Busy schedule ahead for Lotus F1 Team

Just one day into the final pre-season test of 2013 and the heat is on, with teams looking to squeeze every last drop of track time before packing up and heading for Australia. Lotus Technical Director James Allison gives us an update on progress so far…

1 down, 3 to go this week; are you pleased with how things have kicked off?

It wasn’t exactly a glamorous day for us, but nestling within today’s session were some quite useful runs. We conducted a good amount of work to explore our best rear wing configuration for wet conditions – something which vexed us somewhat last year – so that was useful. We also assessed tyre pressures and of course spent the afternoon experimenting with the DDRS system. It’s going to be a busy end to the week, and it’s important we use these remaining days wisely…

There have been a few bumps in the road during our pre-season running; how well placed are we at this stage of proceedings?

Although we spent more time in the garage than I would have liked during the first two tests, the issues which have confined us to the pit box have not been a reflection of the core reliability of the car. Looking at those days where we’ve managed to avoid such niggles, the car has shown itself to be very strong in terms of reliability. On top of that – and with the usual caveats of winter testing applied – performance levels seem to be sensibly competitive. Nobody really shows their hand during pre-season, but it looks encouraging.

It’s been suggested that this final test will see most teams trialling Melbourne-spec packages; will we see many new parts on the E21 this week?

We conducted a good amount of running with the DDRS device during today’s session, which I’m hoping will have brought us a step closer to being run in anger at some stage this season. We’ll also be looking to get our aerodynamic package for the first race on the car towards the tail end of the week, with the intention of proving both the performance and reliability of that arrangement. Aside from that, this represents our final opportunity to experiment with ways to get the most out of Pirelli’s 2013 tyres which – from what we’ve seen so far – could prove significant heading to Australia.

On a different note; you attended the FOTA Fan’s Forum… how was that experience?

I think it’s one of the really positive things that FOTA brings to Formula 1. During the season we speak over and over with a limited cohort of specialist journalists so it makes a nice change to be able to field questions directly from the people who give their time and money to watch us at work. The kind of questions raised really demonstrate the passion with which this sport is followed, and it’s nice to have the opportunity to contribute in a small way by doing my best to answer them.

Source: www.lotusf1team.com