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Lotus E20 Emerges

Jérôme d’Ambrosio, Romain Grosjean, Eric Boullier and Kimi Räikkönen proudly present the Lotus E20

Lotus had a rough morning today as millions of fans around the world tuned in to see the live launch of the 2012 car, dubbed the E20. But the information now emerging makes the technical difficulties seem trivial given what looks to be a very promising design with great potential for the 2012 season.

Lotus is receiving well-deserved praise from the F1 community for developing a very good looking car, and we share the sentiment. The now common platypus nose was mitigated well by the Lotus team, and the overall shape of the car is quite pleasing. We'll see how the new design translates to performance on the track beginning with testing on Tuesday in Jerez, Spain.

Backed by two championship winning drivers for 2012 - former F1 champ Kimi Räikkönen and GP2 Champ Romain Grosjean - Lotus' new driver lineup could help propel the team into a top tier finish, elevating the Lotus brand into the spotlight.  Kimi's return to the sport has drawn attention to the team as many hope to see the 'Flying Finn' back on the podium this season. The hope is for both drivers' experience to translate team synergy into points, providing serious competition across the F1 grid.

Lotus published a video on their YouTube Channel, which includes a twenty minute presentation of the launch and interviews with many of the key players in the team: Kimi Räikkönen, Romain Grosjean, reserve driver Jérôme d’Ambrosio, and team principal Eric Boullier. It offers great insight into the team's operations and a rare glimpse at the magnitude of the operations of an F1 constructor; be sure to check it out.

The website refresh is also live, including more press releases, media and fan interaction. Many of the teams are implementing more web-based and social media efforts for real time fan interaction - which we LOVE. Since Americans rely largely on the internet for our live F1 news and entertainment, we hope F1 teams continue to pursue and develop this channel for fans.

Failure to Launch

Formula 1 fans hoping to see the Lotus Renault E20 launch were met with constant bandwidth errors this morning //Update- High-Res images have been released.

This morning at 10am CST, the Lotus Renault F1 team was scheduled to launch their new E20 car in front of an internet audience around the world. With Autosport Magazine assisting with live commentary and feed, the launch was slated to rival the magnitude of McLaren's presentation, or even Monday's scheduled Red Bull Racing Launch, both via live web-feed.

However, fans were greeted with empty promises and 504 BAD GATEWAY errors as the website intended to host the stream went dead. Now 30 minutes later, the only available video is a guerrilla marketing piece clearly produced over the last few weeks, highlighting Kimi's return to the sport.

So far, the only photos released are on Lotus Renault's Facebook page, but still, in very limited quanitity. 

With the first launch scheduled at a time when both Asia, Europe, and the Americas could reasonably view the presentation, we were excited about the launch and anticipated that Lotus would capitalize on their truly global audience. Unfortunately, the result might be a much more sobering reality; that their fans expect a team to deliver a live feed with one of the largest racing publications when they say so, otherwise fans are left with a sour taste in their mouths.

McLaren Reveals Their Title Contender

 

In a room packed with journalists and eager fans watching via online feed, Formula 1 team Vodafone McLaren Mercedes revealed their 2012 car Wednesday morning. Hosted at the McLaren Technology Center in Woking, England, drivers Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, along with team principal Martin Whitmarsh, pulled the cover back over the new MP4-27 and gave the public the first glimpse at the potential title contender for 2012.

 Jenson Button (left) and Lewis Hamilton (right), about to reveal the MP4-27

McLaren, one of the most successful Formula 1 teams in racing history, fought hard to challenge the Red Bull Racing team this past racing season. McLaren secured six grand prix victories during the 2011 F1 season and were on podium for 11 other victories, so you can bet they will continue to give it all they've got in 2012 for the coveted FIA World Constructors Championships.

With many months of development now complete, the MP4-27 aims to be the car to beat in 2012.  A complete redesign provides the car with a competitive edge and increased safety. Upgrades to the car's design include a much tighter rear-waist, providing additional aerodynamic efficiency which translates to increased speed. New safety regulations for 2012 necessitate a lower front nose for all cars, but unlike the rather funny looking 'platypus nose' on the Caterham CT-01, the McLaren nose carries a smooth curve with consistent appearance and emphasis on aero performance.


The Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-27

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Jenson ButtonOther major changes include a redesigned sidepod to address exhaust flow regulations and an updated cooling system. Though each of these changes means tenths of seconds on the track, this could be the competitive advantage McLaren needs to edge out the other teams and take back the championship title.

The 2012 season looks to be a promising one, and with Austin on the calendar in late November, all teams are closely watching our progress. In a Q&A session following the launch, motorsports journalist Dan Knutson asked Jenson about his outlook on Austin and the new USGP; Adam Cooper documented the discussion here at SpeedTV:

 “I'm really excited about heading back to the States,” said Button. “I've never been to Austin but I've heard great things about the city itself, and I've heard also great things about the circuit, the layout, and hopefully we can put on a great show when we get there.

“I remember racing in the States before in Indianapolis which was, you know, a good circuit, but I think the steps that Austin have taken to make sure this is a proper, pukka Formula 1 circuit I think we're gonna love it, you know. It's going to be a lot of fun. And hopefully we have the support of the American fans.”

In addition, Martin Whitmarsh, as he's done many, many, many times, echoed the strategic value in the American market, stressing the need for Formula 1 to be here, despite the struggles with solidifying Formula 1 in America in the past:

“I think all the teams believe it's very important and we've got to make a success of it this time. As we all know, our time in America has been spasmodic and unsuccessful. We have to treat it almost as a new market. But actually there's a huge interest in Formula 1 that is untapped in the States. We've got to work harder. What we have to accept is, America doesn't need Formula 1; we need it more than it needs us.

“So I think the onus has got to be on the teams, the promoter, all of us, to work – and the commercial rights holder – to work very hard to make sure that we educate we promote, we develop the interest, we reach out in America.

“So we've got to work harder than, perhaps, a new Grand Prix in Europe or Asia or South America, where, there is a ready interest and a ready uptake. We've got a real challenge. But it's important. It's important to our commercial partners. The States is still a rather big market for really any multinational company. There are only two world sports, soccer and Formula 1, and for us to be a great world sport, we've got to conquer the States.”

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Team Principal Martin WhitmarshWith the new MP4-27 in their arsenal, the McLaren team might really be the complete package in Formula One. McLaren is the only team with two FIA World Championship drivers, a seasoned management team, and arguably the most technically advanced facility and research program in Formula 1.

Though much of the Formula 1 field has yet to reveal their off-season homework, 2012 could be the perfect storm for McLaren, putting them in back on the leader board and potentially on the podium in Austin for the USGP. With under two months before the season begins, momentum is building for what looks to be a very exciting season.

 

Video Update: Construction Ramping Up

There have been some concerns lately about work at the circuit "slowing down" - we understand this to have been a timing issue. The groundwork progressed amazingly quickly because of the lack of rain during the Texas summer, so they were able to exceed normal construction deadlines & speed up the timeline. We've been told vertical construction would start in October, and our friends at Friends of Circuit of the Americas updated us on Tuesday, confirming new equipment arrived at the circuit.

We decided to head out to the circuit on this lovely Texas October afternoon (albeit still HOT!) and share it with you.

SENNA Returns To Austin

With the arrival of the SENNA film at the SXSW Film Festival in March this year, motorsports fans and film buffs have shared a collective passion for the first time in many years.  Striking the chord of emotion, competition and passion, the SENNA film has reached an wider audience in the U.S. than the film's team ever imagined.

Fancy a Chat with David Coulthard? Yes, Please.

The Good News: We had a great chat with David Coulthard on the streets of Austin just minutes after he jumped out of the Red Bull Racing F1 Show Car on August 20! He had fantastic things to say about his visit to Austin and also shared insight into how the F1 world, including drivers and teams, are revolutionizing communication via social media.

The Not-So-Good News: We lost our microphone and audio equipment in Montreal and the sound is horrible at some points in the conversation :(

The Redeeming News: The sound improves halfway through the interview, and we caught DC off guard at the end of the interview when having him tell y'all to COME AND RACE IT™!