Here we go again, another season of Formula 1 images starting in the best place on the calendar, Australia! You can relive the 2015 season opener after the break with our gallery of 89 images, all clickable to 2560px mega image sizing.
Tag: E23
Lotus can leave the first Barcelona test with bragging rights after Romain Grosjean (1:24.067) set the fastest time of the week overnight. He comfortably outpaced Nico Rosberg (1:24.321) and Daniil Kvyat (1:24.941).
On Saturday Lotus was again the team on top, this time in the hands of Pastor Maldonado (1:24.348), who was also quickest on day 1 in Barcelona. Young punk Max Verstappen (1:24.739) showed the Toro Rosso day care centre that he’s got genuine pace, with a gap over one second back to Lewis Hamilton (1:26.076).
Meanwhile, Daniel Ricciardo (1:24.574) set the best lap on Friday, narrowly edging out the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen (1:24.584). A touch further back was Felipe Massa (1:24.672).
A full list of times and total laps covered by each driver from the previous three days of testing can be seen below.
The Lotus F1 Team has revealed these computer generated images of the E23, the team’s 2015 F1 car. You’ll recall last year the E22 had that shocking twin tusk nose. Thankfully, this season, it looks like we’re back on the way to having visually pleasing F1 cars once more.
Lotus will line up again with Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado, which means the most significant off season change is the switch to Mercedes-Benz power.
Matthew Carter, Lotus F1 Team CEO, says his team is ready for better things, after a disappointing 2014.
“The E23 Hybrid represents a new era for Lotus F1 Team,” said Carter. “Not only in the change to a Mercedes-Benz Power Unit, but also it is the fruition of a busy winter behind the scenes.
“Improvements within our Design, Aero and Simulation departments have all contributed to the development of a car which is a huge step forward.
“It is time to put the disappointment of last season behind us and benefit from 12 months of hard work; we are ready to return to our rightful place at the pinnacle of the sport.”
Bruce Thomson is an all round good guy. We know this because he hits our inbox from time to time with some seriously cool automotive drawings. Over the last few days he’s been sharing with the world a few illustrations showing how he would like the F1 cars of 2015 to look.
So far he’s given us the Ferrari F15, McLaren MP4-30, the Mercedes AMG W06 and the Red Bull Racing RB11.
If you follow those links then you’ll be treated to much larger versions of these images where you can further appreciate the detail.
Even better, there’s the promise of a Lotus and Williams concept to follow. Keep up the great work Bruce!
UPDATE 11 January: Now with Williams FW37 and Lotus E23 concepts.