Lotus T128 (Formula One car)

Lotus T128
	Davide Valsecchi driving the T128 during the free practice session of the Malaysian Grand Prix
Category	Formula One
Constructor	Lotus
Designer(s)	Mike Gascoyne (Chief Technical Officer); Dieter Gass (Deputy Technical Director); Lewis Butler (Chief Designer); Frank Ramowsky (Head of R&D); Elliot Dason-Barber (Head of Vehicle Dynamics); Marianne Hinson (Head of Aerodynamics)
Predecessor	Lotus T127
Successor	Caterham CT01
Technical specifications
Chassis	carbon-fibre and honeycomb composite monocoque
Suspension (front)	carbon-fibre
Suspension (rear)	carbon-fibre
Engine	Renault RS27-2011 2,400 cc (146.5 cu in) 90° V8, limited to 18,000 RPM naturally aspirated, mid-mounted
Transmission	Red Bull Technologies Seven-speed semi-automatic gearbox with reverse gear
Weight	640 kg (1,411 lb) (including driver)
Fuel	Total
Tyres	Pirelli P Zero; BBS Wheels (front and rear): 13"
Competition history
Notable entrants	Team Lotus
Notable drivers	20. Heikki Kovalainen ; 21. Jarno Trulli ; 21. Karun Chandhok
Debut	2011 Australian Grand Prix
Last event	2011 Brazilian Grand Prix

Last updated October 22, 2024

The Lotus T128,^[1] known prior to its launch by its project number TL11, is a Formula One motor racing car designed by Mike Gascoyne, Lewis Butler and Marianne Hinson for Team Lotus in the 2011 Formula One season. 2011 saw the car abandon its Cosworth engine in favour of one developed by Renault. The T128 was launched online on 31 January 2011.^[2] Team Lotus retained an unchanged driver lineup in 2011, with 2010 drivers Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli racing the T128. It was confirmed that the team would start the season without the Kinetic Energy Recovery System, but senior figures suggested they would adopt it if the car proved successful,^[3] however the team continued for the rest of the 2011 season without KERS. The team changed from the Cosworth CA2010 engine used in 2010 to the Renault RS27 series, as well as exchanging a transmission developed by X-Trac to one built by Red Bull Technologies. The design of the T128 also incorporated a "bladed" rollbar similar to the one developed by Mercedes in 2010, but thicker and with sturdier air intakes to conform with FIA regulations.

Pre-season

Lotus Racing announced on 5 October 2010 that the team had agreed a deal with Red Bull Technology for the supply of gearboxes and hydraulic systems from 2011 onwards.^[4] As part of a major technical team upgrade many Force India staff were leaving their jobs to join the team and aid with car development.^[5]^[6] On 24 October 2010, the team confirmed that it will build a dedicated wind-tunnel facility at its British base. In addition, the team and its GP2 outfit Team AirAsia will expand operations at the existing factory site to take over a further two units, giving Team Air Asia a permanent home alongside the Lotus operation.^[7] On 5 November 2010, the team confirmed an engine full-works partnership for the next two years with Renault.^[8]

On 30 November 2010, the FIA released the entry list for the 2011 season in which Lotus Racing were listed under the "Team Lotus" name.^[9] To show that the team was pressing ahead with its plans, they rebranded their factory, changed their official website and introduced a new team logo.^[10] Chief executive Riad Asmat announced that he expected the car to be a genuine midfield runner and challenge for point-scoring positions.^[11] Jarno Trulli said that the Lotus-sponsored Renault team had given Team Lotus plenty of motivation to perform more consistently.^[12]

Team Lotus skipped the first day of the Valencia test opting to carry out a private test day at the end of the week instead. It was a good call as a power steering issue dogged the car after its roll out on Wednesday. It limited most of the test to looking at launch systems, aero testing and basic systems checks. It also meant that the team was lacking on long runs and tyre data (it was running too slowly to really work the rubber).

2011 season

In qualifying for the first race, the Australian Grand Prix, Team Lotus were eliminated in Q1, causing surprise within the team, who had expected to be much closer to the midfield, although they were ahead of both Virgins and HRTs. in the race, Heikki Kovalainen retired on lap 19 due to a water leak, while Jarno Trulli finished 13th, ahead of d'Ambrosio.^[13]

Throughout the season, the T128 was faster than the Virgin cars and HRTs.

Complete Formula One results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Engine	Tyres	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Points	WCC
2011	Team Lotus	Renault RS27 V8	P		AUS	MAL	CHN	TUR	ESP	MON	CAN	EUR	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	SIN	JPN	KOR	IND	ABU	BRA	0	10th
				Kovalainen	Ret	15	16	19	Ret	14	Ret	19	Ret	16	Ret	15	13	16	18	14	14	17	16
				Trulli	13	Ret	19	18	18	13	16	20	Ret		Ret	14	14	Ret	19	17	19	18	18
				Chandhok	TD			TD				TD	TD	20			TD		TD	TD	TD

Related Research Articles

Renault, a French automobile manufacturer, has been associated with Formula One as both team owner and engine manufacturer for various periods since 1977. In 1977, the company entered Formula One as a constructor, introducing the turbo engine to Formula One with its EF1 engine. In 1983, Renault began supplying engines to other teams. Although the Renault team had won races, it withdrew at the end of 1985. Renault engines continued to be raced until 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jarno Trulli</span> Italian racing driver (born 1974)

Jarno Trulli is an Italian former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from 1997 to 2011. Trulli won the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix with Renault.

Heikki Johannes Kovalainen is a Finnish racing and rally driver, who competed in Formula One from 2007 to 2013. Kovalainen won the 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix with McLaren. In sportscar racing, Kovalainen won the Super GT Series in 2016 with SARD.

Karun Chandhok is an Indian racing driver and television presenter who last competed in Formula E for Mahindra Racing. Previously, Chandhok has competed for Hispania Racing in Formula One in 2010. Before this, he drove in the GP2 Series for three years, winning two races. In 2013, Chandhok competed in the FIA GT Series for Seyffarth Motorsport.

The 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 63rd season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 60th Formula One World Championship which was contested over 17 events commencing with the Australian Grand Prix on 29 March and ending with the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on 1 November.

The 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 64th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. Red Bull Racing won its maiden Constructors' Championship with a 1–2 finish in Brazil, while Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel won the Drivers' Championship after winning the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi. In doing so, Vettel became the youngest World Drivers' Champion in the 61-year history of the championship. Vettel's victory in the championship came after a dramatic season finale at Abu Dhabi where three other drivers could also have won the championship – Vettel's Red Bull Racing teammate Mark Webber, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton.

HRT Formula 1 Team, formerly known as Campos Meta 1 and Hispania Racing, was a Spanish Formula One team founded by former driver Adrián Campos. It was sold to José Ramón Carabante before its debut in 2010, and then to investment group Thesan Capital in July 2011. It was the first Spanish team to race in Formula One; a previous effort known as "Bravo F1" failed to enter the sport in 1993.

The 2011 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 65th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. The original calendar for the 2011 Formula One World Championship consisted of twenty rounds, including the inaugural running of the Indian Grand Prix before the cancellation of the Bahrain Grand Prix. Pirelli returned to the sport as tyre supplier for all teams, taking over from Bridgestone, marking their return to Formula One for the first time since the 1991 season.

The 2010 British Grand Prix was the tenth race of the 2010 Formula One season. On 7 December 2009, it was confirmed that the race would take place at Silverstone for the next seventeen years after the failure of Donington Park to raise the necessary funds to hold the race. The event was staged on 11 July, the same day as the 2010 FIFA World Cup final . The race was won by Red Bull driver Mark Webber, taking his third victory of the season.

The 2010 Monaco Grand Prix was the sixth round of the 2010 Formula One season. It was held in the streets of Monaco on 16 May 2010 and was won by Red Bull's Mark Webber.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Team Lotus (2010–2011)</span> Former Anglo-Malaysian Formula One constructor

Team Lotus, originally Lotus Racing, was a Malaysian-licensed Formula One racing team and constructor, based in Hingham, Norfolk, UK, which competed during the 2010 and 2011 Formula One seasons. The team scored no championship points in the two years it competed.

The 2010 Italian Grand Prix was the fourteenth round of the 2010 Formula One season. It was held in Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza, Italy on 12 September 2010. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso won the race from pole position, taking Ferrari's first win on home soil since 2006 and their last until 2019.

The Lotus T127 is a Formula One motor racing car designed and built by Lotus Racing for the 2010 season. It was driven by Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen and was unveiled in London, on 12 February 2010. The car made its track début in the hands of test driver Fairuz Fauzy on 17 February 2010 at Circuito de Jerez.

The 2012 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 66th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 63rd FIA Formula One World Championship, a motor racing series for Formula One cars, recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) – the governing body of motorsport – as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars. The championship was contested over twenty rounds, which started in Australia on 18 March and ended in Brazil on 25 November. The 2012 season saw the return of the United States Grand Prix, which was held at the Circuit of the Americas, a purpose-built circuit in Austin, Texas. After being cancelled in 2011 due to civil protests, the Bahrain Grand Prix also returned to the calendar.

The 2011 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 10 July 2011 at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire, England, and won by Fernando Alonso. It was the ninth race of the 2011 season, and saw the introduction of a ban on off-throttle blown diffusers, the practice of forcing the engine to continue to produce exhaust gasses to generate downforce when drivers are not using the throttle. The race also saw the Formula One debut of future Grand Prix winner Daniel Ricciardo.

The 2013 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 67th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 64th FIA Formula One World Championship, a motor racing series for Formula One cars, recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) – the governing body of motorsport – as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars. Eleven teams and twenty-three drivers contested the nineteen Grands Prix that made up the calendar for the 2013 season, with the winning driver being crowned the World Drivers' Champion and the winning team the World Constructors' Champions. The season started in Australia on 17 March 2013 and ended in Brazil on 24 November 2013.

The Caterham CT01 is a Formula One racing car produced by the British-based Caterham F1 Team which competed in the 2012 Formula One season. The car, designed under the leadership of the team's technical director Mike Gascoyne, chief designer Lewis Butler and head of aerodynamics Marianne Hinson, was the third car to be produced by the team and the first to carry the team's new name, following their renaming from Team Lotus at the end of 2011. The CT01 was the first car launched for the 2012 season, when an online launch initially planned for 26 January, was cancelled and the car was released a day earlier instead. The car was driven by Heikki Kovalainen and Vitaly Petrov, who replaced Jarno Trulli after the first test at Jerez.

The Caterham F1 Team was a Malaysian, later British owned Formula One team based in the United Kingdom which raced under a Malaysian licence. The Caterham brand competed in the Formula One World Championship from 2012 to 2014, following the acquisition of British sportscar manufacturer Caterham Cars by former owner and team principal Tony Fernandes, forming the Caterham Group.

The Lotus E21 is a Formula One racing car designed and built by the Lotus F1 team for use in the 2013 championship. The chassis was designed by James Allison, Nick Chester, Martin Tolliday and Dirk de Beer with Renault supplying the team's engines. The car was driven by 2007 World Champion Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean, both of whom remained with the team after competing in 2012. The E21 was the first of the 2013 season cars to be launched.

The 2014 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 68th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 65th Formula One World Championship, a motor racing championship for Formula One cars, recognised by the sport's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars. The season commenced in Australia on 16 March and concluded in Abu Dhabi on 23 November. In the nineteen Grands Prix of the season, a total of eleven teams and twenty-four drivers competed for the World Drivers' and World Constructors' championships. The season was the first Formula One season since 1994 to see an accident with fatal consequences as Jules Bianchi died on 17 July 2015 after spending nine months in a coma following a crash at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix.

References

↑ Beer, Matt (31 January 2011). "Team Lotus unveils the new T128". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 31 January 2011.
↑ Noble, Jonathan (25 January 2011). "Lotus to unveil new car online". Autosport . Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 25 January 2011.
↑ Beer, Matt (31 January 2011). "Lotus to start season without KERS". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 31 January 2011.
↑ "Lotus to use Red Bull gearbox in 2011". ESPN F1. ESPN Emea Ltd. 5 October 2010. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
↑ Noble, Jonathan; Elizalde, Pablo (18 October 2010). "Green to replace Smith at Force India". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 18 October 2010.
↑ Collantine, Keith (2 June 2010). "Mark Smith leaves Force India for Lotus". F1 Fanatic. Keith Collantine. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
↑ "Wind Tunnel Lays Foundation For Future Success". lotusracing.my. Lotus Racing. 24 October 2010. Retrieved 26 October 2010.
↑ "Renault Engine Partnership". lotusracing.my. Lotus Racing. 5 November 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
↑ "2011 FIA Formula One World Championship". fia.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 2 December 2010. Archived from the original on 6 January 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2011.
↑ Noble, Jonathan (21 December 2010). "Team Lotus rebrands factory". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 22 December 2010.
↑ Benson, Andrew (17 January 2011). "Lotus must score points in 2011, says chief Riad Asmat". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 17 January 2011.
↑ Noble, Jonathan. "Trulli: Lotus dispute has motivated team - F1 - Autosport". Autosport.com. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
↑ "2011 Formula 1 Qantas Australian Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2019.

External links

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[T128-1] Beer, Matt (31 January 2011). "Team Lotus unveils the new T128". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 31 January 2011.

[TL11-2] Noble, Jonathan (25 January 2011). "Lotus to unveil new car online". Autosport . Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 25 January 2011.

[3] Beer, Matt (31 January 2011). "Lotus to start season without KERS". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 31 January 2011.

[4] "Lotus to use Red Bull gearbox in 2011". ESPN F1. ESPN Emea Ltd. 5 October 2010. Retrieved 5 October 2010.

[5] Noble, Jonathan; Elizalde, Pablo (18 October 2010). "Green to replace Smith at Force India". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 18 October 2010.

[6] Collantine, Keith (2 June 2010). "Mark Smith leaves Force India for Lotus". F1 Fanatic. Keith Collantine. Retrieved 18 October 2010.

[7] "Wind Tunnel Lays Foundation For Future Success". lotusracing.my. Lotus Racing. 24 October 2010. Retrieved 26 October 2010.

[8] "Renault Engine Partnership". lotusracing.my. Lotus Racing. 5 November 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2010.

[9] "2011 FIA Formula One World Championship". fia.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 2 December 2010. Archived from the original on 6 January 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2011.

[10] Noble, Jonathan (21 December 2010). "Team Lotus rebrands factory". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 22 December 2010.

[11] Benson, Andrew (17 January 2011). "Lotus must score points in 2011, says chief Riad Asmat". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 17 January 2011.

[12] Noble, Jonathan. "Trulli: Lotus dispute has motivated team - F1 - Autosport". Autosport.com. Retrieved 10 April 2019.

[13] "2011 Formula 1 Qantas Australian Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2019.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]