Lotus Racing in China: Happy Heikki, unlucky Trulli

Lotus Racing in China: Happy Heikki, unlucky Trulli

Lotus Racing ended the first round of flyaway races on a high after Heikki Kovalainen finished 14th in Shanghai, which was not only ahead of the other new teams but the first time a rookie team crossed the line ahead of an established rival, in this case Nico Hulkenberg in his Williams-Cosworth.

The Finn made a bold call early on to stay out on dry tyres (like eventual podium sitters Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg) when most of the pack opted for wets, and reaped the rewards. Trulli on the other hand seems to be carrying all the allocated bad luck as his race once again came to a premature end on lap 34. The problem? Hydraulics.

“Whilst I’m obviously pleased I want to say first how disappointed I am for Jarno. He’s had a lot of bad luck so far – it seems all our bad luck has been on his car, so apologies to him, but it was a fantastic race from Heikki. We judged all the calls correctly and were on the right tyres all the way through, so congratulations to the whole team for that.

Lotus Racing in China: Happy Heikki, unlucky Trulli

“I’m also very pleased to see our race pace was very good, especially at the end on the wet conditions. These first four races were always going to be tough, but we’ve achieved what we set out to and now we’re looking ahead to Barcelona and seeing how the updates we’ve been working on help us move forward,” said Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer.

“It’s kind of bitter sweet today. It’s obviously a great result for Heikki but a real shame for Jarno as he seems to take the brunt of the issues – it’s a bit odd as it does seem to be just his car,” remarked team boss Tony Fernandes.

Lotus isn’t the only team with updates for the start of the European leg of the season, so it’ll be interesting to see where they stand in Spain.

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Danny Tan

Danny Tan loves driving as much as he loves a certain herbal meat soup, and sweet engine music as much as drum beats. He has been in the auto industry since 2006, previously filling the pages of two motoring magazines before joining this website. Enjoys detailing the experience more than the technical details.

 

Comments

  • oh yeah !!
    more n more improvement !

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  • truely on Apr 20, 2010 at 11:20 am

    I don’t know if it’s a curse or it’s just Trulli’s luck
    but even during his Toyota day’s Trulli always performs well
    during qualifying but NEVER on race day !!!
    Maybe needs to mandi-bunga. which our bomoh’s here can help !

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  • nice. wish they could do better. and… 1st!

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  • jugaus on Apr 20, 2010 at 11:26 am

    Go Lotus go….

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  • jazzer on Apr 20, 2010 at 12:49 pm

    tony fernandez, do make more money..
    then change that cosworth engine..
    good driver solely can’t satisfy us…

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  • frossonice on Apr 20, 2010 at 1:02 pm

    I wish they replace back the Malaysian flag with Lotus name on the top side of the car. Not being unpatriotic but the flag there are just plain hideous. Plus, the car already have a huge 1Malaysia logo, I don’t see the purpose of have flags painted on the car. Just keep it simple and elegant

    What say you guys?

    We can petition it to Tony.

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    • tokmoh on Apr 20, 2010 at 1:22 pm

      YES.

      The thing is, the car is supposed to look FAST. That Jalur Gemilang with that wavy shape doesn’t make it look so.

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      • Maybe coz it’s waving in the wrong wind direction? Hehe..

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        • tokmoh on Apr 20, 2010 at 9:26 pm

          Haha, maybe.

          Anyway, I thought in Malaysia during testing, the car has shark fin aerodynamic thing, like the ones on Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari etc? The only strong team without it is Mercedes GP IIANM.

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    • or maybe the malaysian gomen is one of the main sponsor of the team.

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  • Why trulli always hydraulic problem 1… walao..

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    • MADBOY on Apr 20, 2010 at 1:45 pm

      Spare parts have not arrive yet. He need to use the same parts that cause the troble.

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  • mr_3m on Apr 20, 2010 at 1:31 pm

    woww… 14thh… time to celebrate then…

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  • ayamxxx on Apr 20, 2010 at 1:34 pm

    Trulli problem always on hydraulic problem. What is the hydraulic problem anyway?

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    • RH PumpkinKing on Apr 20, 2010 at 3:23 pm

      Engine (lubricant sump, fuel pump, valve, cooling oild.. etc) and transmission (gear , clutch, power steering)are operated with hydraulic mechanism which might go as high as 300 bar.

      If the car is having hydraulic issue, you will have al lthis issues.
      1. no gear change
      2. overheating
      3. engine failure
      4. no power steering etc etc etc..

      All this symptom will be classified as hydraulic issue.

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  • portman on Apr 20, 2010 at 2:04 pm

    Where are all the critics and nay sayers??? Suddenly so quiet???

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    • Portman,

      You are one very sick dude.

      When ppl bash proton/lotus, you complaint.
      When ppl stop bashing proton/lotus, and you STILL complaint??

      You are plainly a person that love to instigate, flaming etc.

      Malaysia do not need this kinda people like YOU.

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  • azrai on Apr 20, 2010 at 2:28 pm

    Thank god PETRONAS sponsored Mercedes instead of Lotus. Just look how many times PETRONAS make its appearance with Nico Rosberg on podium, and as well on Schumacher even though he is in 10th position. So many exposure for PETRONAS. Well done. Wise decision in term of dollar and cents. Tony Fernandes Air Asia still sponsoring Williams? Why he doesn’t sponsored his own Malaysian team?

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    • trav_da_man on Apr 20, 2010 at 2:45 pm

      Tony has a contract with Williams for air asia sponsorship since 2008 to 2010. By 2011 i think we should see air asia logos in the lotus car. His also taking this chance to promite the Tune group. His tune hotels has opened 10 branches in UK as well as he mentioned.

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      • azrai on Apr 21, 2010 at 12:36 pm

        Tune group not only does hotel business. There’s Tune money and Tune talk. After this they will come out with engine ‘tuning’ company just like Brabus. :-)

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    • ribut on Apr 20, 2010 at 9:15 pm

      Thank god PETRONAS sponsored Mercedes instead of BMW!

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    • Petronas paid a lot of money to sponsor the Mercedes team because they were champions last year. Mercedes + 7 times world champion + Petronas = 10th place in Shanghai? Frankly, that’s a bit embarrassing., certainly not up to many people’s expectations To be associated with a team that underachieves, I don’t think that does your brand much good at all.

      Lotus, with their F1 heritage and what they have achieved so far this season have received a lot of publicity themselves. But unlike Mercedes, most of this publicity has been good.

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      • Gen2 Biru Muda on Apr 21, 2010 at 12:17 pm

        Nico finish 3rd rite?

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      • azrai on Apr 21, 2010 at 12:34 pm

        The Lotus publicity widespread is only in Malaysia maa….

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      • F1Freak on Apr 21, 2010 at 3:02 pm

        How does getting 3rd and 10th be labeled as underachievers? You are really misguided. Lotus had 1 car that did not finish and one that finished 14th (lapped at least once I think), that is underacheivement. Who cares about being the best of new teams. You can spin the story any way you want, at the end of the day we want teams that score points.

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        • Well, if you were constructor champions last year, but only have 2 3rd place finishes to show after 4 races, I’d call that underachieving. If you were 7 times world champion, driving for last years constructors champion but only managed 6, 10th, DNF, 10th in 4 races, I’d call that hugely disappointing.

          Lotus started their engines for the 1st time less than 2 months before the season started, and to achieve what they have done is something to be proud of, I think.

          Which of these headlines do you think Petronas would rather be associated with?
          – “Schumacher endures embarrassing driving lesson” and “Schumacher’s F1 return is a big anti-climax”, or
          – “Lotus come of age with impressive performance in Chinese Grand Prix”

          These are real news headlines, btw, and no, they are not from the Malaysian media.

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          • F1Freak on Apr 23, 2010 at 2:34 pm

            Currently 3rd on constructors and 2nd on drivers after 4 races is not great but certainly not bad. I am sure Petronas does not prefer to be associated with “Lotus Racing Fails to Shine” either (also a real headline and not from Malaysian media).

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  • i think Tune Group does sponsor Lotus… seen the decals on the cars before…

    I have to say, I’m proud of Lotus’ achievement this time… big improvement… in front of Williams… who would’ve think that… haha…

    Trulli’s hydraulic problem is related to other components also… they just dont have enough time to rectify the problem… let’s just hope that those problem will go away when they go for european rounds…

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  • Cruely on Apr 20, 2010 at 5:02 pm

    They forget to check the car in PUSPAKOM.

    Why same problem. Exchange with Heikki car la so u Trulli can have a smooth run on the track. Or….

    Is it a team strategy from Principal?? Hmmm… I fell curious why only Trulli…

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    • izz86 on Apr 20, 2010 at 7:19 pm

      it’s simple… u have 2 same car… but the problem for that 2 car may different each car may have their own problem… same on this situation… we have 2 f1 car… but only Trulli car face that big hydraulic problem… heikki car also have same problem but not like trulli car…

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  • syed nasurudin on Apr 20, 2010 at 9:20 pm

    For every race since Abu Dhabi Lotus made a new record. Record of finishing above 12th. For record, worst for team Lotus is year 1984 where the late Elio De Angelis finished 8th.

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    • Tiadaid on Apr 21, 2010 at 12:01 pm

      Er, did you forget about Lotus in 1994? That year was the nail in the coffin for old Team Lotus!

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  • dickybird on Apr 20, 2010 at 11:13 pm

    credit where it is due, lotus performance have been looking up. maybe they need a huge dose of luck, but they might be midfield, until the real teams get they upgrades in the european rounds, though it would be interesting to see how they perform in monaco.
    as always, Mclaren rules! feraris GTH! and redbull gives you wings! lol!

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  • bmpower on Apr 21, 2010 at 2:12 am

    roman empire not built in a day, not even in hundreds, but thousands.

    it’s about how hard (and smart) they tried.

    go lotus! i believe the day will come. (if you still exist :D)

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  • truli is just crap anyways, judging him all the way from renault , he isnt consistence. just once thing that puzzles me. if hekki can finish races, why truli cant? given they have identical machines… :S

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  • Gen2 Biru Muda on Apr 21, 2010 at 12:16 pm

    The team does not live up the name. Should use Proton F1 Racing instead. Its now tarnish the good brand of Lotus and Its history.

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  • kinda_proud on Apr 21, 2010 at 6:59 pm

    there are 6 cars in formula one sponsored by malaysian companies..
    4 cars with the word ‘Malaysia’… and
    2 with jalur gemilangs… how awesome..
    eat that singapore! n indon and other SEA countries… haha im lovin it

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