2009 Lotus F1 Racing Takes Model to the Windtunnel

Wednesday, October 14, 2009 – Just one month after confirmation of its entry into the 2010 FIA Formula 1 World Championship, Lotus F1 Racing is headed to the windtunnel with the first scale model Formula 1 car. Yet undesignated model is the product of the latest collaboration between Lotus F1 Racing Chief Technical Officer Mike Gascoyne and the team’s technical partners, and represents an important step in preparing the team for next season.

The beginning of each windtunnel testing is an important step in the development of a Formula 1 car is new, but very interesting for us as we continue to prepare for our first season. It has become very busy since our entry is justified by the FIA. We have worked on entries for a few months, so we already have the team aspect of the infrastructure in place, financial, manufacturing and top management. After our entry was confirmed in mid-September, we were able to accelerate the recruitment and development process of our car and this really where we are now.

Our input is only possible thanks to funding from the private sector of Malaysia, so the Lotus F1 Racing Team Malaysia will be through and through. In addition we have the valuable support from the Malaysian government through the initiative 1Malaysia, so we will basically fly the flag at the Malaysian Formula 1. I am working with our team chief Tony Fernandes about our plans and everyday I’m spending time in Malaysia interviewing potential candidates for technical roles. The team is also in the process of hiring Malaysia for other positions, including administration, marketing and PR.

The long-term vision is to create a center of technical excellence at the Sepang circuit that we begin to plan together with Tony Fernandes and his associates. Of course this takes time, so we chose to base the UK beginning in the RTN in Hingham facility from where we will run the F1 operation as we build our Malaysia facility. In the end, the team will be headquartered in Malaysia, but we’ll save a small British base that will give us advantages when we ran the logistics in Europe.

We have worked with to develop Fondtech aerodynamics, and also with specialist Xtrac gearbox. We have an engine supply agreement in place with Cosworth and we also had the support of technical teams and composites in Malaysia that will play an integral role in the development of this car.