Lotus F1 became the final team to uncover their 2014 F1 car at start of Day 1 of the second pre-season test in Bahrain. The new E22, with its distinctive 'twin-tusk' nose, did not take part in the first test at Jerez in Spain as the team did not get it ready in time. The twin-tusk nose design is Lotus's way of interpreting new chassis rules this year.
Rivals have claimed Lotus's design is an aggressive way of reading the rules, but FIA says everything is according to new rules. Lotus has endured a winter of significant change. Former Williams driver Maldonado has replaced Ferrari returnee Kimi Raikkonen on the driving strength, while team boss Eric Boullier recently left the squad to take up a racing director role at rival McLaren. Missing the Jerez test has turned out not to be as big a blow for Lotus as it might have been as a result of major problems suffered by engine supplier Renault with all its teams. Lotus have eight days of testing to prepare for the start of the new season in Melbourne on 16 March.
Nick Chester, Lotus technical director, said: "We have just taken an innovative direction, and one that's different to the other teams. Where there are so many variations in design, there is always bound to be a little talk, but we remain relaxed and focused on our design and progression. There are plenty of different solutions out there as we expected there would be with such a radical change of regulations. There appears to be some elegant solutions and others that certainly don’t look as nice! We’re very happy with the direction we have taken and it will be very interesting to see how the cars perform once we get a proper chance to compare them on track."
