The Story of Lotus, The Great Formula 1 Team That Now Lives in Memory

1. Lotus Genesis entered System 1

Colin Champan who is the founder of the Lotus team (motorsportmagazine.com)

The Lotus team was founded in 1952 by Colin Chapman who is also known as one of the most brilliant people in the history of Formula 1. The team based in Hethel, England, then started its first season in Formula 1 in the season of 1958 with Graham. Hill, Alan Stacey, and Cliff Allison are behind the wheel.

In its first season, Lotus capitalized on chassis called Lotus 16 and Lotus 12 with mixed engines. straight-4 from Climax. The results they got were not as bad as the predecessors by sitting in sixth place in the constructors standings with 3 points. At that time only the drivers who finished in the top six positions were awarded points.

2. The most dominant team in the ’60s and ’70s

Jim Clark at the 1963 Belgian Grand Prix (motorlat.com)

Lotus needed just 4 seasons to win its first race, to be precise in the 1961 United States Grand Prix via Innes Ireland. Lotus itself reached its golden peak when it produced many of the world’s best athletes in the ’60s. They are Jim Clark, Graham Hill, and Jochen Rindt.

This led to them winning the constructors’ world championship in the seasons of 1963, 1965 and 1968. In this era their cars were known for their speed, but it also took many victims due to the lack of safety features at the time, including Jim Clark. and Jochen Rindt.

Entering the decade of the 1970s, Lotus performance was becoming more and more brilliant by winning 4 constructors’ world titles and 3 drivers’ world titles through Jochen Rindt in the 1970 season, Emerson Fittipaldi in 1972 and Mario Andretti in the 1978 season. this was for summer. a golden age for Lotus at the same time. They finally won the world title.

3. Many major innovations have changed the face of Formula 1

Lotus 78 which became the first car to use ground effect (carthrottle.com)

Lotus, which was led by Colin Chapman, was one of the teams that made many innovations for Formula 1 cars. Like the Lotus 49, which was used from the 1967 to 1969 season, which became the first car to have an engine of insisted the member. Lotus was also the first team to introduce a flat front wing style instead of a cigar-shaped one.

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Then in the 1970 season of the Lotus 72, they made a big innovation in execution torsion bar suspension, rear wing, with the placement of the radiator on the car’s trunk. Unfortunately this car later caused the death of Jochen Rindt during the qualifying session at the Monza circuit.

A big change also happened in the season of 1977 when Lotus released the Lotus 78. This car was the first to implement the device. ground effect. This also revolutionizes the aerodynamics of Formula 1 cars. With so many innovations, it is no wonder that Lotus was able to appear so dominant.

4. The death of Colin Chapman was the beginning of the downfall of Lotus

Ayrton Senna takes the last victory for Lotus in the 1987 Detroit GP (ayrton-senna.net)

In the midst of its peak performance, Lotus had to be prepared to be abandoned by its founder, Colin Chapman, who died at the age of 54 in 1981 from a heart attack. This caused Lotus to once again fail to dominate Formula 1.

Their best achievement was finishing third in the constructors’ championship when Ayrton Senna was their driver. This Brazilian racer also gave Lotus the last win at the 1987 Detroit GP.

Entering the decade of the ’90s, Lotus’ performance worsened and he was no longer able to be a major contender in the world. The 1994 season was the last time to participate in Formula 1. That season they often overlapped drivers, but they could not get a single point.