2011 end of term report – Lotus Renault

2011 was a bit of a transitional year for Lotus Renault GP. Genii Capital became its sole owner and welcomed Lotus Cars as the team’s title sponsor. LRGP had a season of highs and lows and was faced with a difficult situation at the start of the year.

Season review

Now owned by Genii Capital, the Enstone-based team went through a few changes during the winter. Renault took a step back and became just a technical partner of the team. With Lotus its new title sponsor, the outfit opted for a black and gold livery reminiscent of the 80s. The team raced under a British licence.

At the start of the year, its drivers were Robert Kubica and Vitaly Petrov. The R31 was unveiled in late January, in Spain, and featured an innovative front exhaust system. The whole team was enthusiast and the first test went extremely well.

However, on Sunday 6th of February, LRGP was dealt a big blow. Its lead driver Robert Kubica had a huge accident on a rally in Italy and was seriously injured. The Pole’s condition was initially critical and his right arm was almost severed. Extensive surgery was carried but doubts were raised as to whether Kubica would ever be able to drive a F1 car again. He was ruled out of the championship and the team had to look for a replacement.

It hired Nick Heidfeld, hoping his huge experience would benefit the team. The season started well as the R31 proved competitive. Petrov climbed on the podium in Australia and Heidfeld emulated him in Malaysia. As the other teams kept pushing hard to develop their cars LRGP started to slip through the order. The drivers still managed to bring points from the first ten races.

The blown exhaust clampdown severely affected the team. It struggled to score points and added only 7 to its tally on the last nine rounds. Heidfeld was dismissed shortly before the Belgium Grand Prix and replaced with Bruno Senna.

Conclusion

LRGP scored 30 points in the first two races and seemed able to challenge Mercedes GP for 4th in the standings. However, its strong form was short-lived and it disappointed in the second half of the season. All in all, 2011 was a pretty poor year for LRGP which suffered badly from the absence of Robert Kubica.
Its excellent reliability helped it to secure 5th in the constructors’ championship... only four points ahead of Force India.

Expectations

In 2012, Renault will officially leave the F1 World Championship as a constructor and will only be present as an engine manufacturer. The team will be names Lotus F1 and will have two new drivers: the 2007 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen and Eric Boullier’s protégée Romain Grosjean.

Highs
—  Scored points in the first ten races
—  2 podiums
—  1 single retirement with a mechanical failure

Lows
—  Lost pace throughout the season
—  Driver management
—  Disastrous Singapore GP

Nextgen-Auto.com marks:
— Olivier Ferret : 8/20
— D.Thys : 12/20
— Sandrine Bouchard : 11/20
— Jean-Michel Setbon : 9/20
— Average mark on the forum Nextgen-Auto.com : 8/20
—  Total : 48/100