Chester: Lotus has a great platform from which to develop

For the second season of the current generation of car regulations and first season for Lotus F1 Team with Mercedes power, Technical Director Nick Chester explains the optimism from the team.

How well prepared is Lotus F1 Team heading to Albert Park?

We’re cautiously optimistic. We have what looks to be a solid car, we’ve got the same power unit as the reigning champions - so we know its potential - and we’ve got every opportunity to start the season well.

What have we learnt from the E23 Hybrid in pre-season testing?

We know that the power unit is a big step forward. It has strong performance and response and it’s extremely reliable; we’ve only used one unit throughout testing. The chassis is also a step forward as the drivers can get a lot more from it and it’s easier to drive on the limit as well as being more predictable. We have a great platform from which to develop.

Where have developments with the chassis been focused?

We spent some of the pre-season testing exploring the E23’s suspension geometry and it has a lot of effect on the balance of the car in the middle of the slow speed corners. We’re also making the car less sensitive for the drivers so it’s easier to extract performance.

What are the targets for this season and how do you see the team performing relative to the opposition?

Certainly we want to be fighting regularly in the top ten. It’s fair to say it’s going to be very difficult for any team to regularly take the battle to the reigning champions as they were so far ahead of the opposition last year - and they are unlikely to have forgotten what made them fast - but there are still good opportunities. There’s likely to be a good chasing pack, and we expect to be right in the mix with this. We should progress and develop well through the year as we further understand the opportunities offered by the Mercedes power unit.

What are the main differences between this year’s car and its predecessor?

Basically, the power units different, the front of the car’s different and the rear of the car’s different - so pretty much all of the car! In terms of the power unit, Its installation is compact and efficient which gives us some benefits, such as the way we’ve organised our cooling system. This, in turn, gives benefits for the packaging at the rear of the car and therefore some aerodynamic benefits. The front of the car is different because of the change in regulations and the air flow at the front of the car obviously has an impact on everything downstream.

Will the car look any different in Melbourne from its appearance in Barcelona?

There will be a few small changes, but nothing drastic. There were new parts coming through testing and we know our preferred options for aero components after working on all the data generated. We expect to bring further new parts from Malaysia onwards.

Pastor had an issue with a braking-related system on the final day of testing - have you got to the bottom of that?

It was something pretty simple and relatively easily diagnosed - basically contamination in a valve affected how the braking system worked. Now we’ve identified this as an issue, we have taken steps to ensure a similar problem doesn’t happen in the future.

How would you summarise our start of the year?

We’re a country mile ahead of where we were this time last year. Our car’s run reliably and the transition to a new power unit supplier has been as seamless as you could wish for. It’s difficult - just as at the start of any season - to say exactly where we stand relative to our opposition, but we’ll have a clearer picture once the first few races have taken place.