Team Lotus’ stated aim this season is to catch the midfield teams, teams like Toro Rosso and Force India, and eventually bigger players like Lotus Renault. But while the former two were in the points in yesterday’s Australian GP, and Petrov scored a podium for LR, TL’s sole finisher Jarno Trulli was 13th and only ahead of Virgin. That’s the same place they were occupying for the best part of last season. But the boss sounds pleased though.
“I am happy. After a tense day to see Jarno have a strong finish in 15th (before the two Saubers were disqualified) and show good speed in the race is very pleasing. We knew we had a potential issue with the radiator on Heikki’s car so when he had to pull over it was not a surprise, but the main thing for me today is that the pace we showed in the pre-season tests is back,” said team principal Tony Fernandes.
“We were able to stay with the midfield teams and that has been the stated target for this year so now we know we have a base to build on for the season ahead and some time to fix the radiator issue before we go home to Malaysia for the next race,” he added.
Kovalainen, who retired due to a radiator leak on lap 20, gave an honest review. “Until the retirement I was very pleased with my own performance. I had a good start and was then staying with Alguersuari and Perez until the water leak brought my race to an end.
“I think this has been a bit of a tricky weekend for us, perhaps more difficult than we had anticipated, but we have some time now to analyse why the pace wasn’t quite where we had expected it to be and to work on the reliability before we get to Malaysia.”
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
Yay to Lotus Renault. Proton makes a good bet dont you think? :)
good partner with Renault.. i mean Nissan… :)
Resan! (Renault and nissan) or Ninault (cute!)
why there is no telecast (live or delayed) on tv?
because they know u dont have astro.
i would have thought since there are 3 teams with malaysian interest, the race should have be shown to as many viewers as possible. the telecast could have boosted the attendance at sepang
No money…All the money goes to Sarawak in this few months.
please laa…. what the role live telecast do with gomen? critic with brain please.
aiya u dont know aaa…….it’ bcos to save RTM budget for Sarawak la….telecast right need money ma…..please laa think outside of box please
dude… thinking and knowing means u have empirical evidence to back it up… other than that u’re just speculating.
SPECULATING?????????????…………….OMG!!! HAVE U EVER TURN ON TV1 TV2……..IT’S NON STOP NEWS ABOUT THE AMAZINGLY FAULTLESS WONDERFUL SARAWAK. (IN BETWEEN ALSO NON STOP RTM SING AND SONG)…IT’S NOT JUST EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE IT ALSO SATIRICAL, HYSTERICAL…..OMG
RTM do not have license to do live telecast.. but astro and media prima
and they are owned by bn umno, this year got sarawak election so got no money to pay bernie for f1 tv rights lo.
i dont understand why paultan keep writing about this crap team..
Why not? People want to know the progress. If you don’t want to read… just scroll down past the story. If at the very least Malaysian publications do not support Malaysian teams… who will?
No offence, Do u get paid for writing about Team Lotus?
BTW dont get the wrong message, its not we malaysian dont support malaysian team but there is too many choice now. TL, LR ant mercedes Petronas team.
These team fight against each others so are their fans out there.
Just like supporting different state soccer team. We r all malaysian.
Of course not. All our “paid to write” stories are clearly marked under the Advertorial category as we wish to be transparent about it, we also need to makan la friend! http://paultan.org/topics/special/advertorial/
We support all the Malaysian-backed teams (Mercedes GP Petronas Lotus-Renault GP, Team Lotus), and I want to clarify that by “support” we mean we prioritize editorial coverage for them. It does not mean we skew our opinions towards their favor. I don’t really consider myself very qualified to write about F1 races because I don’t know enough, so if you notice most of the F1 stories on this site are done by Danny and Harvinder.
after you get the payment of advertorial post, you can belanja us makan! yeahoo!
report Harvinder sangat cepat.. mcm F1 car gak.. selalunya 1/2 report dulu.. good job Harvinder!!.. heheh lepas jer race habis terus buka pautan.org :)
aaahhh… HARVAY memang BEST!
nicely said paul.. kudos!
nama orang malaysia, support team manchester united…
i wish i could like your statement 1000x times! hahaha..
why crap? just because run by a pendatang? at least he is using his own resources unlike proton renault using our tax dollars all the time.
Show us proof that Lotus Renault is using our tax money
Lotus is backed by proton, and they (lotus) are not makin profit. so who supports them? Lotus takin loan to sponsor f1 is foolish, thus the money goes from proton. Watever Team lotus does is their own prob, but watever proton does is our prob, coz we are forced to support it. and now they are very ambitious about building a british car brand and support a foreign f1 team.
thus the right question would be to show proof that proton (+ lotus renault) is not using our tax money.
correct me if i’m wrong guys.
Team Lotus also use our money what, who gave them the money to start? Definitely not AirAsia.
All money comes from Tony,Kamarudin Meranun,and SM Nasa.Not from government.They use their own money to invest .Not like The French lotus team.Sudahlah fly the flag with UK Flag then use our Malaysian money to invest in F1.Then,only want to show off.you think you got no 3 in melbourne,you really strong ka.fight with red bull first then only you can talk much.Stupid Protong CEO,Syed Zainal Abidin.
And how did those trio got their money? A budget airline that always pay the airport tax late then get discounts, an AP king, and a… hmm, what does Meranun do for a living again?
Pooorah. Bising nak suruh AP dihapuskan la, makan duit rakyat la blablabla. Ni hah, bukti “duit rakyat” guna dari perolehan penjualan AP, tak bising plak, siap bole defend kata itu sebenarnya duit mereka sendiri lah. Kalau sistem kita macam Singapore (dipanggil COE), duit ni patut pergi ke kerajaan!!
Air Asia saya respect mereka memberi MAS a run for their money. Tapi saya tak boleh merasa senang hati jika mereka tidak membayar cukai airport. Kita pelanggan membayar mereka dengan niat nak beri sebahagian daripadanya kepada kerajaan untuk membuat pembangunan, tetapi mereka mengkhianati niat kita untuk berkhidmat kepada negara. Selalu melalak kat kerajaan minta beri level-playing field, tapi apa gunanya kalau mereka tidak menunaikan tanggungjawab mereka kepada kerajaan? Level-playing la sangat!! MAS bayar cukai, korang tu bayar tak? MAS rugi berjuta-juta pun tak ada nak keluar parlimen merayu kerajaan beri diskaun. Agak-agak la wei.
Apa macam? Dua-dua pun pakai “duit rakyat” lah… Sekurang-kurangnya, kerjasama Group Lotus dengan Renault membuka pintu untuk melakukan bisnes luar F1. GL-Proton boleh buat kerjasama dengan Nissan-Renault (da bole nampak dah Nissan March mule kepunyaan Proton), pastu ntah-ntah Proton bole masuk pasaran Rusia, bermacam-macam lagi.
Kalo Proton stick dengan Tony boleh buat apa? Peraduan menang Kia? Ferrari? Peugeot? Percutian ke London? Seoul? Paris? Compare la kerjasama mana lebih menguntungkan bagi pihak GL-Proton.
It’s nothing personal. It’s just business.
Oh, I forgot, a Lotus-Renault is IN FRONT of a Red Bull of Mark Webber. Itu baru Petrov, belum lagi Kubica kembali racing!!
Hmmm…. Trulli di mana? Heikki di mana?
Tak habis-habis dengan airport tax. Kau keje gomen kutip tax ke atau keje dengan MAB tak dapat bonus? Berapa banyak tak dia tak bayar?
Okay, sekarang cuba kira berapa banyak income dari pelancong yang datang dgn AirAsia ke Malaysia, duit cukai syarikat dan lain-lain income direct ke indirect ke yang mereka bawa. Aku tak sokong AirAsia but the point is, airport tax ni sudah jadi macam point takde motif nak salahkan TF and Co. What it got to do with racing, F1?
Oh, FYI, it was 2009’s news. Why on earth you’re still arguing about an old news?
So where was RB2 in F1?. Di mana? Were they on the podium? Whats RB2? Its redbull’s race car in their second year of racing.. and they bought over the existing Jaguar Racing team instead of starting from scratch like Team Lotus. Give them a break.
Remember that LRGP is the old Renault team which goes back to Schumacher’s Benetton team. They are expected to be championship contenders every year. Anything less is a disappointment
@VoidDance : fuh fuh, if ever, all those TL fan n Proton bashers that like to say Proton waste taxpayers money, then insist TL is ok cuz its their own money. I’m just doubting whether its really their money, or it’s money that couldve been used to pay tax?
Say, TL is the slowest to pay back, like what, over 100 days? Since 2009, it appears TF still has the old habit it seems.
Seriously, I dun like to argue on tax issues, bt u guys gotta do us LR fans a favor by stop accusing LR of wasting taxpayers money too. In any case, it feels their investment do payoff thanks to Petrov’s good start. It’s unfortunate Kubica is still unwell, bt he’s a great asset. I wish him quick recovery, and I’m sure he’ll bounce back stronger. :)
And guys, have some sense of humor. Be cheeky rather than fanatical to jump “SEE! Proton waste taxpayer’s money again!!” Is that all you’ve got against LR?! Bankrupt idea ke?
But oh sure, u guys can relax. “Good guys always win”, right? :P
@ignoramus: when u guys look down on Petrov’s podium, don’t expect us to think highly of TL’s results in Aussie. Jangan pandang rendah kami kalau tak nak kami pandang rendah kamu hohoho. Anyway, all the best Trulli n Heikki. On LR part, Heidfeld needs to improve too. May the best man wins!! :)
VoidDance – so because they bring in passengers they should be exempt from paying the airport fees? So what are MAS bringing in, animals? They made 1 billion profits yet still don’t want to pay the airport tax, whereas MAS have to pay, in fact a lot more since their planes includes big 747-400 & 777-200 with different, higher charges than small 737/A320.
It may be 2009 story, but to this day they still are pushing for the waiver. They ask MAS to play fair and allow them to fly to Jeddah & Sydney, but they themselves are not playing fair!
It may not be related to F1, but it just goes to show the modus operandi of TF.
Bob, I thought they paid already in 2010. It was brought up in the Parliament.
Meh… I don’t really care so much about it. I just want them to race and do us proud. Same goes with Lotus-Renault and Mercedes GP Petronas. As a Malaysian, I support them all. It is like having 3 teams in EPL! Great!
Than u should proof kissamak statement wrong first b4 u comment !
erm.. they did not write the borang cukai pendaptan with any title “payment to Proton or Lotus”. So i am confident it is not. HAHAHAHAHAHA jangan marah kawan, mahu gurau saje
bro,Proton is own by whom?of course la Kerajaan Malaysia.Then automatically the Malaysian money are in the team..
read this bro…
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/9/15/nation/20090915181208&sec=nation
no matter TL or LR they r still malaysia team ok…
Lol.thats the old news.Before this,it is called government backed f1 team because of proton.Proton is a government sector as mention on star.
proton under kazanah la… kazanah under G. berapa banyak syarikat under kazanah? tak semestinya duit cukai digunakan tuk pelaburan proton.. check ni http://www.khazanah.com.my/portfoliobm.htm
Man, you’re so thick. Why bring up racial issues here? Don’t you know that they are multiracial team? Gila punya manusia, sukan pun mau politik.
Those thin brainer politic people in Paultan.org comments have no boundaries..i will volunteer myself to shoot and kill them for good!
Typical Malaysian brain….still want to have racist remark….grow up la man…to relate sports with race is totally sick..moron…
kissamak, are you racist?
dia pendatang, u siapa?, pemari kah?
This team FYI is under Malaysian license. Even though they are back marker at least they are under ours countrymen management. Think positive about it. Same goes to Lotus Renault GP and Mercedes GP Petronas (both under Malaysian sponsorship). Keep it up Paul for unbiased journalism.
Yes, i like to know more on Team Lotus news since there are some malaysian as part of the crew.
For Lotus Renault, i am cool with the team just would like to see more involvement of malaysian in it other than $$$ sponsorship.
Because we (paultan and crews and the readers) are proud enough to call ourselves Malaysians.
Bcause we (Paultan and crews and the readers) are proud enough to call ourselves Malaysians.
define crap please?! minardi was aawful last time but they were everybody’s second team long before alex yoong drove for them. if you dont know or like f1 please go troll somewhere else.
Are they buying time?
now u yay..later when LR flop, u’ll say proton makes a bad call..rite??
Go go BMW!
someone lost in the warp i see… last bmw i saw was 2 years ago…..
He’s joking, a damed good one…
It’s good once a while to read when someone making a joke while making a fool of themselves.
lol, paxter is probably too new to paultan to know who Julian Lee is XD
hey Paul, yesterday i notice Red Bull never once push KERS, why ee..i note as well when Alonso chasing Webber he keep pushing his KERS but it look like almost no effect at all?? and, is there is any car manufacturer using this system on their road legal product yet???
Their car good enough aerodynamically?
As for KERS, I don’t think it’s available commercially yet. But the principle for KERS is similar to regenerative braking on hybrids.
I believe Mr. Horner told reporters that KERS were removed from both cars after Mr. Newey decided that it could compromise aerodynamics of his designed cars.
For the respect of this topic, I couldn’t agree more with Danny. I just could not understand repeated TF statements that “they were able to stay with the midfield teams”. Anyone could see that Team Lotus’ T128 is good 2 secs slower from the car in front of them. Or good 3 secs if you wish to compare T128 with Force India cars.
That’s is huge.
Tony, you are at where you started on your debut season. Unless you can prove TL is a contender, many will not be proud of your statements being a Malaysian team or even “actual” Team Lotus. Some fans don’t mind supporting the name, but at least show us some progress. In my opinion, your own greed is the reason why Chapman family withdrawn their support from your team.
Jarno was lapping under 3s slower than Vettel on the same option tyres and same fuel load which was not too bad and within their target with regards to sheer pace. Heikki was doing better than Jarno before he retired. Definitely a marked improvement compared to their pace same race last year
The let down was in qualifying. They struggled to come to grips with their tyres and was slower than they expected, in quali.
So they have a ‘respectable’ car. they just need to focus on maximizing it.
aiyoooo you guys shallow minded commentator who accused paul tan for receiving payment for team lotus article… grow up lah please…
*sigh*
I thought only politic thin brainer saja kena! Paultan pon kena jugak..damn melampau dah! get into paultan page..bang bang bang! come on laa..grow up laa bashers! Tiuu..
BOOOO…. bullcrap talk la TF… team finish 13th oso happy… dey…
Dey,think first before write on Paultan.Team Lotus is build only with two years.You think f1 is a kids game ka?It takes many of years to the team to build a faster and competative car.Look like red bulls,they take many years to take the team to the world champions.Before this,red bulls is similar like Team lotus which is underdogs team.So,think first before go kutuk kutuk orang!
dude,i also want to kutuk you lovely team.
BOOOO….Bullcrap Talk la CEO Protong,Syed Zainal Abidin and Dany Bahar.Team finish no.3 also want to show off..dey…
Ye la ye la… “Good guys always win” kan?
Sapa antara mereka dua yang “good guys” sekarang ni ye? hehehehe
Korang tunggu je… Kubica join balik, tengok la kalo korang tu boleh menaip dalam paultan lagi MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!
So how many years you want to give TF? 25 years like Proton???? Enough is enough….. They already use same engine & gearbox like Redbull & even Lotus Renault.. Did they know actually how to produce sustainable & durable radiator??? Its only radiator dude.. Not an engine… Dont know what happen if they produce their own engine.. My conclusion is GO BACK & PRACTICE.
Happy, noting to be happy, after change the engine from cosworth to renault, i see no difference at all, still the bottom, press KERS lah.
Dey Tony, lets see if you can still talk after 4-5 races with that kind of performance. Better to improve your team than babbling after each race.
Results ruled!
Ha ha. Syiok sendiri
Bestnya jadi TF. Kalau betui syiok sendiri pun dalam VIP Paddock with consierge n supermodel… Hang punya syiok sendiri kat mana? Aku syiok sendiri kat kedai maple je..
Was tony watching the same race i was??
He can certainly twist anything to suit him. All winter Gascoyne and co were talking and talking and talking about how they were going to make a big leap this year and will be solidly in the midfield and the top 10 by the year end. Remember how “we will score 40-50 points this year”
Now they are happy with the miserable result from Melburne. Hang on a minute!! Cold hard facts are that they qualified where they did in 2010 and they finished 2 laps down. Heikki best lap in qualy was 1m 29.2 and Vettel best lap was 1m 23.5. Where’s the progress?
So much for targeting to leap frog Sauber, Toro Rosso and Force India. Sauber are now Ferrari fast (shame about DQ), Force India had 2 cars scoring points and Toro Rosso had 1 car scoring points.
Gascoyne, Fernandes…..stop talking so much. The time for talking and the new team excuse is over. Start producing some results. You have the same engine and gearbox as Redbull…… no more Cosworth to blame…..
I think they might have 3 excuses this season for not able to meet their own target
1 – water leak
2 – power steering
3 – pirelli tyre
but hey, come on fellas… let’s wait till mid season to judge how far TL have make their “big step forward”
You must be new to the sport of F1
Certainly Tony was talking crap. Everyone knows that.
Heiki and Jarno barely made into 107% of Vettel quali.
I wonder if this rule really apply or I have misintepret this part of the rules.
Somebody, please share some light on this.
Vettel’s Q1 time was 1:25.296. 107% rule cut-off is 1:31.266. Jarno and Heikki’s time were 1:29.342 and 1:29.254 respectively. Which is about 2s inside the 107%.
Not sure what is considered ‘barely’. Open to debate I guess. But certainly Team Lotus were slower than they had hoped in quali due to tyre temp issues which they estimate had cost them about 1-1.5s per lap slower than they expected.
I LOL at myself.
I was wrong for mistakenly thought Vettel’s Q3 as Q1.
My bad. Thanks buddy!
To certain extend, I agree with you. They talk too much. When they talk too much, people like you will likely misinterpreted it. If it is easy being in F1, everybody will want to be in it. If in 24 month you can have a great car comparable to say, Sauber or even to some extend, Ferrari, I would say that F1 have found another Adrian Newey somewhere in TL. The fact is that they don’t and even Steven Horner admit that it is not easy developing Red Bull to become what it is right now. It took years, and a lot of money. It took patient, not impatient like some of us.
I don’t know. Let them race. They’re making progress. It is not like everybody else will be on freeze mode while TL gaining on them. The other teams too will progress and it is quite hard to play catch up when you don’t have the needed expertise to excel. Yes, praise Lotus-Renault for their achievement. But lets not forget, they were built based on a well established team which only a few years ago won the championships, twice! How are we in the right mind would compare them with TL when TL is just 18 months old and still learning that different engine produced different shake which effected their radiator (read it, will you).
I say, let TF boost what ever he want to boost. It is not like you’re going to get hurt when he say something, unless some AirAsia plane going to crash afterward (God forbid). You know, F1 used to be the playground of eccentric people. I don’t remember people in F1 have God-like attitude and start preaching good values for others to follow. If one day TF want to claim that his car will do mach 1, let him be. People should appreciate eccentrics in F1. Those who seek honesty in F1 is just some lame people with an excuse to bash somebody.
Errr…. did you know they already in the 10th place last year??
so many emo proton employee on this article
LOL
i really support this team for one reason, a true Malaysia team, IF THEY WIN NEGARAKU WILL BE PLAYED…keep on publish news on them, need to learn what TF know how on how to setup and manage a good team from scratch.
This Team Lotus is a real garagies. They cannot compete in F1. Sorry to say this… F1 is a place to compete innovations and technologies. Those things done by engineer and not by garagies. Team Lotus don’t invent things rather than invented problem with their partner. Team Lotus called they are engineer where they build from zero to hero but those engineer fail to think for better cooling system in Australia. Imagine their cooling system in Arabland. Power steering problem??? It’s garagies…
F1 cannot wait for Team Lotus to shine. They are just garagies who cannot compete in F1.