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Lotus has shown off the first official images of its new 2010 Formula One car.

The team’s first wind tunnel model team has been completed, but Lotus’s chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne admitted that despite the model’s completion being a great achievement, there was still plenty of work to do before it gets to the grid.

See the hi-res 2010 Lotus F1 car pics

Lotus has develo...Read the full article

It's an F1 car, nothing radically different, paint them all black and you'd be pushed to tell a Renault from a Ferrari.What makes F1 car's different is the human interface, put Seb Leob in it he'll be two seconds adrift of the back markers,put Barrichello in it, it'll be half way up the grid,these cars are down to talent, the man behind the wheel,that's why F1 cars more or less look the same, regulations etc. 

Not entirely sure about that Pete but I get your point.

Peter Cavellini:

put Seb Leob in it he'll be two seconds adrift of the back markers

The very first race I watched Sebastien Loeb in a WRC car I could see the tallent.   It was obvious, he was something special.   While I agree that he may not initially be quick, honestly I believe he'd soon be rising up through the grid.   Remember that everybody else has had years of practice in single seaters!

Cars do make a difference.   That's why Force India have been up front, faster than McLaren, faster than Ferrari, in some races.   Brawn are using the same power (Mercedes), but look at the advantage they had earlier this year?

A great driver like Schumacher will lift the car's performance.   An above average one, eg Alonso, will win when others fail to.   An average driver, such as Button, will have his team mate biting at his heels, just as Barrichello is!   Poor drivers, such as Piquet Jnr, will entertain by crashing on demand.

 

button is a superb driver, he has not had the cars and when he has he has done fantastic; you mention his team mate yet where was barrichello at the start of the season.

truth is button knows he does not have to push that hard now, he knows that and if I were him I would not be pushing that hard either, look at hamilton and what happened to him for pushing to hard when he had no need; button is a strategic and tactical precise driver and will be one of the sports all time greats.

Schumacher I have not ever rated, he had by far the best car and barrichello stuck with him yet team orders were clear.  Alonso is good, hamilton I am not convinced yet he is a really good driver and Massa is superb, Mansel great and Hill great; best of all time, Senna has that title.

CapsLock:

button is a superb driver, he has not had the cars and when he has he has done fantastic

Nope. Button is a relatively decent driver and a very good racer. Nothing more. Certainly, he doesn't have the consistent qualities of a champion. He'll never win a championship again.

CapsLock:

button is a strategic and tactical precise driver and will be one of the sports all time greats.

He won't. I just said that! Aren't you listening to me? Button isn't a strategic or tactical mastermind; he's a winger who needs a car that is balanced, without any tendency to front or rear grip-bias. He won races this year because Brawn's genius happened to provide that car at specifically suited tracks.

CapsLock:

Schumacher I have not ever rated, he had by far the best car and barrichello stuck with him yet team orders were clear.

I'm starting to think you're deliberately saying things like this now because you know I’ll beam my lasers of truth into your eyes, and you love it. Schumacher is the best driver that ever lived, and moreover, probably the best champion that will ever live. Only Vettel can possibly attain his greatness.

CapsLock:

Alonso is good, hamilton I am not convinced yet he is a really good driver and Massa is superb,

Yes. You are doing that what I said what you are doing. You certainly are. You've got one bit right as a little trick: Alonso is good. Hamilton is incredibly skilful, just a little rash at time - you can see that when he clutches himself before boarding the car. Massa is highly competent and occasionally shows flare, but he's also inconsistent and not always thoroughly motivated.

CapsLock:

Mansel great and Hill great; best of all time, Senna has that title.

Now you're being silly for the sake of it. Hill great?! You are trying to make sport with me, and you laugh into your cuff that I fell for this little ***.

Mansell was a real force in F1, as much for is indomitable character as anything else. Looking back at the classic races shown on the BBC now, it's clear that Senna was as influenced psychologically by Mansell as by Prost. Great times completely misrepresented by you in this monkeyshrimp.

And now for something completely important:

Whatever idiot came up with the idea of skinnier front tyres next year should be taken outside in his SS uniform and circumcised.

Never again do I want to hear any flimflam about overtaking in F1. If it's what the low-rent viewer requires, the only way you consistently achieve it is with a higher ratio of mechanical grip to aero grip.

Never let me hear any one of you lot ever say that to me again! Ever! Do you understand me?

Merry Christmas.

Broom Broom:

... and you laugh into your cuff that I fell for this little ***.

It won't let me say ***! Yet it lets you say Dido, even James Blunt, and surely that's worse. As I was saying to my MP just the other day, the morality of Autocar sometimes seems entirely at odds with mankind.

Broom Broom:

It won't let me say ***! Yet it lets you say Dido, even James Blunt, and surely that's worse. As I was saying to my MP just the other day, the morality of Autocar sometimes seems entirely at odds with mankind.

 

broom broom? more like cuckoo

Broom Broom:

Now you're being silly for the sake of it. Hill great?!

Obviously he's talking about Graham Hill.   Isn't he????

 

CapsLock:

Hill great

When?

Phil Hill?

ThePlumsofWrath:

CapsLock:

Hill great

When?

Phil Hill?

 

Harry?

 Broom Broom - you can add Chris Martin and Robbie Williams inito the pot as well...

 

this thread's gone slightly opff topic, so i'm gonna run with it......

 Button is an average driver, who doesn't deserve to win the world title, Hamilton has raw talent no doubt about it, Hill was lucky to win a championship, he was at best an average driver who happened to be in the class of the field car at the time. Alonso is brilliant, hopefully Ferrari will give him a car worthy of his skill!

 

Back to Lotus' F1 car, yeah its an F1 car, expect it to be right there at the back of the field if it makes it to the actual job of racing! I actually fear this could be a Lola style disaster!