When 15th is Like First

The trip back home from Bahrain will be a raucous party for the lads with Lotus F1. While hardly a competitive threat for the podium on Sunday, the entire organization will still view the result as nothing short of a victory. The cars of both Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli finished the full race distance of 49 laps, the only finishers from the new entries on the F1 grid.
“It was a good race for our team,” a happy Kovalainen said. “To get both cars to the finish is a great achievement. My car didn't have a single problem. I know Jarno did, and managed to nurse his car to the end, but the primary goal was to get both cars to the end and we achieved that."

The Lotus crew worked nearly around the clock the entire weekend to get both cars prepared for the race. They were rewarded with an invaluable 98 combined laps of race testing, producing reams of information that will help them more fully develop the car. The sky-high level of morale was evident in the paddock after the race, despite the long days and nights prior to the race start.
There is simply no way to overstate the enormous effort it takes to compete in the modern era of Formula One. Budgets run into the hundreds of millions of dollars, and the quest for top engineering and mechanical talent pushes budgets even higher. Lotus Chief Technical Officer Mike Gascoyne has put together solid foundation for F1’s only Malaysian team. By mid-season, look for Lotus F1 to challenge Force India, Renault, and BMW Sauber Ferrari for bragging rights in F1’s middle tier of teams. Who knows, maybe even Williams will be in sight by the end of the year.

Well done, boys! Enjoy the flight home. You have two weeks until you have to do it again.

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