't expect to have that much. At the moment, in my opinion, its just too much.''
As was announced last month, next year will see Lotus use Mercedes engines, which is a sign of their intent for the future to improve on where they find themselves at the moment.
All these factors have led to poor performances not fitting of the Lotus name. Is a Ferrari-style reshuffle in order to see them back to winning ways? Or it may be a case of those personnel changes at the start of the year taking their toll on a team hit on all fronts by problems and needing time to nurture a team crying out for stability.
