Lotus opts for online launch

23/01/2013

Lotus will be the first of the teams to unveil its 2013 contender, the E21, the Enstone outfit opting for an online launch next Monday.

The former Renault team will stream the launch live from its Oxfordshire HQ on its YouTube channel from 19:15 (GMT).

Right from the outset the E20, named in honour of Enstone the HQ of Benetton and then Renault, was good. Not Red Bull good but good enough to give the McLarens and Ferrari(s) a run for their money.<p>

Despite the lack of budget, certainly compared to the big guns, the British team was one of the front-runners. Scoring points in every round and Kimi Raikkonen completing all but one of the season's 1192 laps is an indicator of how good the E20 was. Indeed, had it not been for the (over)enthusiasm of Romain Grosjean the team might have finished third in the championship ahead of McLaren and Mercedes.

Good looking cars don't always perform well but in the case of the E20 it did, though a lot of the credit, other than James Allison and his team, must go to The Iceman, who was even quicker (and monosyllabic) than we remembered him.