Lotus to Sit Out First Jerez Test

+1

However, playing devils advocate again, partly 'cos we're all bored, the dimensions are pretty well specified;

So, getting any of 'em, regardless of who did it, bolted to the tub & 'box is easy.....

Cooling requirements? Probably already known, at least close enough at this point.

/devils advocate.

Anyway, yeah, the longer this goes on the more ****ed they appear.

Cheers,
Ian

 

"With all this horse **** there's got to be a pony somewhere"

 

Whilst it might be technically possible for Lotus to bolt any engine into the tub, in light of the fact that they've welched on paying Kimi both the full amount they owe him and a partial amount of what they owe him, which engine supplier is going to be happy to supply Lotus an engine knowing that they're very unlikely to get paid for it?


The strange thing is, for anyone who has followed F1 for a good number of years, this whole episode, including the non-payments to drivers and suppliers, along with statements of there being: "No problem with the team really!" from the team principal, seems to be sooo familiar!

 

They haven't even paid Davide Valsecchi. Come on Lopez, how much does he really get paid? Can't you open your safe and at least settle his debt? This is not a guy that's rolling about in millions and enjoying a little test driver role at Lotus. He hasn't made much money at all yet.

F1 | Exclusive: Davide Valsecchi: "Lotus hasn't paid me yet"

Meanwhile, Lopez and Lux competed in the Dubai 24h again last weekend. Sure there's cash for personal enjoyment (NOT cheap!), but not your employees. Class act.

 

They haven't even paid Davide Valsecchi. Come on Lopez, how much does he really get paid? Can't you open your safe and at least settle his debt? This is not a guy that's rolling about in millions and enjoying a little test driver role at Lotus. He hasn't made much money at all yet.

F1 | Exclusive: Davide Valsecchi: "Lotus hasn't paid me yet"

Meanwhile, Lopez and Lux competed in the Dubai 24h again last weekend. Sure there's cash for personal enjoyment (NOT cheap!), but not your employees. Class act.

 

A sad state of affairs, it's a real shame.

 

Andrew Ruhan loaned 65mil to Lopez last year to keep the team running, under the presumption a big sponsor was to sign (which, as documented, Lotus messed up very nicely). He has now taken a bigger share in the team, but budget has gone down from 160m last year to 110 for 2014. 80 people have been sacked already because of this.

Last few pieces of Jenga, everyone. And the only people playing are drunk.

 

Taki's take:

I wonder if he writes for sniff

 

Posts like this are what keep me coming back.

 

Blue Ferrari driver's always looking for the dirt!

 

Well, there is that but I meant the Jenga reference.

 

As of today, Lotus is the only team not testing next week, ouch. They will look
amateurish if you ask me. Missing such an important first test! Even Caterham and
Marussia will show up.

 

+1

I'd go even further, and say they look like a complete bunch of clowns. Which is a real shame after what they achieved last year.

So much for Eric's assertion that 'some other teams' wouldn't be there either.

Possibly the most important test in decades, but it 'doesn't meet their development program'. WTF?

Makes no sense whatsoever. Unless, as I noted before, they've got something very, very slick up their sleeves. Which I also very much doubt.

Cheers,
Ian

 

Next you'll be saying that there's no Father Christmas.

 

Maybe the old trade-off of the fear of being completely embarrassed and decided to
skip the test or go for it despite any set back and gain useful experience on the track.
Nowadays, with sponsorship so scarce, a horrible test may scare potential partners
more than attract them.

 

I had no worries as I knew the team had strong ties with Father Turbo, Brian Hart.

Belated condolences to his family and friends, Brian passed away Jan. 5th. He'll always be associated with Ayrton's stolen first win, Monaco 84.

 

Hmmmm.... So it seems that as of now;

- They've got no car beyond a CGI model.
- They've got no team principal (and/or, as noted by the Viz, no TP either. )
- Half their staff have either left or been laid off.
- Bernie May well pay Kimi out of their share of last years prize fund.
- Ijaz ('we'll be #1 this time next year') is completely AWOL.
- Some stupid, presumably intern, appears to be running their PR department.

Doesn't look good at all!

Is anyone there even claiming they'll be testing in Bahrain?

Again, seems like a sad end to what is a little mixed up DNA.

Cheers,
Ian

 

If they concentrate real, real hard and click their heels three times....


Sorry. Wrong fairy tale.


It's about time to stick a fork in them.

 

If things are as dire as they appear, and with Bouiller jumping ship. I wonder what Monsieur Grosjean is thinking right about now. Of course, it's not like there weren't warning signs going back a long time, but still a real shame if he's left high and dry.

 

+1

He seemed to be maturing some too.

Also forgot to mention, if reports are to be believed, and Mr Sylt seems pretty good on this stuff, they're £150MM + in the hole also!

On the plus side, one presumes the Revs check has cleared.... I wonder what kind of guarantees he may have?.... Could be the most expensive set of team gear in history!

A real shame
Cheers,
Ian

 

It takes around 14 full days to built an F1 car from CGI model (that is ALL the parts in CGI and not just a fancy looking exterior modelling into a full on F1 car. So they'll be cutting it tight with Bahrain on the 19th as I'm sure Bernie's planes will leave on around the 15th-16th of feb so everything can be set up properly.

The frog will hope for a poor year for Magnussen or Button to retire. That's his one and true hope at a race seat in 2015 (for any team with a hope of survival).

I'm going to send him a t shirt saying ''I paid €35 million for a race seat and all I got was this lousy t shirt''

 

How long for the crash tests?
Assuming that they pass.

 

14 days sounds much too low if nothing exists in real life before. You have to make molds, tooling, set up the machines... from CAD to a complete car, my guess would be more like 2 months, not 2 weeks! And that's if they're fast...

 

Former McLaren chief Martin Whitmarsh has been approached by Lotus to take over as team principal. The 55-year-old is among two or three leading contenders for the post vacated by Frenchman Eric Boullier.

Source is Daily Mail via the BBC F1 site.

 

No idea. They claim to have passed the crash tests?

Perhaps their nose has been finished already and passed it that way? I've no clue.

You are right in that regard. The 2 week timeline comes from the situation where they have all the tooling etc already done, just the whole ''puzzle'' has to be build and glued together.

If I was Whirmarsh I'd demand either 75% of the salary upfront or 250% if (when) they pay late....