Lotus E22

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Lotus E22
Lotus E22 Maldonado Silverstone 2014 (3).jpg
Pastor Maldonado driving the E22 at the British Grand Prix
Category Formula One
Constructor Lotus
Designer(s) Nick Chester (Technical Director)
Chris Cooney (Engineering Director)
Martin Tolliday (Chief Designer)
Simon Virrill (Project Leader)
Nicolas Hennel (Head of Aerodynamics)
Jon Tomlinson (Chief Aerodynamicist)
Predecessor Lotus E21
Successor Lotus E23 Hybrid
Technical specifications [1]
Chassis Composite monocoque structure, designed and built in-house, carrying the Renault V6 as fully stressed member
Suspension (front)Carbon fibre top and bottom wishbones operate an inboard rocker via a pushrod system. This is connected to a torsion bar and damper units which are mounted inside the front of the monocoque. Aluminium uprights
Suspension (rear)Carbon fibre top and bottom wishbones with pull rod operated torsion springs and transverse-mounted damper units mounted inside the gearbox casing. Aluminium uprights
Engine Renault Energy F1-2014 1.6 L (98 cu in) V6, turbo
Transmission Lotus 8-speed semi-automatic titanium gearbox with reverse gear.
Weight692kg, with driver, cameras and ballast
Fuel Total Excellium
Lubricants Total Quartz 9000
Tyres Pirelli P Zero (dry), Cinturato (wet)
Competition history
Notable entrants Lotus F1 Team
Notable drivers8. Flag of France.svg Romain Grosjean [2]
13. Flag of Venezuela.svg Pastor Maldonado [2]
Debut 2014 Australian Grand Prix
Last event 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
RacesWins Podiums Poles F/Laps
190000

The Lotus E22 is a Formula One racing car designed by Lotus to compete in the 2014 Formula One season. [3] The chassis was designed by Nick Chester, Chris Cooney, Martin Tolliday and Nicolas Hennel with Renault supplying the team's powertrain. It was driven by Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado, [2] who replaced Kimi Räikkönen after Räikkönen left the team to rejoin Ferrari. The E22 was designed to use Renault's new 1.6-litre V6 turbocharged engine, [4] the Energy F1-2014. [5] This was the last car of the Enstone-based team which used Renault engines until Renault RS16, before a new one-year deal with fellow Daimler brand Mercedes.

Contents

Design

The E22 had a "tusk" style nosecone design; with a short tusk on the left side and longer tusk on the right side.

Season summary

The team was forced to miss the first pre-season test at Jerez de la Frontera, [6] but released computer-rendered images of the car in the week beforehand, showing a distinctive asymmetrical forked nose design. [7]

Grosjean at the Singapore Grand Prix Romain Grosjean 2014 Singapore FP2.jpg
Grosjean at the Singapore Grand Prix

After disappointing results in the first few races, the car picked up pace when the season came to Europe, with Romain Grosjean qualifying fifth and coming home in eighth position at the Spanish Grand Prix. Lotus nevertheless struggled to earn points throughout the season, with only two more point-scoring finishes at Monaco for Grosjean and in the United States for Maldonado. The team would admit that a fundamental design flaw on the chassis was hugely responsible for the poor performance during the season. Also in the United States the team tried a different nose design in FP1 similar to the E23 but then they stopped the development of the car relatively early to concentrate on the E23 chassis after developments on the troublesome car brought no improvements to its performance. Therefore, Lotus ended the season a disappointing eighth in the Constructors' Championship standings, compared to fourth in 2013.

Complete Formula One results

(key)

YearEntrantEngineTyresDriversGrands PrixPointsWCC
AUS MAL BHR CHN ESP MON CAN AUT GBR GER HUN BEL ITA SIN JPN RUS USA BRA ABU
2014 Lotus F1 Team Renault Energy F1-2014 P Romain Grosjean Ret1112Ret88Ret1412RetRetRet16131517111713108th
Pastor Maldonado RetRet141415DNSRet12171213Ret14121618912Ret

 — Driver failed to finish the race, but was classified as they had completed greater than 90% of the race distance.
 — Teams and drivers scored double points at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

References

  1. "Lotus E22 - F1technical.net".
  2. 1 2 3 "Pastor Maldonado will join Lotus in 2014 alongside Romain Grosjean". SkySport F1. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  3. Noble, Jonathan (7 January 2014). "McLaren reveals new F1 car launch date". Autosport. Jonathan Noble. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
  4. Lopez, Gerard (15 January 2014). "Es kommen keine neuen Schulden dazu" [No new debts will arise]. Auto, Motor und Sport.de (Interview) (in German). Interviewed by Michael Schmidt. Motor Presse Stuttgart GmbH & Co. KG. Archived from the original on 26 August 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2014. We will use the Renault Engine and have worked for long time to determine what the ideal agreement looks like for us.
  5. "Renault unveil 2014 turbo engine". Formula One World Championship Limited. 21 June 2013. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  6. Noble, Jonathan (6 January 2014). "Lotus to miss first 2014 F1 test". Racer. Jonathan Noble. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  7. "McLaren and Lotus reveal odd-nosed 2014 cars". Grand Prix. 24 January 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2014.