planetf1.com

I recently had a debate with someone abut lotus having at times in the year the fastest race car (Fastest car on race day), then I was sent this. (see below). I was wondering what other people's opinion's are because I have to say a lot of it does not add up to me. I could be wrong so I thought it would be nice to get a wider range of opinions. Any way here it is.

You really believe that Lotus were quicker than Red Bull at Bahrain, & Both Red Bull and Ferrari at Silverstone, and also the Mclaren at Hungary..it’s is abundantly evident that the Lotus lacked the downforce of the top 3 teams ALL year and hence why it was very fast in a straight line earlier on – but also the reason why it did not heat up its tyres- Kimi definitely had a chance at Bahrain because Of DRS and top speed but its anyone guess whether he could hold Seb off the following few corners, Silverstone – they just could not heat up the tyres and at Hungary Lewis was 1/2 sec quicker than everyone and just cruised to the finish despite Kimis super effort to hunt him down. The E20 was a fantastic car when the tyres got to about lap15 on each set ( just look at JA race analysis)- but again conditions had to be hot for that to happen. By lap 15 – Red Bull , Mclaren even Ferrari – were already gone- you cannot win races that way. When Lotus switched to Coander exhaust they gained downforce but lost speed the Net gain was about3/10 tenths but even before Singapore Red Bull (DDRS & suspension tweaks) and Mclaren were 8/10 quicker than Ferrari and almost a second to Lotus. The telling story for me was at Spa ) Kimis fav circuit) when Kimi drove his heart out and the car was sliding everywhere and was challenged by Hulkenberg and Schumacher- I think that was a Herculean effort by Kimi just to get 5th. & many people including his engineers viewed that as one of his greatest drives of the year- so that’s not really telling you Lotus believed that car was a winner does it !-I’ve watched F1 for 30 years and Ive not seen a better driver than Raikkonen- Probably this year Alonso and Lewis are minutely better – but hey he’s been out the sport 2 years and worked the team that was 8th last year.

It wasn't the best car, but it certainly wasn't bad. If it was a bad car, Kimi wouldn't have got so many podiums in his return, and Gro wouldn't have had 3 to his name either. As brilliant as Kimi is, he's not godly, he can't make a car faster than it is, just like Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso etc. The car had the pace to fight for the lead at several races, almost won in a few, won in one. It certainly ran better in hot weather, struggled in cold conditions, but it certainly wasn't a bad car, so I'm not sure why some people I've seen around need to put the car down to put Kimi on a higher pedestal.

_________________
"You are the universe expressing itself as a Human for a little while..."

As has been discussed many times here, 'Fastest Car' is a relative term that varies throughout the race. I have little doubt that some times, on some tyres in some conditions it was the 'fastest car'. That is to say the car capable of doing one lap in a lower time than anyone else, not highest top speed. The car that wins is not going to be the out-and-out fastest car, but the one that has most laps at its peek. Lotus was close to this, but either miscalled the strategy, or was not in the position to get the most benefit as the 'other three' teams were at this 'peek' for more laps over race distance, even though it was a lower peek than Lotus.

_________________
I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.

Marx (Groucho)

I don't think the Lotus was *quite* as good as it was cracked up to be. It wasn't too shabby though. Having said that, the second half of the season Kimi probably could have squeezed a couple of early wins out of the thing. He definitely got better as the season wore on, and he got back in the groove.

It was evident that the coanda exhaust improved the car (at least in quali, which improved race results) immediately. And given that it is obviously a very capable car all round, it delivered exactly what the season stats show - consistent and reliable results.

IMO it wouldn't take too much of a step to deliver a WCC/WDC winning car. If Lotus can get an edge on the other 3 top teams in even just one area (downforce, braking distance, tyre heat windows, whatever) I think they are worth a shout next year. That's of course assuming that the other 3 teams progress but don't do something genius.

Full disclosure: I'm a huge Kimi fan