Lotus technical director James Allison expects a very busy few weeks, ahead as the re-branded Renault team tries to maintain a level of development to ensure its on the pace at the season opener in Australia.
The E20 impressed during the first pre-season test in Jerez last week with both Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean behind the wheel, but Allison revealed that the car they take to the first race, will be almost completely different to that ran in Jerez.
“The car we take to Melbourne will be significantly different to the one we ran in Jerez,” he said.
“There’s a lot of work still to do before the season opener, and so many elements will change; the front wing, rear wing, side pods, pod vanes, engine cover, barge board, floor, some suspension elements, and some small brake duct features to name but a few!
“As always, it’s going to be a very busy few weeks.”
The E20 doesn’t feature last years complex forward-facing exhaust system which the team believed would offer a significant gain, however the reality was quite different.
Allison is pleased to have reverted to a much more conventional layout which makes things much easier for the engineers in regards to working with the car.
“Not having the forward facing exhaust has definitely made the car build part of the process simpler,” he added. “It’s much quicker to get the car turned around every evening and get it ready for the next day’s running because it’s a more straightforward layout.
“In terms of running and analysing the car on the track, there shouldn’t have been anything inherently difficult about last year’s car, but it did turn out to be quite challenging as the exhaust system created several aerodynamic issues.
“So in that respect the E20 is easier to work with again. This means our race engineers can fill their boots with springs, roll bars, tyre pressures, cambers, and so on; all the conventional tools in the engineer’s arsenal.”
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