Team Lotus, Sauber and Lotus Renault GP have unveiled their 2011 title contenders ahead of the first pre-season test that begins at Valencia on Feb 1.
After Ferrari revealed its F150 a couple of days ago, Team Lotus unveiled its T128 Formula 1 car. It’s a significantly more aggressive design than its 2010 contender, and a machine the squad hopes will propel it firmly into the midfield and points contention.
The T128 will not appear in public until Feb 2, when it joins the second day of the Valencia test. But Lotus chose to reveal images of the car in a special edition of its Team Lotus Notes online magazine.
Giving company in the pitlane was Sauber who too unveiled the new C30 that it hopes will bring it a step forward in pace and deliver the improved reliability that it needs to become a more regular points scorer.
The new C30 features a fully integrated blown diffuser, and the team has been able to sculpt the sidepods more aggressively through fitting its radiators more vertically. Sauber has also opted to use a single mounting for its rear-wing, rather than the twin-mounting arrangement it used on the C29.
The newly named Lotus Renault GP team too pulled the covers off its new R31 challenger to the press in Valencia's pitlane. The car, which carries black and gold livery following its deal with Lotus Group, is the fourth 2011 car to have been launched this week.
Renault has opted for a pull-rod suspension for the rear end, with the structure under car above the tea tray that appears quite radical compared to rival cars.
The team also revealed that former HRT driver Bruno Senna will join Romain Grosjean, Jan Charouz, Ho-Ping Tung and Fairuz Fauzy as part of the team's test and reserve driving strength.
Unnatee Gidithuri
Dinshaw Magol
