Can Lotus remain competitive in the future?

The Lotus F1 team, or the team from Enstone, has seen a lot of ups and downs. Throughout its long history, it has given some great racing talents to this sport like Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso. It came into existence as Toleman in 1981, was then taken over by Benetton in 1986, by Renault in 2002 and finally re-branded as Lotus in 2012.

The year 2012 was very promising as both its drivers – 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen and the Frenchman Romain Grosjean – performed strongly and brought the team to fourth place in the Constructor standings.

It has been observed that Lotus has performed better at high downforce tracks like Singapore, Silverstone, Hungaroring, etc. Lotus has been one of those teams which has the best race pace, rivalling the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari. Another major asset for the team is their lead driver Kimi Raikkonen, who has been consistently in the points and has been a major driving force for the team throughout.

Though it has performed well, it still needs to improve in certain aspects. Its race pace is quite phenomenal, but it has struggled in qualifying, although Grosjean has recently performed well in qualifying in the last few weekends. Also, it has been seen that Lotus struggles quite a lot at low downforce circuits like Spa and Monza. It also suffers from a bit of lack of investment, with it still not having a title sponsor. If it needs to improve its position, then it needs to attract more investment from current investors and also attract new investors. During the past few months, it been consistently trying to get more participation from both Infiniti and Renault.

Kimi brought with him a lot of brand value which benefited the team, but as has now been announced that he will be leaving to join Ferrari next year, the future of the team both on and off the track might be hindered. That said, in recent Grand Prix weekends Grosjean has performed well and even outpaced Kimi in some races, and he needs to continue with this form which will help him and also his team in the long run. Also, they do also need an equally talented driver to replace Kimi next year, who will continue the team’s present form and also help them in moving higher up the grid.

As of now, Lotus have been considering Nico Hulkenberg and Felipe Massa for the vacant seat next year. Hulkenberg has consistently shown his talent with midfield teams like Force India, Williams and currently Sauber, and it is about time for him to move to a better team. Also, Felipe Massa cannot be discounted at all for the seat, as he is highly experienced, a winner of many races, and also almost became world champion in 2008.

All in all, there are certainly a quite few challenges awaiting Lotus in the future, but if it is able to handle them effectively, then it surely has a bright future ahead.