Lotus E20 launch – first pictures of Lotus’s 2012 F1 car

2012 F1 cars

February 5, 2012 at 4:12 pm by
123 comments

The Lotus E20, the team’s 2012 F1 challenger, has been revealed today. See the video above for the first images of the car.

The team which competed as Renault in 2011 has changed identities and has an all-new driver line-up for this season.

The E20 will be raced by Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean. Raikkonen will be first to drive the car in testing at Jerez in the coming week.

Lotus were known to have been working on a reactive ride height system for the E20, which they tested on its predecessor in Abu Dhabi last year. However the system was banned by the FIA last month.

Lotus E20 pictures

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123 comments on Lotus E20 launch – first pictures of Lotus’s 2012 F1 car

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  1. Breezef said on 5th February 2012, 16:35

    hmmm. so mclaren are the only team thus far without this horrid stepped nose? given my teams history, this might be the beginning of another disastrous season! !

    Reply
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    OmarR-Pepper (@omarr-pepper) said on 5th February 2012, 16:35

    I just hope that “looks fast” and “is fast” can be the same during the season. Good luck for Kimi and Romain

    Reply
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    Roald (@roald) said on 5th February 2012, 16:36

    That looks quite good! If all the cars were to have “normal” noses like they had last year with this one as an exception, I think none of us would have really complained!

    Reply
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    raymondu999 (@raymondu999) said on 5th February 2012, 16:36

    The car looks rather boring to me. For the most part an R31 with a slightly tighter rear, moved exhausts and new nose.

    Reply
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    PJ (@pjtierney) said on 5th February 2012, 16:36

    This actually looks nicer than the McLaren, and the livery’s handled a lot better than in 2011. Good job Lotus :)

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    Dan Thorn (@dan-thorn) said on 5th February 2012, 16:37

    Snore…

    And the livery still looks more like a Wolf.

    Reply
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    schooner (@schooner) said on 5th February 2012, 16:38

    Pretty nice. As mentioned above, the “step” on this car is not nearly as glaring as on some others.

    Reply
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    James (@jamesf1) said on 5th February 2012, 16:39

    Jonny has ridiculous sideburns…

    Reply
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    TommyB (@tommyb89) said on 5th February 2012, 16:39

    Looks brilliant. Not sure if I’m getting used to the noses already but I really like it!

    Reply
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    deanmachine (@deanmachine) said on 5th February 2012, 16:41

    Glad they got rid of that massively oversized Lotus badge. It’s probably the nicest stepped nose we’ve seen so far too.

    Reply
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    jonchuckle (@jonchuckle) said on 5th February 2012, 16:47

    Thoughts on the livery…

    The good:
    - The over-the-top Lotus branding has been toned down (five huge ACBC badges, especially the gigantic one on the nose, was too much)
    - The gold lines are less bulky and taper off nicely towards the rear end
    - The bigger splash of gold on the nose and front wing

    The bad:
    - They’ve gone back to the dull, brown-y gold that they started 2011 with after scrapping it for a more pleasant JPS yellow gold mid-way through the season
    - The stupid red endplates. WHY CAN’T YOU BLEND IT IN, LIKE ON THE RED BULL? Gross.

    Reply
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      Mike (@mike) said on 6th February 2012, 0:29

      It’s really an uninspired livery.

      You can forgive Ferrari considering their history, but look at what Force India did. It blows this out of the water.

      Reply
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    thespuditron (@spud) said on 5th February 2012, 16:47

    I like this car a lot. Being a Lotus fan, you’d expect me to say that, but I genuinely do. Though, hopefully, the car isn’t just a “pretty face” and actually works.

    I have my fingers crossed.

    Reply
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    Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 5th February 2012, 16:50

    Looks thoroughly conventional, which after last year’s car is probably a good thing for them.

    The red endplates are still hateful though.

    Reply

  14. matt90 said on 5th February 2012, 16:50

    Not bad looking, although I still think the livery is clumsy. It should have thinner stripes and no red. Perhaps a less metallic black too. I’d rather see it in yellow again, but I guess that would now be even less appropriate than this JPS one is.

    Reply
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    aka_robyn (@aka_robyn) said on 5th February 2012, 16:51

    On the basis of what Helmut Marko is quoted as saying in Bild, it seems the RB8 nose might end up looking a bit like this one, with the “step” part of the nose being “smaller and more elegant.” I think E20 nose looks pretty good, all things considered!

    Reply
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      ivz (@ivz) said on 6th February 2012, 6:38

      I was just thinking this, and came on here to say, I would not be surprised if the RB8 is most similar to the Lotus E20 nose.
      Maybe the RB8 is even more ‘elegant’? We will soon find out.
      Still eagerly awaiting an article by Keith to show all the noses in contrast to eachother, will be really interesting! Wish we could also find out how each differs with drag vs downforce.

      As for the Lotus, I think it will be one of the better looking cars. It for sure was one of the best looking in the flesh last year in Melbourne!

      Reply
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