Lotus E22

Lotus E22
Pastor Maldonado driving the E22 at the British Grand Prix
CategoryFormula One
ConstructorLotus
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)
PredecessorLotus E21
SuccessorLotus E23 Hybrid
Technical specifications[1]
ChassisComposite 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
EngineRenault Energy F1-2014 1.6 L (98 cu in) V6, turbo
TransmissionLotus 8-speed semi-automatic titanium gearbox with reverse gear.
Weight692kg, with driver, cameras and ballast
FuelTotal
LubricantsTotal
TyresPirelli P Zero (dry), Cinturato (wet)
Competition history
Notable entrantsLotus F1 Team
Notable drivers8. France Romain Grosjean[2]
13. Venezuela Pastor Maldonado[2]
Debut2014 Australian Grand Prix
Last event2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
RacesWinsPodiumsPolesF/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.

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

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. Thus, the team stopped 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)

Year Entrant Engine Tyres Drivers Grands Prix Points WCC
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 Ret 11 12 Ret 8 8 Ret 14 12 Ret Ret Ret 16 13 15 17 11 17† 13 10 8th
Pastor Maldonado Ret Ret 14 14 15 DNS Ret 12 17† 12 13 Ret 14 12 16 18 9 12 Ret

† — 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. ^ a b c "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.