Team Lotus facts for kids
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Team Lotus was a famous British racing team. It was the motorsport part of the sports car company Lotus Cars. The team competed in many types of racing, including Formula One, IndyCar, and sports car racing.
Team Lotus was one of the most successful racing teams ever. Between 1962 and 1978, they won seven Formula One Constructors' titles. They also won six Drivers' Championships and the Indianapolis 500 race in the United States.
Colin Chapman, the team's founder and main designer, was known for his new and experimental ideas. These ideas changed how racing cars were built and how teams operated.
The Lotus name returned to Formula One in 2010 with the Lotus Racing team. Later, the classic black-and-gold colors of Team Lotus came back to F1. In 2012, a new team called Lotus F1 Team was formed, sponsored by Lotus Cars.
Contents
How Team Lotus Started in the 1950s
Colin Chapman started a company called Lotus Engineering Ltd in 1952 in the UK. His early sports cars, like the Lotus Mk 6 and Mk 8, quickly became very popular. Team Lotus was created as a separate racing division in 1954.
In 1957, new rules for Formula Two racing came out. Lotus cars, especially the Lotus Eleven, were very successful in these races. The next year, the Lotus 12 car appeared. In 1958, Cliff Allison won a Formula Two race at Silverstone in a Lotus 12.
The Lotus Elite, a road car based on the Type 14 racing car, also won many class victories at the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans race.
Chapman decided to enter Grand Prix racing in 1958. He used two Lotus 12 cars at the Monaco race. These were later replaced by the Lotus 16. In 1960, Chapman switched to the important mid-engined Lotus 18 car. Because the company was growing so fast, it moved to a new location in Cheshunt.
Lotus Dominates Racing in the 1960s and 1970s
The first Formula One win for Team Lotus happened in 1961. Innes Ireland won the 1961 United States Grand Prix. Before that, Stirling Moss had already won a race in a Lotus car in 1960, but he was driving for another team.
Lotus also had great success in other racing series, like Formula Two and Formula Junior. Their road car business was doing well too, with cars like the Lotus Seven and Lotus Elan. The Lotus Cortina racing car also won championships in 1963, 1964, and 1965.
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In 1963, Jim Clark drove the Lotus 25 to seven wins and became the World Champion. He dominated again in 1965, winning six races in his Lotus 33 and taking another championship title.
Safety Concerns and New Engines
While Colin Chapman's designs were very new, some people worried about how fragile his cars were. Sadly, several top drivers were seriously hurt or died while driving Lotus cars, including Jim Clark and Jochen Rindt.
In 1966, Formula One cars needed bigger engines. Lotus was not ready for this change. They struggled until 1967, when they started using the new Ford Cosworth DFV engine. This engine was designed by Keith Duckworth, a former Lotus employee. With the new engine, Lotus started winning again.
By the end of 1967, the Lotus 49 car and the DFV engine were so good that Team Lotus became dominant. In 1968, Jim Clark and Graham Hill finished first and second at the first race of the season. Sadly, Jim Clark died in a Formula Two race later that year. Graham Hill went on to win the F1 World Championship in 1968 in the Lotus 49.
Around this time, Lotus moved to new facilities in Hethel, Norfolk. They built a new factory on an old air base, and the runways became a testing track.
Ground Effect and Sponsorship
In 1970, Lotus introduced a revolutionary new car, the wedge-shaped Lotus 72. This car had many new features, like special suspension and radiators placed on the sides. After some early problems, the car became very successful. Jochen Rindt dominated the championship until he died in a crash at Monza. However, he had won so many points that he became the only driver in history to win the World Championship after his death.
In 1972, Lotus continued to use the Type 72 chassis. They got a new sponsor, John Player Special, and their cars became famous for their black and gold colors. That year, 25-year-old Brazilian driver Emerson Fittipaldi became the youngest world champion. Team Lotus also won the Manufacturers' Championship for the sixth time in 1973. The Lotus 72 raced for five years and was very successful.
Colin Chapman was also successful in American racing. In 1965, Jim Clark won the Indianapolis 500 in his Lotus 38. It was the first time a mid-engined car won that race.
Chapman's success came from his new ideas. The Lotus 25 was the first F1 car with a monocoque chassis (a single, strong body structure). The Lotus 49 was one of the first cars to use the engine as a main part of the car's structure. The Lotus 72 introduced new aerodynamic ideas.
Chapman also changed how teams got money. In 1968, the racing rules allowed teams to have sponsors. Team Lotus was one of the first teams to paint their cars in the colors of their sponsors. Jim Clark's car appeared in the red, gold, and white colors of Gold Leaf tobacco.
Team Lotus was the first team to win 50 Grand Prix races.
In the late 1970s, Lotus became very strong again when Mario Andretti joined the team. Engineers started to study how to use "ground effect" to make cars faster. The Lotus 78 and then the Lotus 79 in 1978 were incredibly successful. Mario Andretti won the F1 World Championship that year.
Chapman was working on a new "active suspension" system when he died in December 1982 at age 54.
Team Lotus in the 1980s
After Colin Chapman's death, his wife Hazel and manager Peter Warr continued the team. However, their new F1 car designs were not as successful. In 1983, Lotus hired designer Gérard Ducarouge. He quickly built the Lotus 94T with a Renault turbo engine.
In 1984, Elio de Angelis finished third in the World Championship, even though he didn't win a race. The team also finished third in the Constructors' Championship.
When Nigel Mansell left, the team hired Ayrton Senna. The Lotus 97T won races with de Angelis and Senna in 1985. Senna won two races in 1986 with the Lotus 98T. Lotus regained third place in the Constructors' Championship. At the end of 1986, the team got new sponsorship from Camel.
Senna's amazing driving skills attracted Honda to supply engines to Lotus. In 1987, the Lotus 99T had active suspension. Senna won two races, but the team still finished third in the Constructors' Championship.
In 1988, Senna moved to McLaren. Lotus signed Nelson Piquet, who was then the World Champion. However, Piquet and Satoru Nakajima did not win any races. The team still finished fourth in the Constructors' Championship. Even with Honda engines, Lotus couldn't match McLaren's success that year.
The Lotus 100T in 1989 was not successful. Lotus started using Judd V8 engines. Piquet finished fourth in a few races. At the end of 1989, Piquet left for another team.
The 1990s and the End of Team Lotus
In 1990, Lotus used Lamborghini V12 engines. Derek Warwick and Martin Donnelly were the drivers. The car was not very good, and Donnelly had a serious crash. At the end of the year, Camel stopped sponsoring the team.
In 1991, former Team Lotus employees Peter Collins and Peter Wright took over the team. They signed Mika Häkkinen and Julian Bailey to drive updated Lotus 102Bs with Judd engines. The team scored points with both cars at one race. Bailey was later replaced by Johnny Herbert.
For 1992, the team used Ford's HB V8 engines in their new Lotus 107 cars. The team was short on money, but Häkkinen scored 11 points, including two fourth places. Herbert also scored points. The team finished fifth in the Constructors' Championship. Häkkinen moved to McLaren in 1993.
Alessandro Zanardi replaced Häkkinen. Herbert scored the last two points for Team Lotus in 1993. Despite money problems, the team scored 12 points and finished sixth in the Constructors' Championship.
For the 1994 season, the team used Mugen Honda engines. Herbert and Pedro Lamy struggled with the old car. Lamy was seriously injured in a testing crash, and Zanardi returned. The new car, the Lotus 109, was introduced later in the season.
The team faced big financial problems. To try and survive, they hired a driver who paid to race. By the end of 1994, the team was in serious debt. Tom Walkinshaw bought Johnny Herbert's contract, moving him to another team.
The company officially closed down in February 1995 due to its debts. Before the 1994 season ended, the team had been sold to David Hunt. However, work on a new car stopped, and staff were laid off. In February 1995, Hunt announced a partnership with another team called Pacific Grand Prix. This marked the end of Team Lotus.
Pacific left Formula One after the 1995 season. The very last race for Team Lotus was the 1994 Australian Grand Prix.
Lotus Name Returns to Formula One in 2010
After Team Lotus closed in 1994, David Hunt bought the rights to the name. In 2009, there were plans for a new team to enter F1 using the historic Lotus name. Lotus Cars, the original car company, said they would protect their name.
In September 2009, the Malaysian government supported a new team called Lotus Racing for the 2010 season. This team was meant to promote the Malaysian car company Proton, which owned Lotus Cars at the time.
Later, Lotus Cars ended its agreement with this team. Then, in September 2010, Tony Fernandes (who owned Lotus Racing) bought the rights to the Team Lotus name from David Hunt. This meant the official Team Lotus name was back in Formula One.
However, in December 2010, Lotus Cars announced a partnership with the Renault F1 Team. This team would be called "Lotus Renault GP" for the 2011 season. So, in 2011, there were two teams using a "Lotus" name in F1! One was Fernandes's "Team Lotus," and the other was "Lotus Renault GP," backed by Lotus Cars.
In May 2011, a court decided that Tony Fernandes could use the name "Team Lotus." The court also said that Lotus Cars could use the "Lotus" name for their F1 team and on their road cars.
In 2012, the "Lotus-Renault GP" team was fully renamed Lotus F1. Fernandes's team changed its name to Caterham F1. The Lotus F1 team raced for four seasons before it became the Renault team again.
Formula One results
See also
In Spanish: Team Lotus para niños
